What breaks on Ballarat roofs
Constant wind on ridges and sheets
Ballarat averages a daily wind run of 470 km. Steady wind works ridge caps loose once the mortar under them cracks, and it lifts the edges of metal sheets where screws have rusted or worked free. Rain then gets blown in sideways.
Frost on old mortar
Temperatures here can fall below freezing anywhere from May to September. Water that soaks into cracked ridge mortar and freezes opens the cracks wider, so a small ridge problem rarely stays small through a Ballarat winter.
Storms with a long record
Ballarat's storm history goes back a long way. In August 1909 a severe storm killed one person, injured seven and destroyed numerous homes. When a storm hits now, the caps and sheets the wind has already loosened are the ones that go first.
Bluestone, weatherboard and brick in the old centre
In Soldiers Hill and Ballarat Central, houses are typically single storey with hipped or gabled roofs. Hips and gables mean long ridges and lots of capping, which is where wind and frost do their work.
Heritage overlays
Overlay controls in Ballarat East, Ballarat South and Ballarat North limit works to the outside of some houses. Victoria's planning rules need a permit for heritage repairs that alter the look or aren't done to the same specifications, so a matching repair keeps it simple.
What you can check, and what needs a roofer
You can
- Walk around after a windy night and look for caps, tiles or screws on the ground
- Look at the ridge line from the street with binoculars for gaps or crooked caps
- Note where stains appear inside and whether they follow a particular wind direction
- Ask the City of Ballarat whether a heritage overlay applies to your house
Leave to a roofer
- Rebedding and repointing ridge caps
- Refixing or replacing lifted metal sheets and rusted screws
- Replacing cracked tiles, especially on a roof that might be heritage or asbestos
- Any work on the roof itself, which is never a job for a ladder and a weekend
Questions to ask a Ballarat roofer
- Is the ridge mortar failing in one spot or right along the ridge?
- Are the screws on my metal roof rusted or loose, and will you replace them all?
- Can you source tiles that match a heritage roof, and from where?
- Will this repair change the look of the roof enough to need council approval?
- Can I see photos of the damage before and after?
What we'd do
Get loose ridge caps fixed before winter, because frost turns a cracked bed into a falling cap. If more than one roofer says the whole ridge is failing, we'd rebed it all at once rather than chase sections every year. On a heritage house, we'd choose the roofer who brings up matching materials without being asked. The general picture is on roof repairs.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.