Roof Cleaning in Mount Hawthorn

Roof Cleaning in Mount Hawthorn: the short version

A clean roof lasts longer and not for cosmetic reasons. Growth holds water against the surface indefinitely. Full detail on our roof cleaning page.

What that means for roof cleaning in Mount Hawthorn

Old terracotta needs a lighter approach entirely. It is brittle, frequently glazed and high pressure suitable for concrete will chip it or drive water under the laps.

On this vintage cleaning is usually the first stage of a restoration rather than a service on its own, because the surface underneath is the actual problem.

We assess metalwork while cleaning here, because deposit and corrosion tend to appear on the same roofs.

Local conditions in Mount Hawthorn

Subdivided as a single estate in 1903, so Mount Hawthorn's original housing is remarkably consistent in vintage and lot size, early-1900s cottages and bungalows on modest, regular blocks. That consistency means the same era problems recur: solid brick with no damp-proof course, timber floors on stumps, original roof plumbing and services long superseded.

One of the state's largest primary schools sits in a suburb of small original cottages, which tells you exactly what has happened to the housing. Families needing more space on constrained blocks extend REARWARDS and UPWARDS, so expect second storeys added over walls never designed to carry them, rear additions over original subfloor vents and roof structures altered to gain space. Check how the load of any upper addition is actually carried.

Successive waves of addition since the 1950s mean asbestos sheeting is common in intermediate-era work, assess before renovation or demolition.

We cover the whole of the City of Vincent. Short drives keep roof cleaning affordable on smaller jobs and most of ours are smaller jobs.

Materials and specification

Where cleaning reveals broken tiles, matching runs through Bristile Roofing or salvage stock at Roof Top Industries. Growth frequently hides damage, so it is common to find more once a roof is clean.

A little about Mount Hawthorn

The land was Subdivided IN 1903, when Hicks named his portion Hawthorn Estate after the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn where he had recently stayed Anzac Cottage (1916), a war memorial cottage in the suburb; a small plaque on the flagpole honours 19-year-old Leslie Wilkinson, killed at Gallipoli on 28 June 1915; notable former resident Thomas Axford VC (1918) Has become a desirable inner-city suburb attracting Young Families with its parks, cafes, bars and restaurants None of that decides what your roof needs. It does tell us what to expect before we get the ladder out in Mount Hawthorn.

What the work involves

• Identify what is actually growing. Algae streaks with the slope and is largely cosmetic. Moss holds water and roots in mortar joints. Lichen bonds chemically to the tile and resists physical removal entirely. They need different handling
• Treat, then wait. A biocide kills the organism including whatever is bonded into the surface. That takes days, not minutes and it is the stage that separates a lasting clean from a cosmetic one
• Clean at a pressure matched to the tile. Aged concrete that has been damp for decades has a softened surface. Excessive pressure removes material rather than dirt and drives water up under the laps into the roof space

Before you commit to anybody

Ask what happens if the scope changes. On older Mount Hawthorn roofs things become visible once work starts and that is normal. What is not normal is discovering the variation on the invoice. It should be photographed, priced and discussed before anybody acts on it.

Getting a quote in Mount Hawthorn

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 Mount Hawthorn roof needs less than you were expecting. That happens more often than people assume.