Free roof inspection and an obligation-free quote.
Roof Restoration Vermont
Terracotta and concrete tiled roofs in Vermont, Vermont South and Mitcham — restored, repaired and replaced by roof tilers who have been working with these tiles since the 1930s.
Vermont has a claim no other Melbourne suburb can make. For most of the twentieth century, the terracotta on roofs right across this city was made here.
The tiles were made in Vermont
The clay pit at 656 Mitcham Road opened in 1925 to supply Wunderlich’s tile works at Brunswick. In 1932 the works itself opened on the Vermont site, and Brunswick shut as the plant and equipment moved east.
Wunderlich went on to become the largest Australian manufacturer of terracotta roof tiles, and the Vermont factory ran until 1990. The site is now on the Victorian Heritage Register as the largest and most intact pre-war tile works in the state, and its down-draught kiln is the earliest known survivor of its type.
That history is not just local colour. Camberwell Potteries was manufacturing terracotta in the same era, and the profiles that came off the Vermont line are the ones we have spent decades matching, repairing and relaying. Most roofers look at an old terracotta tile and see an old tile. We can usually tell you what it is.
What Vermont roofs are actually made of
There is an irony worth knowing. The suburb that made the tiles was one of the last around here to be built on.
Orchards covered Vermont until the 1950s and 60s, when demand for housing brought the subdivisions. So most of the housing stock is postwar, and most of it sits under concrete tile rather than the terracotta the factory up the road was shipping everywhere else.
The postwar and 1960s streets are largely concrete tile, now fifty to seventy years old. Concrete of that age has usually lost its surface coating rather than its strength, which means it is far more often a candidate for restoration than replacement.
The older pockets closer to Mitcham Road carry interwar stock, and that is where the terracotta is. These are the roofs where profile matching decides the job.
Vermont South came later again, so the roofs there are younger and the usual fault is bedding and pointing rather than anything structural.
What usually fails first here
On a Vermont roof it is rarely the tile.
Ridge capping mortar. The bedding and pointing under the ridge and hip caps cracks and drops out. The commonest fault in the suburb by a distance, and on its own it is a repair, not a re-roof.
Surface coating on concrete tiles. Concrete gets its colour from a coating applied to the surface, and that coating chalks, fades and eventually washes off. The tile underneath is usually sound. This is exactly what a restoration is for.
Valley irons. Vermont still has a lot of mature planting left from the orchard era and the garden suburbs around it. Leaf litter sits in the valleys, holds water against the metal, and rusts it through where two roof planes meet.
Sarking at the end of its life. On the oldest postwar roofs the sarking beneath the tiles is now sixty-odd years old. That is the one fault a restoration cannot fix, and we will tell you if we find it rather than coating over it.
Restoring a concrete tile roof
Most Vermont jobs are concrete restorations, so it is worth being clear about what one is.
We clean the roof, replace broken tiles, re-bed and repoint the ridge and hip capping with flexible pointing, clear and check the valleys and flashings, and then seal and recoat. The result is a roof that looks new and drains properly, for a fraction of a replacement.
What it will not do is renew the sarking, the battens or the fixings, because those sit underneath the tiles. If they have gone, a restoration puts a good finish on a roof that still needs replacing. That is the honest limit of the work, and it is why we inspect before we quote.
We work on terracotta and concrete tiled roofs only. No metal, no Colorbond, no slate.
Some of our recent projects
WHAT FAILS FIRST
Signs a Vermont roof needs attention
On these roofs the tile usually outlasts everything holding it down.
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Ridge capping mortar dropping out
The commonest fault on a Vermont roof. On its own it is a repair, not a new roof.
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Concrete tiles gone chalky and faded
The surface coating has broken down, not the tile. This is what a restoration is for.
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Stains appearing inside
Often a rusted valley iron under leaf litter, and the stain usually shows up nowhere near the actual fault.
WHY US
Why call us for a Vermont roof
We know these tiles
Concrete restoration done properly
A short drive away
Tile only, and we say so
Related Services
Roof Restoration Vermont
Frequently asked questions
Were the tiles on my roof made in Vermont?
If your roof is terracotta and the house is interwar or postwar, there is a fair chance they were. The Vermont works opened in 1932 and ran until 1990, and Wunderlich was the largest terracotta tile manufacturer in the country for much of that time. Send us a photo and we will tell you what you have.
Can you match the terracotta on an older Vermont house?
Usually. Wunderlich and early Monier profiles are out of production, but we hold both current brands and know which modern tile sits closest to each older pattern. Where nothing matches well enough we will tell you before you commit rather than after the roof is half done.
My roof is concrete tile. Is it worth restoring or should I replace it?
Almost always worth restoring, if the structure is sound. Concrete tiles lose their surface coating long before they lose their strength, so a clean, repoint and recoat gets you a roof that looks new. Replacement only makes sense once the sarking, battens or fixings have reached the end of their life, and that is what we check at the inspection.
How long does the work take?
A straightforward repair is often an hour. Re-bedding and repointing a roof is generally a day. A full restoration with pointing and coating runs to two or three days. A complete re-roof is one to two weeks, depending on the size and pitch of the roof and the access.
Do you cover Vermont South and Mitcham?
Yes. We work across all of Melbourne, with most of our work through the eastern and south-eastern suburbs, and Vermont, Vermont South, Mitcham, Nunawading and Blackburn are all comfortably within that.
Do you work on metal or Colorbond roofs?
No. We work on terracotta and concrete tiled roofs only, and we have done since the 1930s. If you want a metal roof you want a different trade, and we will say so rather than quote you for something we do not do.
Will you tell me if I do not need the work?
Yes, and it happens often. A great many roofs we are called out to look at need pointing and a valley cleared rather than anything major. We inspect first and tell you which of repair, restoration or replacement you are actually looking at.
Tiled roof in Vermont that needs looking at?
If you have a tiled roof in Vermont, Vermont South or Mitcham and you want it assessed honestly, we will come and look at it.
Free inspection and obligation-free quote. Call 03 9888 7088, Monday to Friday 9:00am to 4:00pm. Safety is always our first priority — hand-rail, scaffolding or a roof harness is used on every job and included in the quote.
