Mount Victoria, where the line ends and the cold begins

The end of the Blue Mountains Line

Mount Victoria sits at about 1,043 metres and is the western terminus of the Blue Mountains railway line. Beyond it the road drops off the escarpment towards Hartley. Long-term Bureau of Meteorology figures for the village give an annual rainfall average of about 1,061 millimetres and a mean minimum of 7.2 degrees, which understates the winter mornings considerably — the cold here is real and persistent.

The building stock is the oldest concentration we work on. The 1849 Toll House, St Peter's Anglican Church from the mid-1870s, the 1868 gatekeeper's cottage, the 1878 Imperial Hotel, the post office from the late 1890s, and a village of weatherboard and brick cottages around them.

Free inspection and written quote: (02) 4703 5000.

Old roofs, cold climate

On buildings of this age there are usually two coverings in the story: an original corrugated steel roof, and whatever was put over or in place of it later. That matters because the detailing differs — old hand-formed flashings, chimneys with mortar fillets rather than proper lead aprons, and valleys formed in ways no one does now.

What we are typically dealing with:

• Corrosion at laps, fixings and sheet ends on long-serving steel roofs
• Flashing failure at brick and sandstone chimneys, of which this village has plenty
• Bedding and pointing on tiled roofs destroyed by repeated freezing
• Condensation under steel sheeting on frosty nights, usually reported as a leak
• Fascia and gutter rot behind blocked gutters

Heritage, and getting the material right

With this many listed buildings and a village streetscape largely intact, material and profile are not free choices. Short-run corrugated is the historically correct profile for most of this stock and generally the one that satisfies both the planning expectation and the building. A muted traditional colour is the safe answer. We will tell you plainly at the inspection whether what you are proposing is likely to need a development application rather than quoting something that gets refused.

Nearby

Blackheath is about eleven kilometres back east, with Medlow Bath and Katoomba beyond it. See metal and Colorbond roofing or roof repairs, and the complete suburb list.