Roofing in Ruse, on the Eastern Edge

Ruse honours James Ruse, the first man to farm successfully in the colony, and the suburb sits out on the eastern edge of the Campbelltown valley where the streets run out into bushland. James Ruse Park on Oberon Road is one of the open spaces that marks that transition.

It is a quiet suburb of single-storey brick-and-tile homes, and the roofing work here is dominated by one component.

Valleys

A valley is where two roof planes meet and send their combined water down one metal trough. On the roofs through Ruse those valleys are galvanised steel, and they are older than anything else on the roof in practical terms.

Here is why they fail out this way. The bushland edge drops a constant load of gum leaves and bark into the valley. The litter dams at the bottom, the metal stays wet between every rain event instead of drying out, and corrosion works upward from the base of the trough. Then it perforates — and because a valley runs down the middle of a roof plane, the leak lands in the middle of a room rather than near a wall.

Replacing a valley means lifting the tiles on both sides, fitting new valley iron with correct laps, and re-laying the tiles. It is routine work and it is a lot cheaper than the ceiling repair that follows ignoring it.

The rest of the roof

The same age-related items as everywhere in the valley: ridge and hip pointing cracked by inland heat, bedding mortar gone soft, worn tile surfaces. Usually a roof restoration rather than a replacement, assuming the tiles are not brittle.

Being on the bushland interface, gutter guard is worth a conversation here too — it keeps the valleys flowing and reduces the dry fuel sitting on your roof in a bad fire week.

Get it checked

Call (02) 4601 5100 for a free inspection and a written quote. If a leak is active, say so and it gets prioritised — see storm and emergency roof repairs.

Adjoining suburbs we cover: Campbelltown, Airds and Bradbury. The whole list is on the service areas page.