From the cross streets of the Annandale ridge you look across a roofscape council's heritage statement describes in detail: terracotta and slate, a skyline of chimneys, decorative fire walls between terraces, ridge capping and finials. Cleaning one of these roofs is less about the open run of tile than about everything rising out of it. Each of those features holds shade and damp around its base, and each can be damaged by a rushed job, which is why our roof work here begins with an inspection.
Council's statement dates the houses of the conservation area from the 1880s to the 1930s, and the roofing materials reflect it. Terracotta tile and slate cover the main roofs through the conservation area, and iron appears mostly over verandahs, as a lower and flatter roof of its own.
Shade on these roofs comes from the buildings as much as from trees. A fire wall standing proud of the tiles between two terraces throws a shadow across one side for part of every day, and chimney stacks do the same on a smaller scale. Lichen and moss follow that shadow, so a terracotta roof can be clean in the open and green in the lee of its own fire wall.
Brush box in the streets can add leaf that lodges behind chimneys and against the base of fire walls, holding damp against the tile and the flashing. Down the slopes toward Whites Creek and Johnstons Creek, the small resubdivided lots put workers' houses close together, and neighbouring roofs shade one another.
We inspect first, then soft wash or use controlled pressure depending on what the tile and capping will tolerate, and finish with an anti-mould and lichen treatment to slow regrowth. Around finials and decorative capping we lean toward the soft wash.
Inside the Annandale Heritage Conservation Area, council expects pre-1939 buildings and their original details to be kept. On a roof, that makes maintenance the sensible route, because replacing terracotta, capping or a finial means matching what was there rather than choosing something new off the shelf.
Lichen is the slow threat. It roots into the surface of older terracotta and holds water there, and through each damp spell that moisture works on the tile. Clearing it and applying an anti-lichen treatment pushes back the point where individual tiles start to break down.
Debris is the faster one. Moss and leaf banked against a fire wall or chimney sit right on the flashing, and that junction is where leaks in older roofs often begin. A clean roof lets water run off the way the builder intended.
There is a visual return as well. The cross streets and the northern end look out over neighbouring roofs toward the harbour and the city, so a roof in Annandale is seen from above as well as from the footpath.
The before-and-after photos also show you the parts of your own roof you can't see from the street.
Slate sits alongside terracotta across the Annandale conservation area. The roofs we list for cleaning are terracotta and concrete tile and metal, so if yours is slate, mention it when you call. We will talk it through and look at the roof before suggesting anything, because slate needs its own assessment.
They are original details council wants kept on Annandale houses, so we treat them carefully. The roof is inspected before any cleaning, and if capping or a finial looks loose or brittle we tell you and adjust the method around it, favouring a soft wash over pressure in those spots.
Where an Annandale house pairs a terracotta main roof with iron over the verandah, our roof cleaning covers both, since we work on metal as well as tile. Sitting low beside the street, a verandah roof can collect brush box leaf and grime, so it makes sense to include it in the same visit.
It usually comes down to shade. The section of a terrace roof sitting in the shadow of a fire wall, chimney or neighbouring roof stays damp longer, and lichen and moss settle there first. After cleaning we apply an anti-mould and lichen treatment, which helps slow regrowth on that shaded side.
How we clean tile, terracotta and metal roofs across Sydney, what the process involves and what it costs.
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MONDAY: 7:30 AM — 6:00 PM
TUESDAY: 7:30 AM — 6:00 PM
WEDNESDAY: 7:30 AM — 6:00 PM
THURSDAY: 7:30 AM — 6:00 PM
FRIDAY: 7:30 AM — 6:00 PM
SATURDAY: CLOSED
SUNDAY: CLOSED
