Leaky roofs keep Townsville tradies busy
LAST year’s monster monsoon has prompted the repair or replacement of more than 1000 leaky roofs in Townsville, new figures show.
It also indicates people tend to forget to maintain the roof – until it rains.
The State Government digging into its pocket to help homeowners cover the cost of replacing their roofs would also have lifted permit applications.
More than 3300 homes were flooded in the deluge of late January and early February when about 2m of rain fell in 10 days.
LAST year’s monster monsoon has prompted the repair or replacement of more than 1000 leaky roofs in Townsville, council figures show.
According to Townsville company VP Roofing and Home Care, the data also indicates people tend to forget about maintaining the roof until it rains.
More than 3300 homes were flooded in the deluge of late January and early February last year when about 2m of rain was dumped over the city in 10 days.
Townsville City Council figures show more than one-third of the building approvals it issued last year related to the repair or replacement of roofs.
“In 2018, there were 384 permits issued for roofing projects. This number increased to 1109 in 2019,” a council spokesman said.
“A factor in the increase in reroofing permits may have been the Queensland Government’s Household Resilience Program which helped homeowners cover the cost of replacing their roof.”
Overall, the issue of building permits increased 8.5 per cent to 3001 in 2019. The council spokesman said the increase could be attributed to the need to repair properties damaged by the monsoon.
VP Roofing and Home Care owner Jeremy Waldron said he was not surprised by the figures. He said many tradespeople came to the city or re-entered the roofing market locally because of the amount of roofing work that had been created.
Mr Waldron said the Government’s Household Resilience Program was also a factor.
The program, aimed at improving resilience for cyclones, provides lowincome earners with grants of 75 per cent of the cost of improvements up to a maximum of $11,250.
Mr Waldron said after the floods demand for their services surged, particularly from insurers and builders wanting assessments of roofs.
He was told the number of insurance claims relating to water leaking through the roof exceeded the number for flood and stormwater damage. “A lot of the houses that copped flood damage also had a claim for water through the roof.”
He said it highlighted the importance of maintaining your roof.
“When we had all that rain in Townsville, it hadn’t rained like that for so long – 10-odd years – people became complacent. When you don’t get rain, you forget about (the roof),” Mr Waldron said.