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Rust through a sheet, screws that have backed out, a lap that weeps in a southerly, a flue or vent that was never flashed properly. Our licensed roof plumbers repair Colorbond, Zincalume and old galvanised iron roofs across Melbourne, sheet by sheet where that is the right call, and tell you plainly when it is not.
Tick two or more and it is time to book — every one of these gets worse, never better, on its own.
A metal roof is a set of sheets held down by screws and joined at laps. Most leaks start at one of those two places, not in the middle of a sheet. The rubber washer under a roof screw hardens and cracks after years of sun, the screw works loose as the sheet expands and contracts through a Melbourne summer, and water follows the thread straight through the hole. Screws that were driven too hard on the day dish the sheet around them, so water sits against the washer instead of running off.
Laps are the second weak point. On a low-pitch roof, a side lap or an end lap that was never sealed, or was sealed with household silicone that has since let go, will draw water uphill by capillary action in steady rain. That is why a skillion extension can be dry in a storm and wet in a slow, grey day of drizzle.
Then there is rust. Colorbond and Zincalume resist it well when they are clean and draining, but rust takes hold at cut edges, wherever drill swarf was left on the sheet, under leaf litter that holds water, in dents that pond, and anywhere lead flashing or a copper pipe drains onto the steel. Old galvanised iron on weatherboard and period homes simply reaches the end of its coating, and it goes first at the gutter edge where the water lingers longest.
Fixings. Failed screws come out and are replaced with the correct roofing screw and a new sealing washer. Where the old hole has rusted out or opened up, we go up a size so the new fixing bites into sound steel and the washer seats on a flat sheet. Every screw in the affected run is checked, not just the one that was leaking.
Laps and penetrations. Weeping laps are cleaned back, refixed and sealed with a roofing-grade sealant that stays flexible, then stitched with fixings so the seal is not carrying the load on its own. Around a flue, vent, whirlybird, aerial or cable entry we fit a proper penetration flashing rather than another bead of silicone over the last one. Our roof flashing repair page covers those in detail, and chimney flashing has its own page under chimney services.
Rust. Surface rust on a sound sheet is cleaned back, treated and sealed. Rust that has pitted through, or thinned the sheet so it flexes underfoot, means the sheet is replaced. The new sheet is matched to the profile and colour, and the fixings and flashings that touch it are compatible metals, because a wrong pairing starts the corrosion again.
All of this is roof plumbing, and every job is carried out by licensed roof plumbers. You get before and after photos of the roof, including the parts you cannot see from the ground.
Corrugated Colorbond is the common choice on estates built from the 1990s on, on carports and garages, and on extensions behind brick veneer homes. It is the easiest metal roof to repair sheet by sheet because every sheet is exposed-fixed and can be lifted and replaced on its own.
Concealed-fix profiles such as Klip-Lok sit on low-pitch skillions and modern flat-roofed extensions. There are no screw heads to leak, so the trouble is at the ends, at the laps and at the flashings, and replacing one sheet in the middle of a run is more involved than it looks. We say so before we quote it.
Old galvanised iron on weatherboard, Californian bungalow and Edwardian homes has often outlasted its coating. The typical failure is rust along the gutter edge and around the nails or screws, with sheets that have gone thin. Replacing a few sheets is worthwhile when the rest is sound; replacing the same sheets every winter is not.
Debris matters on all three. A roof that holds leaves and branches holds water, and holding water is how rust starts. If the roof needs a clean as well as a repair, our metal roof cleaning guide explains what a soft clean does and does not do to Colorbond.
We are a repair service. Most metal roof leaks are one slope, a handful of sheets, a run of fixings or one flashing, and a repair is the right answer: it is quicker, it is cheaper, and the rest of the roof was not the problem. That is the work this page is about, and it is what our licensed roof plumbers do most days.
Some roofs are past it. Rust across most sheets, a gutter edge that is crumbling the full length of the house, battens that have rotted under the sheets, or a repair history where every winter adds another patch. In that case a sheet-by-sheet repair spends your money on a roof that will keep failing, and we tell you that on the phone or on the day, with photos, rather than booking the work.
Two things we do not do here. We do not re-roof a tile house in Colorbond on a repair booking, because changing the roof material is a different job with its own approvals and a different mix of trades. And we do not paint over rust and call it restored. If your roof has gone past repair, the photos we take are yours to use when you get the re-roof quoted.
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Every item below is part of the job, not an extra line on the invoice.
Where the stain is, what the roof is made of, and whether it leaks in every rain or only some. A photo from the driveway helps. The office gives you a free estimate over the phone.
The office confirms the price before any work, including any sheets that need ordering, and books a window that suits you, 7 days a week.
Fixings replaced, laps sealed and stitched, sheets swapped where rust has won, flashings fitted properly around penetrations, and the area cleared so it drains.
You see the before and after photos of the roof and pay only after the job is done.
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Usually, yes. Most Colorbond and metal roof leaks are at the screws, the laps or a flashing, and all three are repaired in place. Even rust is often confined to a few sheets, which are replaced individually. A full re-roof is only the answer when rust or thinning runs across most of the roof, and we tell you that before quoting.
Perished screw washers and loose screws are the most common cause, followed by unsealed or failed laps on low-pitch roofs, and penetrations such as flues, vents and aerials that were sealed with silicone instead of flashed. Rust from debris, dents that pond water or incompatible metals nearby comes next. The sheet itself is rarely the problem.
Surface rust on a sound sheet can be cleaned back, treated and sealed. Once rust has pitted through or the sheet has gone thin enough to flex underfoot, treatment does not hold and the sheet is replaced. Our roof plumber checks the sheet from above and, where possible, from the roof space so you get the right call.
Some metals corrode steel when water runs from one onto the other. Lead flashing, copper pipe and the wrong fasteners will all stain and eat into Colorbond or Zincalume over time. Every screw, flashing and sheet we fit is chosen to sit safely against the roof it touches, which is a large part of why repairs done properly last.
Decades, when it is kept clean and draining. What shortens its life is debris left to hold water, unsealed cut edges, drill swarf left on the sheets, dents that pond, and the wrong metals draining onto it. Keep it clean and draining and repair fixings when they first fail, and the sheets themselves are rarely the thing that gives out.
It can be. A run of loose or rusted screws on one slope is a short visit with a licensed roof plumber, new fixings and new washers. It becomes larger when the holes have rusted open and need upsizing, or when the screws were the symptom and the laps or a flashing are the real leak. The office tells you which on the phone.
Low-pitch roofs drain slowly, so steady rain sits on the sheet long enough to creep uphill through an unsealed lap or under a flashing by capillary action. A storm often blows straight past. The repair is to seal and stitch the laps and refit the flashings so there is no path for slow water.
Not on a repair booking. Changing the roof material is a re-roof, not a repair, with its own approvals and a different mix of trades. This page is for repairing metal roofs you already have. If a metal roof is past repair, we say so and the photos we take are yours to use when you get the re-roof quoted.
Fixings and laps on a single slope are usually done in a visit. Sheet replacement takes longer and may wait on sheets being cut to length in the right colour and profile. The office gives you the timing when they confirm the price, and if the roof is open to weather we make it safe first and come back for the sheets.
FreshDuct repairs Colorbond, Zincalume and galvanised metal roofs across metropolitan Melbourne with licensed roof plumbers. Failed screws and washers, weeping laps, rust-through sheets, dents that pond water and penetrations that were never flashed are all repaired in place, sheet by sheet where that is the right call. Free estimate over the phone, firm price from the office before any work, payment after the job.
When rust has pitted through or a sheet has gone thin, the sheet comes out and a new one goes in, matched to the profile and colour of the roof around it. The fixings and flashings that touch it are compatible metals. Old galvanised iron on weatherboard and period homes is replaced along the gutter edge where it fails first.
Most metal roof leaks are a screw or a lap, not a sheet. We replace failed fixings along the whole affected run, upsize where the hole has rusted open, and clean, seal and stitch laps with roofing-grade sealant so the seal is not doing the job alone. Low-pitch skillions and concealed-fix roofs get the same attention at the ends and edges.
We repair. When a roof is rusted across most of its sheets or has been patched every winter, we say a re-roof is the honest answer and give you the photos to get it quoted. We do not paint over rust, and we do not convert tile roofs to metal on a repair booking.
All of metropolitan Melbourne, 7 days a week — and if your suburb is not listed, we still come to you. The office confirms the details for your address when they call with your free estimate.
Leaks, flashings, valleys, ridge capping, tiles and gutters, all photographed before and after.
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Wall, apron, step and penetration flashings around vents, flues, whirlybirds and pipes.
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The gutter your metal roof drains into: rust, sag and overflow repaired, or the run replaced.
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Lifted sheets and branch damage made safe, then repaired, with a photo report for you.
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What a roof plumber does, what a tiler does, and which one your leak needs.
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How a soft clean removes the debris that holds water against the steel.
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Tell us where the stain is and what the roof is made of. The office gives you a free estimate over the phone, confirms the price before any work, and you pay after the job.
