Why Cessnock roofs are their own thing
Built for the mines
Cessnock grew from 1850 as a stop on the Great North Road, but land settlement for the South Maitland coalfields from 1903 to 1923 set the pattern of its streets. Kurri Kurri, proclaimed in 1902, was planned before anything was built, and its small miners' cottages date from those years.
The two-storey verandah house
Council's heritage guidelines say the two-storey, single-fronted house with a full-height verandah or balcony is found here in greater numbers, and in groups, than elsewhere in NSW, probably because of flooding and plentiful timber. Those long verandah roofs meet the main wall at a flashing that needs checking.
Tile-red iron and Marseille tiles
Local Federation houses often had terracotta tiles, or corrugated iron painted tile red. Brick bungalows of the 1930s and 1940s usually had Marseille tiles, with gable ends that could include white painted asbestos cement.
Big temperature swings
Cessnock Airport's January mean maximum is 30.6 °C and its record is 46.8 °C, while winter nights can be frosty. Swings like that are hard on old pointing and paint.
Fire country
The Black Christmas fires that began on 24 December 2001 started in the Cessnock, Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury and Penrith areas and destroyed 109 houses across NSW and the ACT. Embers cause most house losses, so gutters full of dry leaves are the weak spot.
Mine subsidence
Subsidence Advisory NSW's list includes districts named Bellbird-Millfield, Greta and Tomalpin. Extensions and new roofed structures inside a district need its approval before work starts.
Re-roofing an old Cessnock cottage
Almost everything here is a house: 90.5% of occupied homes at the 2021 Census, and just 1.3% flats. On heritage items and in conservation areas such as Wollombi and the Great North Road, council asks for original roof material to be repaired rather than replaced where possible.
If corrugated iron does have to go, the small details matter: ridge and hip cappings cut to match the flutes, traditional stepped flashings, and ogee, half-round or quad gutters. Council generally requires existing slate to be kept, because slate is now rare in the area, so look for a roofer who repairs it. See slate and heritage roofs.
Off the heritage list you have a freer hand. See roof replacement in Newcastle and the Hunter.
What you can do, and what needs a roofer
You can
- Look the roof over from the ground, with binoculars, after a heatwave or a storm.
- Clear leaves from around downpipe outlets and drains at ground level.
- Find out whether your house is a heritage item before you collect quotes.
Leave to a roofer
- Anything on the roof itself.
- Testing and removing suspected asbestos cement. NSW lets a homeowner remove under 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos, but recommends a licensed removalist.
- Matching old iron, gutters and slate, and fitting metal ember guard near bush.
What we'd do in Cessnock
On an old miner's cottage or a Federation house, we'd ask for a repair-first quote before anyone talks about a new roof, and we'd have the gable ends and any fibro tested for asbestos up front. If you're near bush, we'd get the gutters cleared before summer, every year.
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.