Roofing work on North Melbourne houses
Boom-era terraces, workers cottages and warehouse conversions. Most of the roofs here sit behind a parapet with a box gutter running along the back of it, which is where the trouble usually starts.
The roofs we see in North Melbourne
North Melbourne is terrace country. Wide streets off Errol and Victoria, two-storey townhouses with decorative parapets, and smaller cottages on the laneways behind them. The roofs are mostly corrugated iron or slate, pitched but hidden from the street, draining into a box gutter you cannot see from the footpath.
The roofs that turn up in North Melbourne
Three coverings we work on here, and the way each one usually fails.
Roofs behind parapets
The street sees a decorative parapet. Behind it sits a pitched iron or slate roof draining into a box gutter that runs along the party wall or the back of the facade. When that gutter rusts, blocks or loses its fall, the water has nowhere to go but inside the building.
Corrugated iron and slate
Original coverings on this stock are galvanised corrugated iron or slate. Both outlast their fixings. On slate the usual failure is nail sickness and slipped units rather than the slate itself. On iron it is the laps, the fasteners and the flashings that go before the sheet does.
Extensions and conversions
A lot of these houses have a rear addition, and a lot of the old warehouses have been converted. That means new metal or membrane roofing butted into original iron or slate, often with a junction detailed for the builder rather than for twenty years of weather. Those junctions leak.
Why North Melbourne roofs fail the way they do
The same roofing faults, shaped by the streets, the trees and the housing stock.
- Box gutters you cannot see Hidden behind the parapet, so a failing one gives no warning from the street. The first sign is usually a stain on a ceiling during heavy rain.
- No side access Party walls both sides and a laneway at the back. Access has to be planned before the quote, not worked out on the morning.
- Redundant chimney stacks Most are no longer used but still penetrate the roof. Old flashings and cracked capping around a disused stack are a common leak path.
- Overflow that goes inward Plenty of original box gutters have no overflow provision, or one that discharges into the building rather than outside it when the outlet blocks.
Roof types we work on in North Melbourne
These are the coverings and details that turn up on this suburb's houses. The list is a guide to what we see, not a claim that every house has every item.
- Corrugated galvanised iron on Victorian terraces
- Slate on two-storey Boom-era townhouses
- Box gutters behind facade and party-wall parapets
- Original lead and zinc flashings
- Metal or membrane roofs on rear additions
- Brick chimney stacks through the roof plane
The roofing work we do here
The same services as the rest of Melbourne. What gets quoted depends on the roof in front of us.
Suburbs around North Melbourne
If your house is in one of these suburbs, tell us. We will confirm we cover you before booking anything.
Suburb not listed? Ask about your area and we will confirm before we book an inspection.
Questions about roofing in North Melbourne
If the answer you need is not here, call and ask. We would rather explain it than have you guess.
Need the roof in North Melbourne looked at?
Tell us the street and what you have noticed. We will confirm we cover you, inspect the roof, and send a written quote for the work it needs.