After a Record Warm, Wet Winter: Reading Your Roof Through Melbourne’s Storm Season

Victoria has just experienced its hottest winter, with the average area mean temperature standing at 10.0 degrees. This has been a whopping 1.40 degrees above the 1961-1990 average, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. During the same period, Victoria recorded 231.2 millimetres of rainfall, 13% above average and the highest since 2016. Hot, humid weather conditions are ideal for moss, rust and rotting leaves that end up quietly deposited on a roof. With spring storms already breaking in, anybody requiring roof plumbing services in Reservoir should be looking up.

What a Wet Winter Can Bring

Several weeks of constant rainfall will wash leaves, pods and debris into the gutters, forming thick sludge that a roof plumber Reservoir will often find. This can result in brackets bearing too much weight, causing gutters to droop away from their proper alignment. Rust tends to appear at junctions, valleys and fixings because they stay there longest. Clogged downpipes at their topmost point often remain undetected until water begins to flow over the front of the gutter.

A set of binoculars from the street will provide a lot of information without one having to climb onto a ladder. One should inspect gutters drooping between brackets, stains dripping down the fascia board and ridge capping that is lifted up. Any new ceiling stain requires urgent attention, regardless of how the roof may appear from the outside.

Overflow, the Most Overlooked Aspect of Roof Plumbing

Gutters will always be overloaded by enough rainwater to warrant overflow provisions for proper roof drainage. This feature will ensure that excess water is released safely out of the building rather than into the ceiling. Regulator’s roof plumbing audit checklist will ask you if your system meets the required provision for overflow. The most dangerous combination occurs in townhouse box gutters with internal outlets lacking overflow provisions.

The moment a box gutter begins to fill faster than its outlet can drain, there will be no safe place for the water. Walls, ceilings and fixtures will then have to take the hit, usually during the heaviest rainstorm of the year. It would cost very little to have a roof plumber inspect overflow arrangements compared to water-damaged ceilings.

Flashings, Valleys and Anything Else Poking a Hole in the Roof

Solar panels, A/C units, skylights and the like all punch through the roof cover at some point. This is the same audit checklist we’re always being told to go over, to make sure every single roof breach is weathertight and properly screwed down. The flashings around those holes take years of baking in the sun and getting pummelled with rain to slowly start lifting or cracking at the edges. Valleys, the spots where two roof slopes meet, are just waiting for debris to start rusting the place out before any other part of the roof even thinks about it.

New installs, especially when non-roof experts get in on the action, are gonna need a second look. That flashing looking all good when the job is done? It’ll loosen up after just one rainy season of heating and cooling. Little leaks around those breaches tend to show up first as tiny brown rings on bedroom ceilings.

Gutters, Downpipes and Where the Water Properly Goes

Gutters need to be shaped so the water rolls right into their downpipes, or the water just sits there and eats its way through the metal. Downpipes then carry all that water into your property’s stormwater drains (you know, the ones you’ve got to look after). As a homeowner, you’re on the hook for drainage up to where the council takes over. And that means you’re also responsible for any problems on your land that are affecting the place next door.

When water pools up against the footings of your house from a clogged downpipe, you’re gonna see dampness and movement over time. A simple run with a hose down each downpipe sorts out whether water is flowing or getting backed up. Finding a blockage when it’s nice and sunny is a lot better than getting a midnight wake-up call in the middle of a storm.

Getting Roof Plumbing Right

Roof plumbing is what we call a licensed area of work in Vic, so make sure whoever is doing your plumbing has the right qualifications. If the total value of plumbing work you get done is over seven fifty, you need to get that practitioner a compliance certificate. That gets you insurance, which runs for six years after the certificate gets issued. And let’s be real, working at heights is a recipe for disaster, which is why trying to fix your gutters yourself is usually a pretty poor bet.

With storms still coming our way this spring, now’s probably a good time to get a roof and gutter check-up before the weather gets too dodgy. Getting up there when it’s sunny is a whole lot cheaper than dealing with a cracked ceiling after the next rainstorm.