Wellington Roof Notes

Plain-English roof care for a windy, wet city

A Southerly Checklist: Ten Roof Checks Before Winter in Wellington

Wellington roofs do most of their hard work between May and September. Southerlies push rain sideways up under laps and flashings, gusts work at fixings, and short days mean surfaces stay wet for longer. A quick look before winter, from the ground and from inside the ceiling space, catches most of the small faults that turn into stained ceilings later.

From the ground

  1. Look along each roof plane for sheets or tiles that sit higher than their neighbours. A lifted edge is a common first sign of loose fixings.
  2. Check ridge caps and barge boards for gaps, cracked mortar or missing screws.
  3. Watch your gutters during the next heavy shower. Water spilling over the front edge usually means a blockage or a fall in the wrong direction.
  4. Scan downpipes for joints that have pulled apart or brackets that have let go.
  5. Note any rust spots, especially around fixings, laps and the lower edge of iron sheets where water and grime collect.

From inside

  1. With a torch in the ceiling space, look for water marks on timber, damp insulation or daylight around penetrations.
  2. Check around chimneys, flues and skylights, which are the places flashings most often fail. Our piece on why valleys and flashings leak first goes into more detail.
  3. Sniff for mustiness. A damp smell often turns up before any visible stain.

Around the section

  1. Trim branches that touch or overhang the roof. They drop leaves, hold moisture and scrape coatings in the wind.
  2. Clear moss and debris from valleys and gutter outlets, or plan to have it done. Shaded roofs need extra attention, as covered in looking after a south-facing roof.

When to get someone up there

A ground check only shows so much. If you have spotted lifted sheets, cracked tiles, rust at the laps or a stain you cannot explain, it is worth booking a proper roof inspection. Roof Repair Wellington says its roofers get up on the roof wherever it is safe, and use a drone when a roof is too steep, high or brittle to walk. Whatever method is used, ask for photos so you can see what was found and decide what needs doing now and what can wait.

Never climb onto a wet or windy roof yourself. Most of this list can be done from a ladder at the gutter line, from the ground or from inside the ceiling space.