Commercial roofing is a different problem from domestic
The roof itself is often simpler: large spans of metal sheeting with fewer of the fiddly hips and valleys that make a house roof slow. What makes commercial work different is everything around it. There are services running across the roof, plant and ductwork penetrating it, box gutters carrying serious volumes of water inside the building line, and a tenant underneath who cannot simply move their stock out of the way for a week.
So the work is planned around the building rather than the roof. Access and staging, when work can happen without stopping the business, how the site is kept safe with people underneath, and what happens if weather interrupts a roof that is partly open. On strata, add the decision-making: committees need documentation and options rather than a number on a page, and usually need it in a form they can put to a meeting.
How we do it
Inspect the site and roof
Roof, box gutters, penetrations and access, plus how the building is used and when work can realistically happen.
Report with costed options
What needs doing now, what can be staged, and what to budget for. Written so a committee or a landlord can act on it.
Plan access and safety
Staging, edge protection and how the space below stays usable. Often the part that decides the program.
Carry out the works in stages
Sectioned so the building stays weatherproof and operating, with each section closed off before the next opens.
Documented handover
Photographic record of what was done and where, which is what makes the next inspection cheaper than this one.
We are a good fit for
- Metal re-sheeting and repairs on warehouses, factories and commercial buildings
- Box gutter repairs, replacement and overflow provision
- Strata roof reports, staged repairs and maintenance programs
- Leak investigation on buildings where nobody is sure where the water is coming from
- Flashing, penetrations and making good around plant and services
- Planned maintenance rather than waiting for the next failure
You want a specialist when
- The roof is a trafficable membrane or a waterproofed concrete deck
- It is asbestos sheeting, which is licensed removal work
- The building needs structural engineering rather than roofing
- It is a high-rise requiring rope access or a permanent facade system
We will say so early rather than partway through. Asbestos in particular is common on older Hunter industrial roofs and is licensed removal work, not something to discover on the day.
Industrial roofs in a salt air environment
Large metal roofs near the water carry the same corrosion problem as houses do, at a scale where it costs considerably more to get wrong. Around the port, Mayfield, Kooragang and Carrington, the combination of salt air and industrial atmosphere is harder on steel than a beachfront house is, and the failure starts at fasteners, cut edges and laps rather than in the middle of a sheet. The practical implication is that a planned inspection cycle is worth far more on a coastal industrial roof than on an inland one, because the difference between catching fastener corrosion and catching a failed sheet is an order of magnitude in cost.
Common questions
Can you work around our business hours?
Usually, and it is normally the first thing we plan around rather than the last. Staging the work so the building stays operating and weatherproof is most of what makes a commercial job different from a domestic one.
Do you provide reports for strata committees?
Yes. A committee generally needs a written report with photographs, the options set out, and an indication of what needs doing now against what can be staged and budgeted. A single price with no explanation is very hard to get a decision on.
Our box gutter overflows in heavy rain. Is that a big problem?
It is worth taking seriously. A box gutter sits within the building line, so when it overflows the water goes into the building rather than over the edge. Undersized box gutters and missing or inadequate overflows are a common finding on older commercial buildings, and it is a flooding risk rather than a maintenance nuisance.
Can you deal with an asbestos roof?
Removal is licensed work and we would refer you to a licensed asbestos removalist for that part. It is common on older industrial and commercial roofs in the Hunter, so it is worth establishing what you have before planning any works rather than finding out on the day.
Do you offer ongoing maintenance rather than one-off repairs?
Yes, and on a large roof it is usually the cheaper approach over time. Scheduled inspections catch fastener corrosion, blocked box gutters and failed flashings while they are still small, which is the difference between a maintenance line item and a re-sheet.
Related services
Roof plumbing is its own licensed trade: metal roofing, guttering, downpipes, flashing and box gutters. If water is meant to move, this is the work that moves it.
Learn moreColorbond steel roofing, supplied and installed. Lighter than tile, quick to install, and it holds up well to the salt air along the coast.
Learn moreWhen the battens or sarking have gone, a coating will not save it. We strip the old roof and re-sheet, usually to Colorbond steel.
Learn more
Thinking about commercial roofing?
We will come and look at the roof, photograph what we find and put a price in writing. Free, across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter.