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On a lot of Inner West roofs the ridge mortar is the original work, and it has been through decades of heat, rain and ground movement. Once it cracks, water gets in behind the capping and softens the bed underneath, and the capping starts to shift. On a terrace that matters more than it does on a freestanding house: the ridge often runs along a party wall, so movement at the top of the roof can send water into the cavity between two properties. Old mortar also tends to be harder and more brittle than modern flexible pointing, which is why it cracks rather than moves.
On a terrace the ridge often runs across more than one property, so we start by working out what is yours and what condition the whole line is in.
The cracked pointing is cleaned off rather than buried under a fresh layer, which is what makes the repair last.
Where the bed under a cap has crumbled, the cap comes off and goes back on fresh mortar before any pointing is applied.
Inner West roofs are often old terracotta with caps that are no longer made. Sound caps are reused rather than swapped for something that does not match.
The junction where a terrace roof meets the neighbour and the valleys between roof planes are checked while we are up there.
Old mortar has to leave through whatever access there is, so it is bagged and carried out rather than washed into a narrow gutter.
Call 0452 223 327 or send the form with your address and what the roof is made of.
We get on the roof, check the bedding as well as the pointing, and tell you which one you actually need.
We do the work, check the ridge line end to end and take the old material out with us.
Pointing is the visible mortar along the edge of the capping. Bedding is the mortar bed underneath holding it in place. Pointing over failed bedding does not hold, so we assess both and tell you which one your roof actually needs.
It means the junction needs proper attention, because water getting in there can end up in the cavity between the two properties. We scope that section clearly so it is obvious what is being done and where the boundary sits.
The usual signs are visible cracking along the ridge line, bits of mortar turning up in the gutters, capping that looks slightly out of line, or damp appearing in the roof space near a ridge after heavy rain.
Cracked ridge mortar only gets worse through a wet season, and on a terrace it does not stay your problem alone. Call us on 0452 223 327 or send the form for a free on-site quote across the Inner West.
Newtown · Enmore · Erskineville · Camperdown · Marrickville · Dulwich Hill · Petersham · Stanmore · Lewisham · Leichhardt · Lilyfield · Rozelle · Balmain · Birchgrove · Glebe · Annandale · Ashfield · Summer Hill · Haberfield · St Peters
Also servicing surrounding Inner West suburbs. See our Inner West roofing page, or how we handle roof repointing across Sydney.
Australian standards and Code requirements we work to, with the source for each.
AS 2050, the installation standard for concrete and terracotta roof tiles, applies to roofs pitched at 15 degrees or more. Below that the tile system falls outside the standard and a sheet metal profile is the compliant answer, not more bedding and pointing.
Any tiled roof pitched at less than 18 degrees has to have sarking underneath it, whatever the rafter or truss length. On older Sydney houses re-roofed before that rule bit, this is a common reason a tiled roof leaks in wind-driven rain.
AS 2050 governs how ridge and hip capping is bedded and pointed. Flexible pointing compound is what holds the capping as the roof moves; when it cracks and lets go, the capping lifts in wind and water tracks straight into the roof space.
Last updated: 13 August 2026
Quoting roof repointing in the Inner West is not the same job as quoting it elsewhere in Sydney. No dormers, and one skylight per rear plane: Haberfield does not permit skylights on the front or side of the main roof and does not permit dormers at all. Hot water and solar tanks… That is the kind of detail that changes the materials, the timing and the paperwork on a roof in Haberfield or the streets around it. Everything below links to the council or standard it comes from, so you can check it yourself.
Haberfield does not permit skylights on the front or side of the main roof and does not permit dormers at all. Hot water and solar tanks cannot sit on the roof either: they go inside the roof space or out of public view.
Source: Inner West DCP 2016, Chapter E2, controls C11-C15 and C89The Marrickville Valley flood study found 3,989 properties taking more than 150mm of water in a 1 per cent storm, and 3,151 properties still flooded to that depth in a storm as common as a 2 year event. Flat ground and slow drainage are the cause, so undersized downpipes and blocked gutters bite in ordinary rain.
Source: Inner West Council, Marrickville Valley Flood StudyIn the Dobroyd and Hawthorne Canal catchments, 885 of 1,446 and 690 of 1,036 flood planning lots are affected by overland flow alone. Where your roof water is discharged, and whether it is piped properly to the kerb, matters more than how close you are to a watercourse.
Source: Inner West Council, Dobroyd and Hawthorne Canal FRMSP 2020The whole suburb is a conservation area, recognised as Australia first planned garden suburb, with a period of significance from about 1900 to the 1940s. In practice almost every roof job in Haberfield is a heritage job.
Source: Inner West Council, C54 Haberfield HCAThe DCP limits replacement roofing to unglazed terracotta Marseilles tiles, terracotta shingle tiles, Welsh slate, or non-reflective corrugated galvanised steel, and the steel only at the rear or on skillion roofs. Finials and ridge capping have to be kept and reinstated.
Source: Inner West DCP 2016, Chapter E2, controls C17-C21We cover Haberfield, Ashfield, Summer Hill, Croydon, Leichhardt, Annandale, Balmain, Rozelle, Lilyfield, Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Petersham, Stanmore, Newtown, Enmore, St Peters, Tempe, Sydenham and Lewisham.
Haberfield does not permit skylights on the front or side of the main roof and does not permit dormers at all. Hot water and solar tanks cannot sit on the roof either: they go inside the roof space or out of public view.
The Marrickville Valley flood study found 3,989 properties taking more than 150mm of water in a 1 per cent storm, and 3,151 properties still flooded to that depth in a storm as common as a 2 year event. Flat ground and slow drainage are the cause, so undersized downpipes and blocked gutters bite in ordinary rain.
In the Dobroyd and Hawthorne Canal catchments, 885 of 1,446 and 690 of 1,036 flood planning lots are affected by overland flow alone. Where your roof water is discharged, and whether it is piped properly to the kerb, matters more than how close you are to a watercourse.
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