Mount Kuring-gai: roofing on the bushfire interface

Mount Kuring-gai is a narrow ribbon of housing between the Pacific Highway and the rail line, with Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park holding the eastern side and bushland falling away to the west. There is not much of the suburb that is more than a few hundred metres from unbroken vegetation.

That geography sets the roofing agenda here more than the housing stock does.

Ember exposure, in practical terms

Hornsby Shire's bushfire prone land mapping, certified by the NSW Rural Fire Service, covers a great deal of this suburb. Where new roof work falls on that land it is assessed against AS 3959, and the roof-line requirements are specific and worth knowing before you get three quotes:

• The roof fully sarked, not partially
• Roof-to-wall junctions sealed
• Any gutter or valley guard non-combustible, which rules out the common plastic clip-in products
• Fine-aperture ember mesh at openings, rather than a coarse leaf screen

A roof quote here that does not mention any of this has not thought about where the house is. We put it in writing at the quote stage so you can compare like with like.

The ordinary roofing problems as well

Fire detailing is not the whole story. These are mostly mid-century and later homes with tile and metal roofs that have their usual issues: crumbling ridge pointing, corroded valleys, gutters packed solid, and fasteners that have aged on metal roofs exposed to wind along the ridge.

Metal re-roofing has an obvious appeal on a block like this, since litter sheds instead of lodging, and a sheet roof is straightforward to detail for ember protection. There is more on the metal and Colorbond roofing page.

Access and travel

Long driveways and sloping blocks are common, so we check access at the inspection and include it in the quote rather than discovering it on the day.

Free inspection and written quote. Call (02) 9000 1127 or send the details.

We also cover Mount Colah, Berowra and Cowan. Everything is listed on the service areas page.