Roofing work on Brunswick houses
Victorian cottages near Sydney Road, Californian bungalows further north, and a lot of roofs that were replaced with concrete tile fifty years ago and are now due again. Three different jobs on three different streets.
The roofs we see in Brunswick
Brunswick is more mixed than the suburbs closer in. Victorian and Edwardian stock around Sydney Road, interwar Californian bungalows and villas through the middle, and warehouse conversions where the old industry was. It also has something the terrace suburbs do not: a large number of tiled roofs laid in the post-war decades that have now reached the end of their run.
The roofs that turn up in Brunswick
Three coverings we work on here, and the way each one usually fails.
Victorian and Edwardian near Sydney Road
Cottages and small terraces, corrugated iron or slate, some behind parapets. Tighter blocks and less side access than the rest of the suburb. The same drainage story as Carlton and Fitzroy applies to this pocket, and it needs the same approach.
Interwar bungalows and villas
Hip-and-gable rooflines in unglazed terracotta, wide verandahs, long ridge runs on a modest floor plan. The tiles themselves often have decades left. What fails is the pointing, the bedding and the valleys, which is ordinary restoration work rather than a reason to replace a roof.
Post-war concrete tile, now due
A great many Brunswick roofs were re-covered in concrete tile through the 1960s and 70s. Sixty years on the tile body has gone porous, the surface has chalked, and the coating from a restoration in the 1990s is lifting in sheets. This is the most common roof we are called to here.
Why Brunswick roofs fail the way they do
The same roofing faults, shaped by the streets, the trees and the housing stock.
- Coating over a failed coating Plenty of these roofs have already had one restoration cycle. A second membrane over a failed first one, without dealing with the ridges and valleys underneath, is money wasted.
- Original valley irons On roofs re-covered decades ago the valleys are frequently the originals, rusting from underneath while the tiles above them still look serviceable.
- Heavy autumn leaf load Mature elms and plane trees through the Merri-bek streets fill gutters and valleys, forcing water back under the tiles and into the ceiling.
- Converted industrial roofs Former warehouses and workshops turned into housing, with large flat or low-pitch metal areas and internal drainage that was never designed for a residence.
Roof types we work on in Brunswick
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.
- Unglazed terracotta on interwar bungalows
- Concrete tile laid in the 1960s and 70s
- Corrugated iron on Victorian cottages
- Slate on the older Sydney Road stock
- Low-pitch metal on warehouse conversions
- Original galvanised valleys under later coverings
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 Brunswick
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 Brunswick
If the answer you need is not here, call and ask. We would rather explain it than have you guess.
Need the roof in Brunswick 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.