Roofing at Wentworth Falls, on the edge of the escarpment

Where the ridge gets exposed

Wentworth Falls sits at about 867 metres and is the first of the genuinely cold towns heading west. What makes it different from Leura and Katoomba is exposure: a good number of houses sit on the southern side, close to the escarpment above the Jamison Valley, along Falls Road and out towards Kings Tableland. There is very little between those roofs and the weather.

North of the highway, around Pitt Park and the streets off it, the character changes again — more sheltered, heavier canopy, and a different set of problems.

Ring (02) 4703 5000 for a free look and a written quote.

Two different roofs in one suburb

On the exposed southern side, wind is the main agent. Westerly weather across an open escarpment finds whatever is already loose: ridge caps sitting on failed pointing, old sheeting with tired fixings, barge and flashing edges. Roofs here do not fail where they are sound; they fail where they were already overdue.

Down in the sheltered streets, it is the usual upper-mountains story — damp southern pitches growing moss, valleys packed with leaf and bark from the gullies that run down towards Jamison Creek.

Both sides get frost. Both sides get mortar that breaks down from freeze-thaw cycling faster than any roof on the coastal plain.

The housing stock

A lot of Federation here, including Queen Anne cottages along Falls Road, plus weatherboard, inter-war tile and later brick veneer. Steep original pitches are common, designed to throw water and leaf litter off, and they are good roofs — but they slow work down and need proper edge protection, which is a real part of any quote.

• Rebedding and repointing ridge and hip lines
• Re-fixing and replacing wind-lifted sheeting and cappings
• Flashings at chimneys, parapets and wall junctions
• Valley and gutter renewal where litter has corroded them through

Nearby

Leura is the next town west, Bullaburra the next east, and Lawson a little further down the line. If something is already leaking, start at roof repairs; if the whole roof is tired, roof restoration. All suburbs: where we work.