A Roof That Looked Fine From the Street
From the footpath, this double-storey weatherboard home in Manly looked like it had come through storm season untouched. Straight roofline, tidy gutters, nothing out of place. The kind of roof you would walk past without a second glance.
Up close, it was a different story. The hail that came through Brisbane's bayside had damaged around 80 per cent of the Colorbond sheeting across both roof levels, along with the flashings. And in one spot on the lower roof, a hail strike had compressed the sheeting right at a fixing screw, opening a gap just big enough to let water track into the ceiling cavity whenever rain came through.
That is the thing about hail damage on a metal roof: it rarely announces itself. No missing sheets, no visible holes, nothing on the driveway. It takes getting up there with a trained eye, and sometimes a chalk test, to see what has actually happened.
What Made This One Challenging
This was not a simple lift-and-relay. The Manly job had a few layers to it:
- Two storeys, two roof levels. The upper and lower roofs sit at different pitches, which means different sheet runs, different flashing details, and careful staging of the work with full edge protection around both levels.
- Solar and skylights. The solar panels came off before the new roof went on and were reinstalled once it was done, and the skylights were fitted as part of the re-roof. Every penetration is a spot where a reroof can go wrong if it is rushed.
- A hidden leak already under way. That compressed sheet at the fixing screw needed a make safe first, sealing the affected area before the weather could push more water into the ceiling space.
- Roughly 200 square metres of corrugated Colorbond, replaced sheet by sheet, with the flashings done properly rather than patched.
The encouraging part: the roof structure underneath complied with the applicable standards, with metal battens and an insulated blanket under the sheeting. The inspection noted the roof and gutters had been well maintained before the storm. Hail does not care about maintenance, but a well-kept roof makes the rebuild cleaner and faster.
The Lesson for Every Bayside Homeowner
If hail has come through your suburb, your roof can be significantly damaged and still look perfect from the ground. This Manly roof was 80 per cent gone and you could not tell from the street.
Two simple prompts to act on:
- The neighbour test. If a house near you is getting its roof redone after a storm, the same cell almost certainly passed over your place. Hail does not pick and choose houses on a street.
- The age of the last storm. If it has been months since hail came through and nobody has been up on your roof, damage like that compressed fixing point could be quietly letting water in the whole time.
A proper inspection catches it early, while it is a repair rather than a ceiling replacement.
The Finish
The photos tell the story: a brand new corrugated Colorbond roof across both levels, clean ridge lines, flashings sitting the way they should, and one of the better views in Manly behind it. The beauty is in the detail.
If your roof has been through a storm, or your street has sprouted a few new roofs lately, do not guess from the driveway. We work on metal roofs across Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and we are QBCC licensed and fully insured.
Call us on 0449 831 572 and we will get up there, have a proper look, and give you a straight quote. The inspection is free.
