The end of winter is the most useful time of year to get on a ladder. Months of driving rain, wind and leaf fall have just tested every junction on your roof, and spring storms are close behind. What you find now is still cheap to fix.
Most serious water damage in Australian houses does not start with a hole in the roof. It starts at a junction — a flashing, a valley, a gutter joint — that worked fine until it was asked to handle water at volume from an unusual direction. Winter does exactly that.
Start from the ground
Before anyone gets on a ladder, walk the perimeter and look up.
- Gutter line. Sagging sections, visible plant growth, or a line that no longer runs straight to the downpipe.
- Staining down the fascia or wall. Dark streaks below a gutter joint mean it has been overflowing or leaking.
- Displaced tiles or lifted sheets. Visible from the ground with binoculars on most single-storey homes.
- Ground below downpipes. Scouring, moss, or a puddle that stays for days after rain says the water is not getting away.
That last one matters more than people expect. Water discharging at the base of a wall does not stay outside — it moves through the ground and into the subfloor or the slab edge.
The gutter check
Clear the debris first, then look at what is underneath it.
- Standing water after clearing. Water that sits rather than draining means the fall is wrong or the gutter has sagged. Left alone, standing water corrodes the gutter from the inside.
- Rust at joints and internal corners. These fail first because debris packs into them and stays wet.
- The gap behind the gutter. Where the roof sheet or tile meets the gutter, water should not be able to run behind. This is a common cause of rotted fascia that only shows up years later.
- Downpipe flow. Run a hose. If water backs up, the downpipe or the stormwater line below is partly blocked.
The roof itself
If you are not confident on a roof, this is worth paying someone for — both for safety and because tiles crack under foot traffic.
Tiled roofs. Look for cracked or slipped tiles, and check the ridge capping. Older ridge mortar cracks and falls out, which lets water in at the highest point on the roof. Repointing is routine work and far cheaper than the ceiling repair that follows neglect.
Metal roofs. Check for lifted or backed-out fasteners, perished rubber washers, and corrosion where two different metals meet. Look closely at valleys — they carry the most water and collect the most debris.
All roofs. Flashings are the priority: where the roof meets a wall, a chimney, a skylight or a vent. Most roof leaks are flashing failures rather than roof-covering failures.
Inside the roof space
Ten minutes in the roof cavity with a torch on a bright day tells you a great deal. Pinholes of daylight indicate gaps. Dark staining on timbers or sarking shows where water has been getting in, even if it is dry now. Compressed or displaced insulation often marks where someone has been working, or where water has run.
Check while it is dry, then check again during heavy rain if you found anything suspicious. Water travels along rafters before it drops, so the stain inside is rarely directly under the entry point.
What is worth doing now versus later
Do now: clear gutters and downpipes, replace cracked tiles, repoint failed ridge capping, correct anything discharging water against the house.
Can wait, but plan for it: gutter replacement where corrosion is widespread, repainting a metal roof, and re-bedding an entire ridge line. These are better done in settled weather and are worth quoting properly rather than rushing.
A note on safety
Falls from ladders and roofs are a leading cause of serious injury in home maintenance. Single-storey inspection from a stable ladder is one thing; walking a wet or brittle roof is another. If the roof is steep, two storeys, tiled and old, or you are working alone, get someone with the right equipment.
Where to go next
Once the roof and gutters are sound, the next thing water does is move through the ground. Read next: Preventative Maintenance for site drainage and how water actually enters an Australian house.
August 15, 2026