Bronte sits in a steep gully running down to the beach, so most roofs here get salt from the ocean and leaf from the trees at the same time. That combination is hard on gutters, valleys and fixings.
Wind off the beach carries salt up the gully and leaves it on the roof even when it does not rain. It corrodes screws, valley irons and gutters, and on metal roofs a rust streak below every fixing is the first sign.
Many Bronte houses are built into the slope, high at the back and low at the front or the other way round. Access and safety are planned for each roof before the job starts.
The older housing is Federation and interwar, mostly terracotta tile with original pointing. After a century of movement and salt, cracked ridge mortar and worn valleys are the most common causes of leaks.
Trees around the gully drop leaf into the gutters all year. Wet leaf holds salt against the metal and rusts the gutter from the inside, so keeping the gutters clear matters more here than usual.
Once a year is sensible this close to the water, with the gutters cleared, the screws and valleys checked and the roof rinsed of salt where needed.
Yes. Metal roofs near the water are washed down the sheet, never up it, and the fixings are checked and replaced with coastal-grade screws where they have started to rust.
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