Salt, density and Inter-War flats
Surf, by BlueScope's own example
BlueScope lists Bondi among its surf examples. Standard Colorbond needs to be more than 200 m from surf, Colorbond Ultra more than 100 m, and Superdura Stainless can go at any distance, all measured from the high water mark. Gutters, downpipes and fascia have their own distance rules too.
Mostly flats
At the 2021 Census, 79.6% of occupied homes in Bondi were flats or apartments, rising to 85.7% in Bondi Beach. Waverley Council says its residential density is the second highest in Sydney.
A long building history
Bondi's buildings run from the Victorian era (1840 to 1890) through Federation (1890 to 1915) and Inter-War (1915 to 1940) to recent apartments, often side by side along Bondi Road.
Inter-War flats have their own guidelines
Waverley analysed over 600 sets of plans to define its Inter-War flat buildings, mostly put up between the two world wars, and adopted design guidelines covering their roofs, facades and balconies alongside its DCP 2022.
Storm damage next door
On 16 December 2015 a tornadic supercell caused roof damage at Westfield Bondi Junction, and a gust of 213 km/h was recorded at Kurnell.
Most Bondi roof jobs start with the strata
In a block of flats the roof is shared, so a leak in your ceiling is a job for the owners corporation. Report it to your strata manager with photos and dates, and ask for the roof, gutters and flashings to be looked at together.
Salt on the hidden parts. BlueScope's maintenance bulletin says areas the rain doesn't wash should be cleaned every three months near marine salt spray, against six-monthly elsewhere. That means the undersides of gutters, eaves and flashings, where salt builds up.
Replacing metal near the beach. On a re-roof or new gutters, the steel grade matters more than the colour. Colorbond roofing in Sydney covers the options.
Tiled Inter-War roofs. Monier says its concrete and terracotta tiles are salt safe, but ridge mortar, flashings and fixings still wear. Rebedding and repointing keeps the ridge sealed.
Quotes to question near Bondi Beach
- Metal roofing or gutters with no product name or grade
- No mention of how far the building is from the surf
- Stainless steel, lead or copper fixings on Colorbond or Zincalume gutters, which BlueScope says mustn't be used with them
- A plan to paint over Colorbond, which voids BlueScope's warranty
What we'd do in Bondi
We'd make salt the first question on any metal job: which product, rated for what distance from the surf, written on the quote. In a strata block, we'd push for one roofer to inspect the whole roof and its gutters in one go, rather than patching the spot above a single unit.
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.