It is a tale of two homes in a flood zone.
When Tfer Newsome's Graceville Queenslander was inundated in 2011, she knew it would happen again.
Her family engaged an architect and built back with large glass doors, concrete floors and a kitchen that could be hosed down.
But next-door did not, a decision that would diverge the two property's fates 11 years later when another flood disaster swept through their suburb.
Ms Newsome has now joined her architect to call for insurers to better recognise resilient buildings.
Flood-proof premiums
Right before a metre of water swept through Ms Newsome's kitchen in February 2022, she took her things upstairs and left with her family.
Two weeks later they were back living in the home — much sooner than most of their neighbourhood.
Ten years from when she got her renovation done it has featured in several advertisements for her insurer.
That's why it surprised Ms Newsome when she received her renewal in December last year with a premium of $18,000 – four times what she had paid the year before.
"They told me the usual things about tradies being hard to come by, and costs of replacements and all that sort of thing. And I was like 'Actually, I think you need to look at this a bit more carefully'," she said.
When the insurer realised her home was effectively flood-proof it dropped the bill by 70 per cent.
She wants to see a smoother process for people who own resilient properties.
"They need to have a little tick box that says 'Yes, my house is flood resilient in these ways' so they don't become a heart attack every time you get a renewal document," Ms Newsome said.
She said she has also had issues with builders not understanding how to fix the modified features.
"It's an education process that needs to start from the home owner all the way through to the trades and then all the way to the insurance company.
"This resilience needs to be educated and embedded in our system."
'These events are going to be continuing to happen'
The home was the work of Brisbane architect James Davidson, who has worked on hundreds of similar projects.
He also worked with authorities on the $741 million Resilient Homes Fund.
"In the last year, we've seen a huge upswing in requests for our services," Dr Davidson said.
"Part of that, I think, is the realisation that these events are going to be continuing to happen, and they could actually get worse than what we've already seen."
He is pushing for resilient housing to become mandatory as the effects of climate change are realised.
But this requires a shift in thinking from tradespeople right through to the insurance industry, he said.
"It's such a huge undertaking to shift an entire industry, so that will take some time."
He said the idea flood-proofing homes added cost to building was a myth, and many of the materials needed are widely available.
Building resilient homes would also reduce waste when a flood hits, he said.
"The amount of waste to landfill that happens after these events is also a major issue that I'd like to sort of raise and have had more discussion.
"So the better we build, the less waste, the less cost," Dr Davidson said.
He said there should be other incentives, like cheaper interest rates, for people building resilient homes.
