Sydney · Eastern Suburbs
The Eastern Suburbs mix Federation and interwar terracotta roofs with a large stock of rendered apartment blocks and flat-roofed modern rebuilds. Everything within a couple of kilometres of the water is fighting the same enemy: salt.
Salt-laden air corrodes valley irons, gutters, fixings and flashings far faster than inland suburbs, and roofs on sheltered elevations that never get rinsed by rain corrode fastest of all.
Bondi roofs sit in one of the harshest micro-environments in Sydney. Salt spray carries several streets inland from the beach, and it attacks the thin metal components first: valley irons, gutter beads, screws, flashings and the cut edges of any sheeting.
Bondi Junction packs apartment blocks, mixed-use buildings and older residential streets into a small area, so roofing work here swings between concealed commercial-style roofs and ordinary tile repairs on semis and terraces.
Randwick has a substantial stock of Federation and interwar homes with original terracotta roofs, plus streets of red-brick walk-up apartments built through the middle of last century.
Coogee sits directly on the coast, and everything metal on a Coogee roof has a shorter life because of it. Gutters, valleys, flashings and fixings all corrode faster, particularly on elevations that rain never rinses.
Maroubra's housing is largely post-war brick with concrete tile roofs, plus a growing number of rebuilt homes with metal roofs and flat rear additions.
Paddington is terrace country. Roofs are largely hidden behind parapets, drainage runs through box gutters between adjoining properties, and much of the original slate and iron is still in service.
Bronte · Clovelly · Waverley · Vaucluse · Rose Bay · Double Bay · Kensington · Matraville · Malabar
Next step
Tell us what's happening and we'll come out, get on the roof, photograph what we find and quote the fix.
