Specialists in Roofing Maintenance and Restoration
Cutting back branches that overhang roofs and gutters on bush-edge streets, from Manly to Palm Beach.
Get a free quote. Send your details and we will get back to you with a clear price.
A lot of the peninsula backs onto bush, and the trees that come with it drop constantly rather than once a season. Branches sitting over a roof do three things at once: they feed the gutters a steady supply of leaf litter, they scrape and crack tiles when the wind comes through, and they give possums and rats a bridge onto the roof. Cutting back off the roofline deals with all three. This is roof-focused trimming, meaning the branches over and against the roof, rather than a general landscaping service.
Our tree trimming service is limited to manageable branches affecting roofs and gutters. Larger trees, protected trees or work needing a specialist assessment may need to be referred to a qualified arborist.
Limbs sitting over or against the roof are cut back so they are clear of the surface and the gutter line.
Branches rubbing on tiles, ridge caps or the gutter are the ones that do damage in wind, so those come off first.
Limbs that let possums and rats step straight onto the roof are trimmed away from the roofline.
The growth feeding the gutter directly overhead is cut back so it stops filling as quickly.
Cuttings are taken away rather than left on the roof, in the gutters or on the ground.
We look over the roof and gutters once the trimming is done and tell you if we notice damage the branches have already caused.
Call 0478 688 951 or send the form with your address and which trees are over the roof.
We look at the trees, the roof and the access, and price the work before it starts.
We cut back off the roofline, remove the cuttings and check the roof and gutters afterwards.
Monkeys Roofing trims branches overhanging roofs and gutters across the Northern Beaches and the rest of Sydney. It pairs naturally with a gutter clean, since the litter has to come out either way.
No. We trim branches that overhang or touch the roof and gutters. Full removals and general garden work are a different trade.
It slows it down a long way, but a bush-edge property still collects litter blown in from further away. Most people here pair the trimming with a gutter clean rather than expecting one to replace the other.
Councils on the Northern Beaches set their own rules on pruning and protected trees, and they vary from one area to the next. If you are unsure about a particular tree it is worth checking with your council before the work is booked.
If branches are sitting on the roof and feeding the gutters every week, cutting them back is the cheapest fix available. Call 0478 688 951 or send the form for a free quote.
Manly · Fairlight · Balgowlah · Seaforth · Clontarf · Freshwater · Curl Curl · Dee Why · Collaroy · Narrabeen · Warriewood · Mona Vale · Newport · Avalon Beach · Palm Beach · Brookvale · Frenchs Forest · Belrose · Elanora Heights · Killarney Heights
Also servicing surrounding Northern Beaches suburbs. See our Northern Beaches roofing page, or how we handle tree trimming across Sydney.
Australian standards and Code requirements we work to, with the source for each.
NSW work health and safety law requires a safe work method statement for construction work where a person could fall more than two metres. Single-storey gutter and roof work clears that line, which is why the job is planned, harnessed or edge-protected before anyone gets on the roof.
Source: SafeWork NSW, working at heights
SafeWork NSW reports that most serious and fatal falls happen from roofs, ladders and building edges at four metres or under, and a fall from two metres can kill. A single-storey Sydney house is squarely inside that range.
Source: SafeWork NSW, falls from heights
Observatory Hill has averaged around 1,213 mm of rain a year on records kept since 1858. Everything on the roof, from panels and skylights to gutters, has to keep working through that volume of water and the grit it carries off the surface.
Last updated: 8 October 2026
Tree trimming in the Northern Beaches has its own rules: heritage areas, salt air and tight access all change how the job is done. Everything below links to the council or standard it comes from, so you can check it yourself.
You can prune up to 10 per cent of a canopy a year without approval, but the eucalypts, angophoras and banksias that fill Northern Beaches gutters are not on the exempt list, and illegal tree work carries fines up to 1.1 million dollars. Gutter protection is usually the only lawful answer.
Source: Northern Beaches Council, tree managementThe council exempt species list lets you remove camphor laurel, cocos palm, pines and liquidambar without consent, but it specifically does not exempt Norfolk Island Pines, and no exemption applies inside a heritage conservation area. The Moreton Bay and Port Jackson figs are carved out too.
Source: Northern Beaches Council, exempt tree species listBlueScope names Manly Beach as its metropolitan example of a surf marine environment, the harshest of its three salt classes under AS 4312. Wind, shelter and areas the rain never washes push the real corrosivity higher still, which is why the steel grade used here is not the one used inland.
Source: BlueScope Technical Bulletin TB-35 and AS 4312:2019Class 3 fasteners are only acceptable beyond 1km from marine influence. From 200m to 1km Class 4 is required, and inside 200m even Class 4 is not enough without checking with the supplier. Most of the ocean strip sits inside that band, so standard screws rust out long before the sheeting does.
Source: BlueScope TB-16 and AS 3566.2The standard warranty requires fresh water washing at least every six months of any roof area rain does not wash naturally, and does not cover failure to replace corroded fasteners. On a coastal home that means eaves, awnings and wall abutments need washing deliberately.
Source: BlueScope, Colorbond roofing sample warrantyWe cover Manly, Fairlight, Freshwater, Curl Curl, Dee Why, Collaroy, Narrabeen, Warriewood, Mona Vale, Newport, Bilgola, Avalon, Whale Beach, Palm Beach, Frenchs Forest, Belrose, Terrey Hills, Forestville, Killarney Heights, Balgowlah, Seaforth, Brookvale, Cromer, Elanora Heights, Bayview and Church Point.
Usually not. Northern Beaches Council lets you prune up to 10 per cent of a canopy a year without approval, but eucalypts, angophoras and banksias are not on the exempt list, Norfolk Island pines are never exempt, and illegal tree work carries fines up to 1.1 million dollars. Gutter protection is usually the lawful answer.
Northern Beaches roofs corrode faster because much of the peninsula is a surf marine environment. BlueScope names Manly Beach as its metropolitan example of that class, the harshest of its three salt classes under AS 4312, and wind, shelter and areas the rain never washes push real corrosivity higher still.
Northern Beaches roof screws have to match the distance from the surf. Class 3 fasteners are only acceptable beyond 1km from marine influence, Class 4 is required from 200m to 1km, and inside 200m even Class 4 needs checking with the supplier, so standard screws rust out long before the sheeting does.
Manly heritage areas keep the original roof form, bushfire buffers reach 100 metres and only 10 per cent of a canopy can be pruned…
Read the guideIf you live between Manly and Palm Beach, your gutters work harder than almost anywhere else in Sydney. Salt air corrodes metal…
Read the guide
