Roof Plumber Melbourne: Roof Leak and Gutter Repairs

Butler Plumbing is a licensed Melbourne roof plumber. We repair roof leaks and install, replace and maintain gutters, downpipes, box gutters, valleys and flashings across the Melbourne CBD and the suburbs around it. Family owned and trading since 1987, we work on period terraces, warehouse conversions, apartment buildings, shopfronts and commercial premises, and we hold Victorian plumbing licence 25910. If your roof is leaking, call (03) 9416 1726.

Our roof plumbing services in Melbourne

Our Melbourne roof plumbers handle the full range of roof drainage and repair work on homes, strata buildings, shopfronts and commercial properties:

• Roof leak detection and repair on tiled, corrugated iron, Zincalume, Colorbond and other metal roofs
• Gutter and spouting repair and replacement
• Downpipe, box gutter, valley and rainhead work
• Flashing repair and replacement around chimneys, skylights, vents, windows and parapet walls
• Parapet capping and roof edge work
• Roof and gutter inspections with a photographic roof report
• Scheduled preventative maintenance programs
• Emergency roof leak response

For gutter cleaning and roof inspections we have a dedicated page: gutter cleaning and roof inspection in Melbourne. If you are weighing up a quick do-it-yourself fix, it is worth reading the benefits of hiring a professional roof plumber first.

What roof plumbing covers

The formal name for the trade in Victoria is roofing (stormwater) work. It covers the roof covering, the roof flashings and the whole roof drainage system, right down to the connection into the underground drain. Roof plumbing is sometimes called roofing plumbing, and a roof plumber is sometimes called a roofing plumber. They are the same trade.

Most roof leaks turn out to be a drainage or flashing problem rather than a broken tile, which is why a roof plumber is usually the right person to find the cause and fix it properly. Butler Plumbing works to AS/NZS 3500.3, the Australian standard for stormwater drainage.

What “licensed” actually means in Victoria

There are two levels of plumber in Victoria, and the difference matters when you are choosing who to let onto your roof.

A plumber who has finished an apprenticeship and passed the journeyman exams is a registered plumber. Registered plumbers are qualified and can carry out work, but they cannot offer their services directly to the public. To do that, a plumber has to become licensed, and to be licensed they must carry public and product liability insurance.

Only a licensed plumber can issue a compliance certificate. One is required on any plumbing work over $750 and on all gas work. Those certificates are audited by the Building and Plumbing Commission. If an audit finds the work was not done to the current standard, the plumber has to go back and bring it up to code at their own cost. A shortcut on a roofline is not a saving. It is a liability the plumber carries.

That certificate matters to you in two ways. It is proof the work was done properly, and it is the first thing an insurer looks at after a leak. Where work has not been done correctly, the insurer will look to recover the cost from the plumber rather than from the building owner.

Butler Plumbing is a licensed plumbing business, licence 25910. Every plumber on our team is a registered plumber, and we issue compliance certificates on all work that requires one.

Roof plumber or roofer: which one do you need?

A roof plumber and a roofer are not the same trade, and picking the wrong one costs time. A roof plumber is a licensed plumber who handles the water side of a roof: gutters, downpipes, flashings, box gutters and leak repairs. That work is regulated under Victorian plumbing law. A roofer installs or replaces the roof covering itself. For leaks, guttering and flashing, the licence is what matters.

Commercial, strata and apartment roof plumbing

Butler Plumbing has worked as commercial roof plumbers in Melbourne since 1987, on commercial and strata roofs across the inner suburbs. Commercial roof plumbing is a different job to a house. Flat and low-pitch roofs, box gutters, parapet walls, plant rooms and shared drainage all fail in ways a pitched tiled roof does not, and on a tenanted building a leak is a business interruption rather than an inconvenience. Below are three of the property types we work on most.

Shop awnings and street-front retail

Awnings on streets like Swanston, Smith and Chapel are some of the most common commercial roof work we do. They tend to be old, they sit under plane trees, and they collect whatever blows down the street. The box gutter between the awning and the shopfront blocks, and when it does the water goes into the shop rather than off the awning. That means damaged stock, disrupted trade and an unhappy tenant.

We run scheduled awning cleans on a three, six or twelve monthly cycle depending on the site. A typical visit means completing the OHS documentation, setting up ladder access and barricading in a live, high-traffic street, clearing the awning, box gutter and downpipe outlets, checking for problems such as excess render left behind by other trades, and removing all waste from site.

Apartment buildings and owners corporations

A roof leak on an apartment building affects more than one residence, and that changes how the job runs. These range from single storey up to four or five storeys, from the older warehouse conversions around Collingwood to the newer blocks along Sydney Road in Brunswick.

The cause is rarely obvious. It might be a storm, blocked gutters, ageing infrastructure, or plant stored on the roof. Most of the work is investigation, tracing where the water actually entered before deciding what to fix. We also do more emergency work in this space than anywhere else, because there is often nobody on site keeping an eye on the building.

Decisions are made by committee, and not every owner sees why they should contribute to fixing a roof over someone else’s apartment. That is where the roof report earns its keep. Photographs and a written assessment make the problem visible to people who will never go up there, and let us work with the committee on a program of work that fits the budget they have.

City buildings and plant rooms

Six and seven storey city buildings usually have plant rooms and air conditioning plant on the roof, and we maintain them quarterly. A typical visit means an OHS risk assessment, harness work where needed, key safe access, clearing debris from the plant rooms and sumps, clearing all accessible roof areas and gutters, flushing every accessible rain head, inspecting for issues, and taking the rubbish away.

Two things make these roofs difficult. A leak can run through several floors before anyone sees it, and the buildings are often old enough that bringing the roof up to current standard is a real challenge. If the fall on a roof is wrong, correcting it seven storeys up in a built-up area is a major job rather than a repair.

Access is the other constraint: CBD parking, limited storage, roof access that is usually internal, and live edges that cannot be safeguarded. Where a roof cannot be worked safely from the surface, we bring in rope access specialists.

Every plumber who attends site is police-checked and Working with Children checked, which matters on residential strata and in occupied commercial buildings.

Roof leak repairs in Melbourne

Most roof leaks we repair across Melbourne trace back to drainage or flashing rather than the roof covering itself. We find the cause, make the roof safe on the first visit wherever we can, and give you a roof report with photographs. Call (03) 9416 1726.

If your roof is leaking right now, here is what to do first.

1. Make the area safe. Keep people away from the wet floor so nobody slips.
2. Contain the water. Put a bucket under the drip and lay towels down to protect flooring and furnishings.
3. Move valuables and electricals. Shift furniture clear and switch off power to the affected area if water is anywhere near lighting or power points.
4. Relieve a bulging ceiling, carefully. If a ceiling is sagging with trapped water, place a bucket underneath. If it is safe to do so, pierce the centre with a screwdriver to drain it before it collapses. Do not stand on a chair to reach it.
5. Stay off the roof. Wet roofs are slippery and dangerous, and walking on them often causes more damage. Leave the roof to someone licensed and insured to be up there.
6. Call a licensed roof plumber and take photos. Early photos of the leak and the damage help both the repair and any insurance claim.

Butler Plumbing responds to roof leaks across Melbourne. Call (03) 9416 1726 or book online at any time.

Signs you need a roof plumber

Not every roof problem is visible from the ground. Book a roof plumber if you notice any of these:

• Water stains, bubbling paint or sagging on ceilings and cornices
• A damp or musty smell in upstairs rooms or on the top floor
• Gutters overflowing in rain, or sagging and pulling away from the fascia
• Water pouring out of a rain head overflow, which usually means the downpipe or stormwater line is blocked
• Rust, holes or lifted sheets on a metal roof
• Cracked, slipped or missing roof tiles
• Pooling water or a slow-draining box gutter on a flat or low-pitch roof
• Daylight visible in the roof cavity
• Water appearing inside during heavy rain but not light rain, which usually points to drainage capacity rather than a hole

Left alone, small issues become structural repairs. If you are not sure whether it is time to call someone in, our guide on when you need a roof plumber walks through the common triggers, and blocked gutters and roof damage in winter covers what happens when guttering is left through a Melbourne winter.

Roof plumbing for period homes and inner-city buildings

Melbourne’s older building stock brings its own roof problems, and nearly four decades of local work means we know them. Victorian and Edwardian terraces often rely on box gutters and concealed valleys that block and then overflow inside the building rather than over the edge, so the first sign of trouble is a stain on a bedroom ceiling. Warehouse conversions and apartment blocks frequently have flat or low-pitch roofs, parapet walls and shared drainage that need regular maintenance to stay watertight.

Butler Plumbing has worked on these property types across Fitzroy, Fitzroy North, Collingwood, Carlton, Clifton Hill and the Melbourne CBD since 1987, on homes, strata buildings and commercial premises. We arrive already knowing where these roofs tend to fail and what it takes to keep them dry.

How much does a roof plumber cost in Melbourne?

Every roof is different, so we do not quote a repair sight unseen. What we do instead is a fixed-price investigation. For $390 plus GST one of our licensed plumbers is on site for an hour, finds the cause and talks you through the options.

In around half of all jobs, that hour is the whole job. If a gutter is blocked, a sheet needs nailing down or an area needs sealing, we deal with it while we are there. Where the problem is bigger, our priority is to make the roof safe and stop further damage. We then either return to complete the work on a time and materials basis or send you a written quote. Sometimes it is a mixture of both.

As a rough guide for the repair itself:

• Simple repairs such as sealing a small area, clearing debris, or replacing a displaced tile: around $400 to $600.
• Moderate repairs such as flashing or downpipe replacement, or a mix of waterproof membrane and repair work: around $500 to $1,500.
• Complex or long-neglected roofs, where several problems have built up over time or whole sections need replacing rather than repairing: around $2,000 to $4,000, and sometimes more.

Either way you get a roof report with photographs, so you can see the cause and decide what is worth doing. There is no point recommending a full re-roof to someone who is about to sell. Where a roof has several problems at once, we work out with you which ones need dealing with first.

Melbourne suburbs we serve

Butler Plumbing is based in Fitzroy and works across the Melbourne CBD and the suburbs within roughly 20 km of the city. That includes the inner north, the eastern suburbs as far as Camberwell, the western suburbs as far as Yarraville, and bayside, taking in Fitzroy, Fitzroy North, Collingwood, Clifton Hill, Carlton, Abbotsford, Richmond, Northcote, Thornbury, Brunswick, Coburg, Preston, Kew, Hawthorn, Footscray, Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Port Melbourne, South Melbourne, St Kilda and the surrounding areas.

Our familiarity with the area’s mix of period homes, terraces, warehouse conversions, shopfronts and high-density buildings means we arrive already understanding the roof and drainage issues common to these properties.

Why choose Butler Plumbing

• Trading since 1987. Nearly four decades repairing roofs across Melbourne.
• A licensed plumbing business. Victorian plumbing licence 25910, with public and product liability insurance, and compliance certificates issued on all work that requires one.
• 6-year workmanship warranty. Every roof repair and replacement we complete, commercial or residential, is covered for six years. On work over $750 it is also backed by a Building and Plumbing Commission compliance certificate and six years of insurance cover.
• Master Plumbers member. A member of Master Plumbers Victoria for more than 30 years.
• Commercial and strata experience. Shop awnings, box gutters, parapets, plant rooms and shared drainage on occupied buildings.
• Roof reports with photographs. We show you the problem and the finished repair, not just an invoice.
• Checked team. Every plumber on site is police-checked and Working with Children checked.
• Trusted locally. Rated 4.7 stars across over 350 Google reviews.

How a Butler roof repair works

1. We inspect the roof, talk it through with you, and locate the leak.
2. We complete a roof report with photographs.
3. We discuss the options with you.
4. Where we can, we fix it on the spot. Our priority is to make the roof safe, stop further damage and solve the immediate problem.
5. For anything larger, we either return and complete the work on a time and materials basis, or provide a detailed written quote.
6. We complete the work and leave the site clean and tidy, removing all rubbish.
7. We send the final report, and a compliance certificate where one is required.

See some of our roofing work

Click the thumbnail images below to see a large version for examples of some of our roof plumbing in Melbourne.

Also looking for a roof plumber in Clifton Hill or a roof plumber in Fitzroy? Contact Us or Book Online 24/7.

Need a roof plumber in Melbourne?

Call Butler Plumbing on (03) 9416 1726, book online or get in touch. Licensed roof plumbers in Melbourne, fast response and a roof report with photographs on every job.