Sun Valley roofing for acreage blocks and valley cold

A valley floor, not a ridge top

Sun Valley is the odd one out on this list. Where every other settlement here sits on the ridge beside the highway and the railway, Sun Valley sits down in a valley between Warrimoo and Valley Heights — a small, semi-rural community with a pony club, a produce store, walking tracks around Long Angle Gully and a fire trail system through the bush around it.

The forest here is open eucalypt with stands of Mountain Blue Gum and patches of native grassland. Blocks are large, houses are set well back, and driveways are long and often unsealed.

Free inspection and written quote: (02) 4703 5000.

Cold air runs downhill

This is the one place in the lower mountains where you get a cold-climate roofing problem at a low altitude. Cold air drains off the surrounding slopes and pools on the valley floor overnight, so frost settles here more readily and more often than the elevation alone would predict, and morning damp hangs around longer.

For a tiled roof that means the freeze-thaw cycle that wrecks bedding mortar higher up the mountains also operates here, just less severely. For a metal roof it means condensation risk: a cold sheet over a warm, humid room sweats on its underside and the drips get blamed on a leak that does not exist. Sarking with an anti-condensation face and real ceiling-space ventilation are the answer — see metal and Colorbond roofing.

What acreage changes

• Access. Long unsealed driveways, mud after rain, limited hardstand for a vehicle or scaffold. We assess it before quoting.
• Litter. Blue gums standing over the house feed leaf, twig and bark onto the roof continuously, all year.
• Tank water. Many households here rely on it, so tell us if yours is drinking water and we keep the coating and detailing choices compatible.
• Outbuildings. Sheds, carports, stables and verandahs usually need doing at the same time, and are cheaper done together.
• Bush interface. With fire trails and forest on the boundaries, roof-line and gutter detailing matters.

Nearby

Warrimoo and Valley Heights sit either side of the valley, with Springwood above and Yellow Rock across to the north. Full suburb list.