What's behind Hawthorn's roofs
Flats first
At the 2021 Census, 5,741 of Hawthorn's 9,706 occupied homes were flats or apartments. Another 16.1% were semi-detached or townhouses, and only 24.3% separate houses.
A land boom suburb
Hawthorn grew fast in the 1880s land boom. Working-class housing included single-fronted cottages, and local bricks in 'pinks', 'blacks' and 'browns' gave facades a polychrome look.
Grace Park and Hawthorn Grove
These precincts (HO152) are a relatively intact group of later Victorian and Federation houses, with a large concentration of 1880s housing in tighter patterns along Kinkora Road and Hawthorn Grove.
Slate on the villas
60 Wattle Road, a single-storey rendered villa under Heritage Overlay HO138, has a hipped slate roof and a cast iron verandah. The 1992 Hawthorn Heritage Study graded it B.
River, creek and big storms
VICSES names the Yarra River and Gardiners Creek as Boroondara's major waterways. In February 2011 the Gardiners Creek gauge reached 5.6 m, and a December 2016 storm brought flash flooding and over 1,200 calls for help.
If you live in a flat
Report a leak to your owners corporation or strata manager the same day, with photos. The roof, gutters and downpipes on a block are usually common property, so the owners corporation organises the repair. If water is anywhere near a light fitting, turn the power off at the switchboard.
If you're on the committee, a yearly roof and gutter check with photos is a cheap way to stop one blocked outlet turning into ceiling repairs in several units.
If you own a villa or cottage
Slate gets repaired, not painted or replaced wholesale. A roofer swaps broken slates, rebeds the ridges and checks the flashings around chimneys. Before any change of material, check your heritage grading with Boroondara, because in a Heritage Overlay a change in look or materials needs a planning permit.
Have the gutters and downpipes cleared before winter. On heavy-rain days, a blocked downpipe on an old house sends water straight into the walls.
What we'd do in Hawthorn
In a flat, let the owners corporation lead and give them good photos. In a house, keep the slate and have it checked along with the gutters before winter. If you need a roofer, send us the job and your postcode: we'll pass it to one licence-checked roofer who works in Hawthorn if we have one, and if we don't, we won't keep you guessing.
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.
