Footscray's roofs, precinct by precinct
A boom town
The population more than tripled between 1881 and 1891, from almost 6,000 to 19,000, as Footscray grew into an industrial centre. The 1920s brought house building west of Williamstown and Geelong roads, and for a while it was 'bungalow city'.
Iron over weatherboard
The Maribyrnong Heritage Review (2000) describes 'timber Victorian and Edwardian workers' housing'. In the Footscray Residential Precinct that's mostly single-storey weatherboards with corrugated iron roofs and front verandahs.
Slate in the old township
The Old Footscray Township precinct mixes brick and weatherboard houses under corrugated iron and slate. Of its 94 places, 89 are rated contributory to its heritage value.
Apartments are now the majority
At the 2021 Census, 52.3% of occupied dwellings were flats or apartments and 31.5% were separate houses.
Re-roofing a cottage in a heritage precinct
Corrugated iron usually rusts first at the laps, the fixings and along the gutter line, then across the sheet. Once it's rusted through in more than a few places, a new roof is better value than more patches. Our guide to a rusty metal roof walks through treat, paint or replace.
In the Upper Footscray precinct, the heritage policy encourages corrugated profile galvanised iron or metal sheet roofing. A modern corrugated profile is in keeping there, but check your own property's overlay with Maribyrnong City Council before you sign.
Slate is a different trade. Broken slates can be replaced one at a time by a roofer who knows the material, and a sound slate roof is worth keeping. See slate and heritage roofs.
Don't forget the verandah. A front verandah is usually its own small roof with its own flashing against the wall, and it leaks in its own way.
Iron or slate: what each usually needs
| Corrugated iron | Slate | |
|---|---|---|
| Common problem | Rust at laps, fixings and the gutter line | Cracked or slipped slates, worn fixings |
| Typical fix | Replace sheets, or re-roof the whole house | Replace single slates, refix, repair flashings |
| Who to call | A roof plumber or metal roofer | A roofer experienced with slate |
| Before work starts | Check the overlay and the colour | Check the overlay and source matching slate |
If it were our cottage
If the iron has rusted through in more than a few spots, we'd re-roof in a corrugated profile rather than keep patching, after a quick check with council on the overlay. If it's slate, we'd find a roofer who has worked with slate before and keep it. Tell us the job and your postcode. Where we've got a licence-checked roofer for Footscray, only that roofer is given your number and email; where we haven't, we'll tell you so you can look elsewhere.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.
