Roof restoration and repairs in Thorngate

Roofs on Thorngate homes

Thorngate is about 4 km north of the CBD, in the City of Prospect. Prospect is known for its character bungalows and villas on tree-lined streets close to Prospect Road, many with terracotta or iron roofs, along with a growing number of newer townhouses and infill homes.

Popular roofing jobs in Thorngate

• Restoring and repointing terracotta roofs on bungalows
• Iron re-roofs on villas, matched to the street
• Repairs where older roofs meet newer rear extensions
• Rebedding and repointing ridge capping before it lets water in

What Thorngate roofs have to cope with

Many older homes in Thorngate 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

Check three things before you book roof work in Thorngate. First, the licence: anyone contracting for building work in SA needs a building work contractor's licence, and jobs of $12,000 or more need a written contract. Second, approvals: repairs, restorations and like-for-like re-roofs usually don't need them. Parts of the City of Prospect 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. Third, what's on the roof: solar panels have to come off for most restorations and re-roofs, and an old grey fibre-cement roof may contain asbestos, which needs a licensed removalist for anything over 10 square metres.