"Tin" roof and rain - don't laugh!!!

We are just going through the purchase of our first house in Oz (very exciting). Both fell in love with it as soon as we walked through the door, but there's just one problem........it has a "tin" roof, as I call them!

The rental we have been living in had tiles so never lived in a house with one of these roofs, but I've heard really bad stories about them when the rains come - apparently the noise is soooo bad.

I'm getting a bit paranoid about the move now, I know it sounds silly, but friends have told me their kids have had trouble sleeping because of the noise, you have to turn the tv right up etc etc. I'm not a great sleeper at the best of times and I'm now getting worried that, in every other way I have found my own place, but I'm gonna be too knackered to enjoy it!!!!

Is there anyway of deadening the noise, other than filling the whole roof space with insulation, or re-tiling LOL - is it really as bad as I'm being told..???????:confused:

We're building with a tin roof too so I hope you don't mind me joining the thread.

I notice you are in Perth too so do remember it doesn't rain often and it tends to be short & sharp when it does. Bet those hailstones would've been spectacular though!

I love my tin roof!!! Yes, when it rains you can certainly hear it, but I LOVE that! Yes, I do have to turn up the TV, but no, I don't have any problems sleeping and nor do the kids.

Love

Rudi

x

I find you just get used to the noise.

When we first moved to our current house (tin roof & no loft) the birds would wake me up at sunrise with the noise of them walking round on the roof, now 6 weeks later I totally sleep through it.

Lived with a tin roof for over 25 years and of course it is noiser than tiles in the rain but it is a lovely sound (weird or what?!) knowing that you are all snug and warm inside whilst the heavens are opening outside.

Shouldnt think it will bother the kids and even if it does the first time they will get used to it.

The scariest noise with a tin roof is the possums landing on it - so be sure to chop any overhanging or even vaguely close trees and you should be fine.

I find the blasted cockatoos at 5am to be far worse than any rain on the roof would ever be and having a tiled roof isnt going to make any difference to them!

Lived with a tin roof for over 25 years and of course it is noiser than tiles in the rain but it is a lovely sound (weird or what?!) knowing that you are all snug and warm inside whilst the heavens are opening outside.

 

Shouldnt think it will bother the kids and even if it does the first time they will get used to it.

 

The scariest noise with a tin roof is the possums landing on it - so be sure to chop any overhanging or even vaguely close trees and you should be fine.

 

I find the blasted cockatoos at 5am to be far worse than any rain on the roof would ever be and having a tiled roof isnt going to make any difference to them!

The first time my hubby was away and a possum landed on my roof I nearly freaked!!! :arghh: Sanity soon set in once I realised that any would be robber would not bother coming over the roof of my single story house :biglaugh:

These days, they give me a shock when they land, but then I just ignore them!!

Love

Rudi

x

We lived in a rental with a tin roof and although it is noisy, you do get used to it. We have two small children, and they both slept through it. I agree with Quoll about the possums. We used to get them running around the roof, and the first few times I wondered what on earth was going on! Then I realised there were possums up there. On one occasion there were two of them fighting and creating merry hell! Again, the kids both slept through it.

We also get woken up by the birds here. We have kookaburras and cockatoos first thing in the morning, and some nights I am kept awake by a common koel and sometimes a willie wagtail if it is a bright moonlit night.

Rain sounds absolutely wonderful on a tin roof :wubclub: I love falling asleep to the sound of the rain; out here its often accompanied by the sound of the wind and the waves.

i'm a tin roof fan as well, love it when it pours!! also been scared a few times by possums jumping on the roof, they always seem to do it when theres a horror movie on!!

The other thing to keep in mind is that if you have any insulation, the noise is dampened (it doesn't just insulate temperature!!).

We have a tin roof and it isn't a problem.

When we built our house, we were also having a 'tin roof', I asked my husband if we could have a real tile roof instead. He explained that during the summer, in the heat, the tin roof cools down much quicker at night, therefore making the house cooler. Also at the time, colourbond (tin roofs) were more expensive (this was over 5 years ago) not sure if it is the same now? I agree with the above posts they are a bit noisy during a torrential downpour, which doesn't last long, and we actually like the sound of the rain.

Hope this helps a bit...

Tin roofs are much better in places where you get hail as they don't shatter like tiles do, also the roof pitch is so low on Australian houses that in high wind the rain just blows underneath the tile and into the loft (the olds have this problem something rotten)

You might get a couple of days when you have to turn up the TV, but it's no noisier than having a couple of kids fighting in the same room and the benefits far outweigh a bit of inconvenience.

Its the Australian version of Cosy. I used to love the sound and in a a way it's comforting.

You'll forget about it after a while.

John

 

We also get woken up by the birds here. We have kookaburras and cockatoos first thing in the morning, and some nights I am kept awake by a common koel and sometimes a willie wagtail if it is a bright moonlit night.

Aaargh, dont get me started on the blasted Koel! From October to March the damned thing makes our night lives terrible. They migrate down here - we have had one for 3 years now and it looks as if s/he brings the family as well.

I like our tin roof - it doesn`t tend to blow off like the tiles do during winter storms, I`ve also heard of people removing tiles to get into houses.