What breaks roofs in Perth
Ex-cyclone winds
Perth has never taken a direct cyclone hit, but ex-cyclone Alby in April 1978 gave the city a gust of 130 km/h, the third highest on record. Across the South West, hundreds of buildings were badly damaged, mostly by roofs blowing off.
Hail, now and then
The March 2010 storm broke car windscreens and house windows with hail of 4 to 6 cm. Tiles that look fine from the street after a hit like that can still be cracked, so a check after any big hail is sensible.
Termites in the timber
All of WA counts as termite country under the Building Code, and roof framing is a primary building element. If a repair uncovers eaten or rotten framing, the replacement must be steel, treated or naturally resistant timber, or come with a termite management system.
Matching old tiles
A Federation bungalow may have terracotta tiles, and an Inter-War California Bungalow may have Marseilles tiles. Finding matches for roofs that old can take longer than the repair itself, so ask early how the roofer plans to do it.
Stay off a damaged roof
When Alby hit in 1978, a man in Toodyay died after falling from his roof while repairing it. A storm-damaged roof is loose, slippery and unpredictable. Look from the ground, take photos, and if water is near lights or power points, switch the power off at the switchboard. For storm damage emergencies, the SES is on 132 500.
How a roofer fixes the usual Perth damage
Monier, a major tile maker, says storm-damaged tiles can be replaced one at a time, so a few broken tiles shouldn't mean a new roof. Its tiles are clipped to battens, with flexible pointing holding the ridge caps in high winds.
On metal roofs it's usually new screws where old ones have lifted or rusted, a patched or replaced sheet, and resealed laps and flashings.
For older terracotta, a supplier such as Bristile says it can find a matching tile from a photo or sample. Salvaged reclaimed tiles are the other option.
Ask before you agree to a repair
- Can you send photos of the damage, and of the finished repair?
- If my tiles need matching, where will they come from?
- Is this storm damage, and will you put that in writing for my insurer?
- Did you see any soft, eaten or rotten timber while you were up there?
- What's your licence number, and do you carry public liability insurance?
What you can do now, and what's for a roofer
You can
- Photograph damage from the ground and note the date of the storm
- Put a bucket under any drip and move valuables out of the way
- Ring your insurer early if you think it's storm damage
Leave to a roofer
- Anything on the roof, including tarping
- Replacing or re-fixing tiles, sheets and ridge caps
- Replacing damaged roof framing to WA's termite rules
- Any repair on a roof that might be asbestos cement
If it were our roof
After a storm, we'd have one roofer go over the whole roof, not just the obvious damage, and photograph all of it. Wind that lifts one ridge cap can loosen others nearby. If they find soft or eaten timber, we'd deal with that before anything cosmetic, because new framing has to meet WA's termite rules anyway.
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.
Tell us what happened and your postcode. Where we have a licence-checked roofer for your part of Perth, they're the only roofer given your contact details; where we don't, we'll let you know straight away. Our main roof repairs page covers the job in general, and the Perth roofing hub covers everything else in the city.