What Swansea roofs are dealing with
Swansea sits where Lake Macquarie meets the ocean, and the channel funnels weather straight through the middle of it. Between the surf on one side and the open water of the channel on the other there is very little shelter, and salt gets into everything. If there is one place on our list where getting the steel grade right is not a technicality, it is here.
Much of the older housing began as beach and fishing stock: single storey, fibro and weatherboard, low-pitch metal roofs, and modest construction that has been added to over decades. Those roofs are usually well past their original brief. Alongside them are newer builds and renovations that have gone up on the same streets, and those get the specification question too, because being new does not help if the grade is wrong for the location.
What we look at first here
Everything here comes back to salt and exposure. The question is not whether it is affecting your roof but what it has reached so far.
Getting the grade right
Steel manufacturers publish minimum distances from breaking surf for each of their grades, and much of Swansea sits inside the range where standard grade is not the right product. Ask any quote which grade it has allowed and how it worked that out.
Fixings, cut edges and laps
Corrosion on the coast starts at fasteners, cut edges and laps rather than in the middle of a sheet. A roof can look sound from the street with its fixings well gone, which is why the inspection is on the roof rather than from the ground.
Old low-pitch roofs
The original beach-stock roofs are shallow, so water moves slowly and every lap and flashing carries risk. Add wind-driven rain off the channel and gaps that never leak in ordinary weather will find a way in.
What we do in Swansea
Pressure clean, re-bed and re-point the ridge capping, replace broken tiles, then a coating system. Typically buys another 10 to 15 years out of a sound tile roof.
Learn moreSlipped and cracked tiles, failed pointing, rusted valley irons and flashing. We find what is actually causing the problem rather than patching the wet patch.
Learn moreWhen the battens or sarking have gone, a coating will not save it. We strip the old roof and re-sheet, usually to Colorbond steel.
Learn moreColorbond steel roofing, supplied and installed. Lighter than tile, quick to install, and it holds up well to the salt air along the coast.
Learn moreRoof plumbing is its own licensed trade: metal roofing, guttering, downpipes, flashing and box gutters. If water is meant to move, this is the work that moves it.
Learn moreA stain on the ceiling or a drip during last night's rain. Call us and we will come and look at it, find where the water is actually getting in, and make it safe.
Learn more
Common questions
How long does a roof actually last in Swansea?
Less than the same roof would inland, and how much less depends on the grade specified and how close you are to the water. We are not going to put a single number on it, because it would be meaningless without seeing where your house sits. What we can say is that the specification matters more here than almost anywhere else we work.
My roof is rusting at the screws but the sheets look fine. Now what?
That is the normal order of failure on the coast and it is worth acting on. Depending on how far it has gone, refixing can buy real time. If the corrosion has spread into the sheeting around the fixings, that is a different conversation and we will tell you which one you are having.
Is a tile roof better than metal this close to the surf?
Tiles do not corrode, but the metal on a tile roof still does: valley irons, flashings, gutters and fixings. So it changes which parts fail rather than removing the problem. The right answer depends on the house, and we will price both if you want to compare.
Do you cover Caves Beach and Blacksmiths?
Yes, and the rest of the coast down that way. Same conditions and the same approach to specifying for them.
Around Swansea
We cover the streets either side of Swansea as well, so if you are just over the boundary it is the same job and the same free inspection.
- Swansea Heads
- Caves Beach
- Blacksmiths
- Pelican
- Nords Wharf
- Catherine Hill Bay
- Marks Point
Roof playing up in Swansea?
Give us a call and we will come and look at it. Free on-site inspection across Lake Macquarie and the wider Hunter, with the quote in writing before anything starts.