Metal roofing · Sydney
Shed and Outbuilding Roof Replacement in Sydney
Sheds, workshops and outbuildings. Usually a one or two day job, and usually well overdue.
- Trade
- Certificate III roof plumber
- Work
- Re-roofs, new roofs, guttering
- Material
- Metal only. No tile.
- Area
- Sydney, west prioritised
What is included
What you are actually buying
Full sheet replacement
Old sheets off, purlins checked, new steel on. Not a coat of paint over rust.
The frame gets looked at
Shed frames are usually light steel or timber and they are where the real problem tends to be.
Guttering while we are there
A shed gutter that has rusted through is a five minute add-on during the job and a separate visit afterwards.
Honest about repair
If two sheets have gone and the rest is sound, that is a two sheet job and we will say so.
Not included, deliberately
We work in metal only. No tile restoration, repointing or roof painting, no internal ceiling repairs, and no small leak chasing as a service. Job size is not a limit either way: there is no lower cut-off, and the crew scales up to roofs of around a thousand square metres.
How it works
From the first phone call to the clean up
Look at it
Most shed roofs fail in a pattern: the low end, the fixings, and wherever a tree overhangs.
Frame assessed
The sheets are cheap. Rotten timber purlins or rusted steel underneath change the job, and that gets said before you commit.
Sheets off
Old sheeting removed and taken away rather than stacked behind the shed.
New sheet, new fixings
New sheeting in the profile that suits the pitch, screwed to the correct pattern with new washers.
Edges finished
Barge, ridge and gutter sorted, because that is where a shed roof leaks first.
The detail
What you should know before you commit
A shed roof is a small job that people put off for years, usually because it is not the house and it does not feel urgent until something inside gets wet.
It is also one of the more satisfying jobs to do properly, because the whole thing is visible, the whole thing gets replaced, and it is done in a day or two rather than a week.
What actually goes wrong on a shed roof
Shed roofs fail in a small number of predictable ways, and knowing which one you have decides whether it is a repair or a replacement.
The low end goes first
Water sits longest at the bottom of the sheet, so that is where the coating gives up. A roof that looks fine from the yard is often gone along the last half metre.
Fixings before sheets
The washers under the screws perish long before the steel does. Rust rings around every screw means the fixings have failed, not necessarily the roof.
Whatever is overhanging it
Leaf litter holds moisture against the sheet permanently. A shed under a tree ages at a completely different rate to one in the open.
The frame underneath
Timber purlins rot where the sheet has been leaking, and light steel frames rust from the inside out. This is the part that turns a small job into a bigger one.
Repair or replace
Not every shed roof needs replacing, and we would rather tell you that on site than sell you a full re-roof.
If the sheets are sound and the fixings have failed, re-screwing with new washers is a legitimate fix and it buys real years. If the steel itself has gone at the laps and the low end, re-screwing is putting new fixings into metal that is finished.
The one situation where replacement is nearly always right is when the roof has been leaking long enough to affect the frame, because at that point you are opening it up anyway.
What a shed roof does not need
Sheds attract a certain amount of upselling, so it is worth naming what we do not do.
We do not roof-paint a rusted shed to make it look serviceable, and we do not sell insulation or ventilation on an outbuilding that is used for storage. If the shed is a workshop you actually spend time in, sarking and a vent are a reasonable conversation and we will have it.
We also do not do asbestos. A lot of older Sydney sheds are roofed in fibro sheeting, and that is a licensed removal job for a specialist before any new roof goes on.
Old fibro sheeting is a stop, not a step
If your shed roof is asbestos cement, it has to come off by a licensed asbestos removalist before we sheet it. We will tell you what you are looking at and we will not touch it ourselves.
Want this priced for your roof rather than in general?
The drip that is not a leak
A common call about a shed roof is water dripping inside on a clear morning, which is condensation rather than a leak and it will not be fixed by new sheeting on its own.
A bare metal roof over an unheated space gets colder than the air underneath it overnight. Moisture in that air condenses on the underside of the sheet and, once there is enough of it, runs off and drips.
It is worth knowing this before you pay for a new roof, because a brand new sheet does exactly the same thing.
How to tell them apart
A leak follows rain and appears in the same place. Condensation appears on cold clear mornings, spreads across the whole underside, and stops by mid morning.
Sarking is the fix
An anti-condensation blanket or a sarking layer under the sheet gives the moisture somewhere to go and stops it forming drops on the steel.
Ventilation helps
Air moving through the space carries moisture out. A whirlybird or ridge vent on a closed shed does real work here.
What is stored underneath
Anything damp in a sealed shed, including a concrete slab that has never been sealed, keeps feeding the problem regardless of the roof.
Common questions
Shed roofs: common questions
Do you replace shed roofs as well as house roofs?
Yes. Sheds, workshops, outbuildings and similar. They are usually a one or two day job.
Can you just re-screw my shed roof?
If the sheets are sound and only the fixings have failed, yes, and that is often the right answer. If the steel has gone at the laps and the low end, new screws go into metal that is already finished.
My shed roof is old fibro. Can you replace it?
Not the removal. Asbestos cement sheeting has to come off by a licensed asbestos removalist. Once it is gone we can sheet the frame in metal.
Will you replace the shed guttering at the same time?
If it needs it, yes, and doing it during the roof job is far cheaper than bringing someone back for it.
Other services
The rest of what we do
Full re-roof
We take the old roof off and put a new metal one on. While it is open we check the timber underneath and replace anything that has rotted.
Garage roofs
Garages and carports, attached or standalone. Where the garage roof meets the house is the part that has to be right.
Guttering
New gutters, downpipes and fascia, either with a new roof or on their own.
Next step
Get your roof measured properly
On the roof where we can get to it, off satellite imagery where access is awkward. You get a figure for your roof, not a rate applied to a guess.