Valley Heights roofing, where the grade steepens

A railway town, still shaped like one

Valley Heights sits at about 310 metres and owes its existence to the railway. The station marks the start of a steep one-in-thirty-three climb towards Katoomba, and the locomotive depot established here in 1913 — now the heritage museum, holding the oldest remaining roundhouse in New South Wales — was there because trains needed help up the hill. The heritage-listed gatekeeper cottage from 1868 is another survivor.

The suburb reflects that history: modest railway-era and post-war cottages, a commercial and light industrial strip on and around the Great Western Highway, and development hemmed in by council reserves and national park land.

Free inspection and quote: (02) 4703 5000.

Small roofs, old details

Cottage-scale roofs are the norm, and the detailing on the older ones is often original and hand-formed. That is where water tends to get in:

• Flashings at chimneys formed as mortar fillets rather than proper lead aprons
• Hand-cut valleys in profiles no one makes any more
• Long-serving corrugated steel corroded at laps, fixings and the sheet ends inside the gutter
• Later tile roofs over original framing, where the ridge bedding is now well past due
• Fascia timber soft behind gutters that have been holding wet litter for decades

The upside of a small roof is that a full roof restoration or even a re-roof is a much smaller number here than on a large two-storey house, so doing the job properly once is genuinely affordable.

Hemmed in by bush

With reserve and national park land on the boundaries, blocks here sit on mapped bush fire prone land along with most of the local government area. Metal gutters, guard to a defined specification and sealed roof-line details are worth getting right while someone is already on the roof.

Nearby

Springwood is immediately west, Warrimoo immediately east, and Sun Valley sits just off to the north. Full area list.