Metal and Colorbond roofing behind Inner West parapets

Metal does the jobs tile cannot do on these houses

Walk down the rear lane behind almost any Inner West terrace row and look at what is actually covering the back half of the houses. Low skillions, lean-to kitchens, bathroom additions, laundry roofs, flat-looking sections tucked behind a parapet. Very little of that is tiled, because tile cannot go that shallow and stay watertight.

That is metal roofing in this area in one sentence: it is the covering for the low-pitch, awkward, out-of-sight two thirds of the roof, plus whole-roof replacements on the post-war stock out towards Earlwood and Canterbury.

Call (02) 8000 1103 or ask for a quote.

Pitch decides the profile

Choosing sheet metal is mostly a pitch-and-span problem, not a style problem.

• Corrugated reads well on heritage and Federation roofs and is the familiar Sydney profile. It needs a reasonable minimum pitch, lower if the run is a single unbroken sheet with no end lap.
• Trapezoidal / concealed-fix handles longer spans and shallower falls, with fewer fastener penetrations through the weather surface.
• Standing seam and secret-fix go lowest of all and give a clean line, which suits a modern rear addition behind a parapet where nothing is visible from the street anyway.

Sheet length matters as much as profile. An end lap on a shallow pitch is a leak waiting for the right storm. Where a run can be rolled in one length, it should be.

Flashing metal into brick

This is the part that separates a metal roof that lasts from one that drips in two years.

On a detached house the sheet runs to an eave and the detailing is simple. On an Inner West terrace or semi the sheet runs into a brick parapet on one or both sides, and often into a box gutter at the low end. Each of those junctions needs:

• The sheet turned up high enough that wind-driven rain cannot overtop the upstand
• An apron or stepped flashing chased into a mortar joint, mechanically fixed, not glued to the brick face
• A separate capping over the parapet so the wall itself is covered
• The box gutter end detailed with a sump and an independent overflow to atmosphere, per AS/NZS 3500.3, so the single downpipe is not the only escape route

Where the metal roof drains into a box gutter, the gutter is sized for the 1% AEP five-minute rainfall intensity, with a minimum 200 mm flat base on a Class 1 home and 30 mm of freeboard. Putting a bigger, smoother metal catchment above an undersized old gutter is a common way to create a brand new leak.

Fixings, battens and what goes underneath

• Battens or purlins checked and replaced where split or rotten. Fixings pull out of bad timber.
• Sarking under the sheet, as a secondary barrier and a condensation control layer.
• Insulation laid or upgraded while the roof is open, which is the cheapest time to do it.
• Fasteners matched to the sheet and the substrate, with correct washers, and spaced to the manufacturer requirement rather than by eye.
• Dissimilar metals kept apart. Old copper or lead touching new steel, or runoff from one onto the other, sets up corrosion. On the Iron Cove and Parramatta River side at Drummoyne and Balmain, salt in the air makes that less forgiving again.

Colour inside a conservation area

Much of the Inner West is covered by heritage conservation areas across five councils — Inner West, Burwood, Strathfield, Canada Bay and Canterbury-Bankstown. Where you sit changes what you can do with a visible roof.

Haberfield is listed as conservation area C54 under the Inner West LEP 2022, with extra built-form controls in clause 6.20. Burwood lists its areas in Schedule 5 of the Burwood LEP 2012. Hurlstone Park has six conservation areas under the Canterbury-Bankstown LEP 2023. Inside those, a street-facing roof colour or finish may be controlled, and a change of covering can need consent.

Rear slopes and roofs hidden behind a parapet are generally much less constrained — one of the real advantages of the terrace roof form. We check your address against the applicable controls before writing a specification, and we tell you when council consent looks likely. We do not predict council decisions.

Noise, heat and the room below

Three things homeowners raise, and the honest answers:

Rain noise. Real on bare sheet, mostly solved by sarking plus a blanket or insulation beneath. Spec it in, do not retrofit it.

Heat. A light or mid-tone roof with a high solar reflectance runs cooler than a dark one, and the cavity insulation matters more than the colour. In a conservation area where dark tones are expected, insulation carries the load instead.

Condensation. Warm indoor air meeting cold steel. Managed with the right sarking and real ventilation at the high point, not by hoping.

Repairs to metal roofs

Not every call is a new roof. Common metal repairs across these suburbs: rusted sheet ends over a box gutter, failed fasteners backing out, lifted ridge capping after wind, split valleys, and corrosion where an old metal roof meets a newer one. Roof repairs covers the diagnostic side, and storm and emergency work covers the urgent end.

Get a metal roof quote

Work is carried out by established, licensed and insured roofing contractors working to NSW Fair Trading requirements, with a written workmanship warranty on completed work. The inspection and written quote are free.

Call (02) 8000 1103 or send your details. We cover all 29 suburbs on the service areas list, including Five Dock and Tempe.