Roofing in Parramatta: the CBD, the river and the old core

Parramatta 2150 holds two entirely different roofing markets inside a couple of kilometres. Walk south from Parramatta Square into the South Parramatta heritage conservation area, or north across Lennox Bridge toward Prince Alfred Square and the Sorrell Street streets, and you are among Victorian and Federation cottages with steep unglazed terracotta, original ridge bedding and internal box gutters serving additions that were tacked on decades later. Walk the other way along Church Street and you are under high-rise and low-pitch sheet metal.

Call (02) 9090 4741 and we will come and look at either.

What goes wrong here

Box gutters on the old stock. The rear additions behind those Church Street and Macquarie Street cottages almost always drain internally. When the outlet silts up or the sole is too narrow for the rain intensity, the overflow goes into the ceiling rather than the garden. This is the most expensive fault in the suburb and the easiest to miss from the ground.

Terracotta past its pointing. On houses this old the mortar bedding under the ridge and hip caps has usually failed at least once. The Cumberland Plain clays under the suburb move seasonally, so rigid mortar keeps cracking and flexible pointing is the only sensible specification.

Low-pitch sheet on new infill. The apartment and townhouse stock around the CBD and the Parramatta Park edge is largely tray-profile steel on shallow falls with parapets and internal drainage. Different material, same underlying risk: there is nowhere for excess water to go but inside.

Heritage controls. South Parramatta, North Parramatta and Sorrell Street are all heritage conservation areas administered by the City of Parramatta, and altering the external appearance of a building in one generally needs Council consent. Worth settling before you choose a material.

Services in Parramatta

Roof repairs, restoration, re-roofing, gutter and box gutter work, and written inspection reports.

We also cover North Parramatta, Harris Park and Westmead next door, and the rest of the service area.

Free inspection, written quote, no obligation. Call (02) 9090 4741 or send the details.