Storm Damage Roof Repairs in Como
Fast make-safe and permanent repairs after Perth storms, plus Insurance Roof Repairs Perth help. Serving Como 6152 and the inner-southern suburbs.
Fully licensed & accredited — Builders Registration BC105819 · Painters Registration PC102072 · Patent ID AU-A-2020100623
If a storm has damaged your Como roof, photograph everything before covering it, keep out of any room with a loaded ceiling and ring us on 0421 768 842. Make safe, document, repair. In that order.
Why Como roofs behave the way they do
Como has a piece of building history that genuinely changes how its houses should be inspected. In 1948-49, more than a thousand blocks were created here and the suburb became a testing ground for experimental prefabricated. “expansible” houses, homes designed to be thrown up quickly against a desperate post-war housing shortage. The shortage was severe enough that the City allowed families to live in caravans on their own blocks while their houses went up. Identify the construction before assuming anything about it Experimental housing was built for speed, not longevity, using non-standard details. Where examples survive, or were later built onto, expect unusual wall and floor systems, junctions that were never intended to last seventy-five years and additions grafted onto a frame never designed to carry them. A conventional inspection checklist applied to a non-conventional house will miss the things that matter. Establishing what the house is actually made of comes first. Not always. The scale of that release also means a very large body of homes of near-identical vintage. Late-1940s and 1950s problems recur across whole streets, original services well past life, asbestos-era materials and roof and wet-area fabric at or beyond a second cycle. Two pieces of geography shape the rest. Canning Highway cuts the suburb in half, so properties near it carry real traffic noise and the two halves differ in character. And where Como runs down toward the Swan River, the low parcels carry a high water table and estuarine damp working at masonry.Storm Damage Roof Repair in Como: the short version
A temporary cover is not a repair. It stops the ceiling and the insulation taking further damage while the weather clears. Full detail on our storm damage page.
What that means for storm damage roof repair in Como
Slow drying conditions mean a roof opened by a storm stays wet for far longer, so timber takes damage quickly if the make safe is delayed.
Establishing whether water came down, over or up matters here before anybody covers a roof, because covering a roof achieves nothing if the water is rising rather than falling.
Old roofs need a lighter hand even in an emergency. Brittle terracotta does not tolerate being walked in the wet, so temporary work is frequently done from ladders and edges rather than the roof surface.
Como roofs: symptom and fix
| What you are seeing | What it usually means | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Water inside for the first time | New entry point created by the event | Trace, make safe, repair |
| Gradual leak worsening over years | Wear, generally excluded from cover | Repair, do not lodge |
| Sheeting lifted at the fixings | Wind uplift exceeded the fixing | Refix to correct specification |
| Ceiling bulging after rain | Water pooling above the plaster | Stay out of the room, call immediately |
Guide only. Every roof differs, which is why we look before quoting.
More roofing in Como
01Roof Repairs in Como
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Roof Repairs in Como
Learn moreComo runs along the Swan and mixes older character homes with a good deal of unit and townhouse stock, so the roof work is varied — perished pointing and cracked tiles on the houses, plus flashing and box-gutter issues on the flatter roofs of the units. We match the tile where it's a pitched roof, sort the detailing where it's not, and always trace the leak to where the water genuinely enters rather than where it shows.
View roof repairs in Como →
02Roof Restoration in Como
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Roof Restoration in Como
Learn moreComo's older foreshore homes are prime restoration candidates — sound tiles under faded colour and tired pointing, in a setting worth doing well. We lift the river-fed moss, re-bed and re-point the ridges, replace the odd broken tile, and re-coat in a tone that suits the house. On a leafy riverside street a proper restoration takes years off a home for a fraction of a re-roof.
View roof restoration in Como →
03Roof Replacement in Como
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Roof Replacement in Como
Learn moreWhen a Como roof is genuinely finished, we re-roof it to suit an established riverside home — framing and sarking sorted while it's open, flashings detailed properly, and a considered choice between a traditional tile look and lighter Colorbond. The aim is a roof that fits comfortably on a Swan-side street and outlasts the one it replaces, whether it's a character house or something more recent.
View roof replacement in Como →
04Roof Inspection in Como
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Roof Inspection in Como
Learn moreA Como home — house or unit — can hide an aged roof behind a well-kept front, so a look before you buy is worth it. We check the tiles, pointing, valleys and flashings on a pitched roof, or the box gutters and membrane on a flatter one, and get into the roof space where we can, then hand you a clear photographed report so the roof isn't an unknown when you make your offer.
View roof inspection in Como →
05Roof Carpentry in Como
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Roof Carpentry in Como
Learn moreUnder Como's older foreshore homes there's framing that's absorbed years of river damp, and where a leak's been added on top the timber has often quietly gone. We repair it properly — cutting back to sound wood, matching the old framing, and stopping the water at its source above — so a lovely riverside home isn't left with rot working away beneath a roof that looks fine from the street.
View roof carpentry in Como →06Structural Defect Repairs in Como
Learn more
Structural Defect Repairs in Como
Learn moreEstablished Como roofs carry the usual structural history — spread rafters, a settled ridge, framing softened where a long leak and river damp got into the timber. When an inspection names a genuine fault, we diagnose what's really moving, work respectfully on an older home, engage an engineer where warranted, and certify the rectification, so a sale clears rather than stalling on the building report.
View structural defect repairs in Como →See all roofing services in Como, or read more about our structural defect repairs service across Perth.
Signs a Como roof took damage in the last front
- Tiles displaced, cracked or missing after a front
- A limb or debris on the roof
- Water appearing inside where it never has before
- Guttering pulled loose or full of roof material
- Sheeting lifted at the laps or fixings pulled through
Local conditions in Como
Como was a testing ground for EXPERIMENTAL PREFABRICATED and 'EXPANSIBLE' houses in 1948-49, homes designed for speed rather than longevity and built to non-standard details. Where any survive or were built onto, expect construction that does not follow conventional practice: unusual wall. That matters. Floor systems, joints and junctions that were never meant to last 75 years and additions grafted onto a frame never designed to carry them. Identify the construction type before assuming anything about it.
Over 1,000 blocks released in two years means a large body of homes of near-identical vintage. The same late-1940s and 1950s issues recur across whole streets: original services long past life, asbestos-era materials and roof and wet-area fabric at or beyond the end of a second cycle.
Canning Highway cuts the suburb in two, properties on or near it carry substantial traffic noise and the two halves differ in character and value.
We cover the whole of the City of South Perth. Short drives keep storm damage roof repair affordable on smaller jobs and most of ours are smaller jobs.
Materials and specification
Keep everything. Photographs of the damage before anything was covered, the make safe invoice, the assessment, the repair scope and both warranties. That paperwork answers questions at settlement and at sale and it costs nothing to file properly.
A little about Como
Originally three land grants purchased by Christchurch farmer Edmund Hugh Comer in February 1891; recognised as a new suburb around 1898; established 1905; Canning Highway Divides THE Suburb; ~6.7km², ~14,786 pop The 1950s and 60s saw further development of surrounding areas by the State Housing Commission and under War Service Homes Housing shortages were such that the City Allowed People TO Live IN Caravans ON Their Properties While Their Houses Were Being Built None of that decides what your roof needs. It does tell us what to expect before we get the ladder out in Como.
Recent work
What the work involves
- Separate event damage from pre-existing wear. Assessors reject reports that blur the two. Documenting them separately is what gets the legitimate part of a claim approved
- Safety before roofing. Structural damage, loaded ceilings and water near wiring come first. There are conditions in which nobody should be on a roof at all and we will say so rather than take the risk
- Document before covering anything. The original damage is photographed before a tarp goes near it, because an insurer needs to see what the event did rather than what it looked like afterwards
Common questions about storm damage roof repair in Como
What if the damage is only cosmetic?
Then we will say so. A displaced tile that has not admitted water is a small job and inflating it into a claim helps nobody and uses up your claims history.
Do you charge for attending after hours?
Emergency attendance is priced differently to a booked repair and we will tell you that before we come rather than afterwards.
What should I do before you arrive?
Stay out of any room with a sagging ceiling, because plasterboard holding water comes down without warning. If water is near lights or wiring, isolate that circuit. Then photograph everything before covering it.
Does covering the roof affect my claim?
No, provided the original damage is photographed first. Insurers expect you to prevent further loss and leaving a roof open to the weather can prejudice a claim rather than protect it.
Do you work throughout Como?
Yes and the surrounding suburbs. Ring 0421 768 842 and tell us your street. If we are not the right people for the job we will say so rather than quoting anyway.
Three questions worth asking first
Compare scopes rather than totals. A cheaper quote is frequently a different job and the gap is usually treatment time, film build, or repairs excluded and raised later. Ask for the product name, coat count and what happens if more damage is found once work starts.
Getting a quote in Como
Call 0421 768 842 for an inspection. We photograph what is actually there, price the work that is genuinely required and tell you plainly when a Como roof needs less than you were expecting. That happens more often than people assume.
Dulux AcraTex accredited applicators
Powerdrive Roofing is an accredited applicator for the Dulux AcraTex roof restoration system, so your coating carries the manufacturer’s product warranty alongside our own 10-year workmanship warranty. How the Dulux AcraTex warranty works →
What Perth homeowners say
Our Google profile carries 206 reviews from Perth homeowners. Worth reading before you commit to any roofer, ours included.
Request a free inspection
Tell us about the roof and we will come and look at it. Free inspection, written quote, no obligation.
Need your roof sorted? Let's talk.
Tell us about your roof and the problem, we'll tell you the likely cause and what it'll take to fix.