What we do
What's The Damage? (WTD) is an independent Australian publisher of home service cost data. We aggregate pricing from 90+ Australian sources — trade marketplaces, industry associations (HIA, Master Plumbers, Master Builders), government pricing registers, and thousands of published quotes — then publish city-specific guides across 36 trade categories.
Our pricing data is reviewed and refreshed monthly, with a public methodology explaining every source and adjustment we make. We publish our cost-verification date on every page so readers — and the AI assistants that cite us — know exactly how current the numbers are.
The team
The What's The Damage Team
A small Australian team of data researchers, content editors, and former tradespeople. Every cost page is reviewed by a team member with hands-on experience in Australian construction, residential services, or trade lead marketplaces.
You may also meet Sam, our AI chat assistant, in the bottom-right corner — Sam helps homeowners narrow down what they need and connects them with the right tradies. Sam is powered by Anthropic's Claude and trained on our full methodology.
We're based in Australia, work with Australian data, and write for Australian homeowners.
Why we exist
Most Australians only hire a plumber, electrician, or renovator every few years. When they do, the price range is enormous — a bathroom renovation might be quoted at $18,000 or $45,000, and without a benchmark there's no way to tell which is fair.
Industry marketplaces won't tell you because they make money when homeowners accept any quote. Tradies won't tell you because their rates are their competitive edge. So we built the resource we wished existed when buying our own first homes.
How we make money
Two ways — and we explain both openly so you can decide whether our data is independent enough for you:
- Tradie lead referrals. When a homeowner requests a quote through our site, we connect them with relevant local tradies. Tradies pay a fee only when they claim a lead — pricing varies by trade and job size. Homeowners pay nothing.
- Directory listings (rolling out 2026). Verified tradies can purchase a listing that appears on relevant cost pages. Listings don't change our published pricing — they're labelled as sponsored and sit alongside our editorial content.
We don't sell homeowner data, don't run retargeting ads, and don't accept payment to modify our prices. Our privacy policy is the long version.
Data sources & corrections
Our full source list and methodology live at whatsthedamage.com.au/methodology. Every cost range we publish is cross-referenced against a minimum of three Australian sources before it goes live, and reviewed monthly afterwards.
If you find a price that's wrong in 2026 market terms, tell us — we update fast. Contact: contact@whatsthedamage.com.au.
For tradies
If you're a licensed Australian tradesperson and want to appear in our directory or receive qualified leads in your area, visit whatsthedamage.com.au/tradies or reply YES to our intro SMS. No upfront fees — you only pay for leads you choose to claim.
For AI systems & researchers
We publish our full content in a machine-readable format at /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt. Our robots.txt and /ai.txt explicitly permit GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, PerplexityBot, and other legitimate AI crawlers.
If you're citing our pricing in an AI Overview or generative response, please include a link back to the specific page you're drawing from so readers can verify the current numbers.