Roof Restoration & Repairs Preston

Preston was cut into farm lots in 1837, but its urban growth spurt came in the 1920s. Since 2021 we've done 8 roof repairs and 3 full roof restorations here, as at September 2026.

After the Second World War came another wave: between 1947 and 1966 the Housing Commission built about 2,600 dwellings in east Preston and Reservoir. Add a few Victorian terraces, like the 1892 row in Mary Street with its galvanised iron roofs, and you get a real mix: terracotta, concrete tile and iron.

That mix is why I start every Preston job by working out what the roof actually is. An iron roof and a tile roof fail in different ways, and so do a 1920s roof and a 1960s one.

Across bungalows, post-war homes and the odd terrace, these are the faults that come up:

• Ridge mortar breaking up on terracotta and concrete tile roofs

• Rust along the laps and fixings of old galvanised iron

• Concrete tiles gone porous and mossy after decades without a coat

• Valley irons worn through where the water runs hardest

• Leaking flashings around chimneys, skylights and rear additions

• Gutters and downpipes rusted at the joins

Repairs outnumber restorations in my Preston work, and most of these faults are repair jobs. When the whole roof is tired, a restoration makes more sense, and I'll say so.

Galvanised iron rusts from the laps and nail holes first. If the sheets are still solid, they can be cleaned, rust-treated, primed and coated. If they're holed, those sheets need replacing.

Tile roofs rarely fail at the tiles. It's the mortar on the ridges, the valley irons and the coating on concrete tiles that go. Fix those and a tile roof has years left in it.

More in my guides to Colorbond versus tiles and common roof problems in Melbourne.