Super Six and other old fibro roofs
Queensland says a home built before 1990 is likely to contain some asbestos, and you can't tell by looking. Don't drill, cut, walk on or water-blast an old fibro roof. High pressure water blasting asbestos cement is illegal in Queensland, with fines up to $10,000. Removing more than 10 square metres of bonded asbestos needs a licensed removalist, or a certificate if you're doing it yourself. Read our guide to Super Six asbestos roofing.
Southport's roofs, area by area
Around the old railway station
Gold Coast City Council's 2010 heritage review found mostly high-set Queenslanders from around 1900 to the interwar years here, with the odd low-set fibro bungalow, on flat ground.
The town reserve near Chirn Park
Settled in the 1960s, this precinct is mostly pattern-book fibro bungalows with Super Six corrugated fibro roofing, plus some Queenslanders and brick bungalows.
The racecourse precinct
Land here was cut into small lots in the 1960s and filled with fibro bungalows. It falls towards Loders Creek, so some blocks slope.
On the Broadwater
BlueScope's TB-35 bulletin names The Broadwater as exposed marine water, which gets the same distance rules as surf. During ex-Cyclone Alfred, the Gold Coast Seaway recorded a 107 km/h gust on 7 March 2025.
Mostly apartments
At the 2021 Census, 54.6% of homes were flats or apartments and 57.9% were rented. Southport is also the Gold Coast's CBD.
Who sorts out which roof
Apartments and townhouses. The roof is usually common property, so leaks go to the body corporate or building manager, in writing. Repairs on a shared roof are their call.
Houses near the Broadwater. BlueScope recommends standard COLORBOND more than 200 m from exposed water, Ultra beyond 100 m and SUPERDURA Stainless at any distance. Ask for the product by name. Our Colorbond roofing on the Gold Coast page has more.
Fibro bungalows. Once testing confirms asbestos, most owners replace rather than patch. We don't have Gold Coast-specific figures, so these are national.
If we owned a Southport house
On a fibro bungalow, we'd test the roof before inviting any quotes, then budget for removal and a new metal roof as one job. Near the water, we'd only accept a quote that names the steel. Send us the job and your street, and if a licence-checked roofer covers Southport we'll pass it to that one roofer; if nobody does yet, you'll hear it from us first.
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.