Roof restoration and repairs in Highgate

Roofs on Highgate homes

Highgate is about 4 km south-east of the CBD, in the City of Unley. Unley is classic character territory, with villas, bungalows and cottages on tree-lined streets in suburbs like Unley Park, Kings Park, Malvern, Hyde Park, Goodwood and Parkside. Iron and terracotta roofs, bullnose verandahs and box gutters are everywhere, and large parts of the council sit within historic areas.

Popular roofing jobs in Highgate

• Corrugated iron re-roofs and verandah repairs on villas
• Restoring terracotta roofs on bungalows
• Fixing leaks where the old roof meets a rear extension
• Rebedding and repointing ridge capping before it lets water in

What Highgate roofs have to cope with

Many older homes in Highgate have corrugated iron roofs, front verandahs and box gutters, or terracotta tiles on interwar bungalows. Iron rusts first at the laps and fixings, box gutters block and overflow, and the join between the original roof and a rear extension is a common leak point. In historic areas, like-for-like iron in a traditional profile is usually the simplest path.

Before you book

If your home was built before about 1990 and has a grey fibre-cement roof, assume it may contain asbestos: more than 10 square metres must be removed by a licensed removalist. For everything else, the rules are simple. Make sure whoever you hire holds a South Australian building work contractor's licence and gives you a written contract for work of $12,000 or more. Council approval usually isn't needed in Highgate for repairs, restorations or a like-for-like re-roof. Parts of the City of Unley are within Historic Area or Character Area Overlays under the Planning and Design Code. Like-for-like repairs are rarely an issue, but changing the roof's material, colour or shape where it can be seen from the street may need development approval. If you have solar panels, the quote should include an electrician to take them off and refit them.