New to site!!!!need some help !

[Bobcat]

Originally Posted by Roofer

Hello and and happy happy new year.

My wife two children(5 and 10) and i have stared the visa process and hopfully be moving to perth later this year. i am a roofer by trade and can,t seem to find out much about jobs in roofing , have read loads about the skills shortage just woundered if anyone knows if i will have a problem finding work when we arrive.

Thanks.

Roofs are roofs I guess.................. materials used are slightly different down-under. Our kid was a roofer in the UK; he used to do travel up and down the UK doing that felt sheeting and hot bitumen pours and chuck stones on top style of thing. When he arrived in Sydney.............. he couldn't find any of that type of work so he moved across to Perth. Same thing........... they must not do those type of roofs down-under.

Our kid ended up working in the mines up the Pilbara............ he now operates a crane at a mine up in NT at Nhulunboy............ commuting to and fro from Cairns.

I'm a former plumber used to working on slate roofs, bossing lead, leadburning flashings like aprons, gutterbacks etc. Totally different down-under.......... hardly see any lead at all........ so there's no chance of nicking it and weighing it in?

Apart from colourbond and zinc-allume sheeting............ there is the conventional type roof tiling over here. Loads of asbestos sheeting still around in the older type suburbs.......... same having been outlawed many years ago. Don't see any slate roofs at all............ occasionally we come across the odd Canadian type Shingle roof....... but they too are few and far between.

Here's some general roofing info from a mob here in Perth called Roof Works who concentrate on maintenance rather than new installations. We have used them in the past to carry out repairwork on our rental properties.

This is their advertising blurb :

This section is not only targeted towards Strata Managers, Property Managers and Real Estate Agents but also domestic and commercial customers.


Sagging Eaves and Hips
As a result of design faults in older style homes, sagging eaves and hips can be a problem, sometimes also being caused by white ant damage.
A permanent way to fixing this problem is done the Roof Works way and follows this procedure:
Strip tiles off roof
Take bow out of timber
Fix metal plates to sides of timber
Jack back into place and brace
Rebed and repaint hip-tiles
Roof Works is able to fix damaged tiles whether there be only one or many.

Repointing of Ridge and Hip Cappings
Over the years mortar deteriorates and needs replacing. Roof Works recommends using an elastic compound called Flexipoint, which expands and contracts with temperature to prevent cracking and further deterioration. For more information see one of the team at Roof Works.
Replacement of Barge Boards & Fascias
Quite often barges become weather beaten and rot gets to the boards and fascias, requiring replacement. Roof Works believes replacement with new timber or metal Colorbonds is the best way to prevent this type of deterioration from happening again. With the timber pre-primed and ready for painting you can choose any colour you wish to complement the building’s existing design.
Replacement of Broken Eaves Sheeting
Roof Works is number one in fixing broken eaves and sheeting through the removal of old asbestos and hardiflex. With accidental breakage of eaves a common occurrence, rusty gutters or leakages can cause swelling which leads to mould and weakness or even eaves falling out all-together. Allow Roof Works to replace your eaves sheeting with Hardiflex today.
Gutter Cleaning
With maintenance contracts arranged by request, Roof Works are known to be reliable, safe, gutter cleaners and recommend the procedure occurs every three months, especially before the wet season. With Gutterguard installation available to you if required, all Roof Works cleaning procedures include the cleaning out of downpipes.

Roof Works

Postal Address
PO Box 2193
Kardinya
Western Australia 6163
Phone: 1800 501 790 Fax: 1800 502 407 Email: enquiries@roofworks.com.au

Good luck in the roofing game. Word of warning though........... it's very hot over here........ far too hot to be up and down ladders all day. The building sites here are good craic though............. much more better facilities than I can ever remember about sites in the UK.

[sexkit001]

hi

just noticed this thread, my OH is a roofer and we are just sitting down trying to do his TRA... anyone got any hints


K
xx

[Smith Tribe]

Hi Roofer its Dan here from Smith Tribe.

i have now been here 6 weeks and i will try to help all fellow roofers as to roofing in brisbane area

Roofing Guide

There are about 50% sheet/tin roofs and 50% Tile roofs.
Tiles are made by Boral and Monier(owned by Lefarge)
There are designs like Ludlows, Double Roman, Moderns and Bold Roll. They also seem to make 1 type of clay tile, Ozzies call them terracotters. they are the type that never fix together and you cant change the guage, cut the bottom tile ect like the french 1's
the ridge are all overlapped not butt jointed. Mitres are covered with a 3 way concrete mitre, Tiles are all covered with a glaze and are mega slippy in the wet, Ridges aed all backbedded with sand cement, and then overpointed with flexi point. Flexi point is a flexible render which sticks to your trowel. Not easy to get used to and i am still finding it difficult to get the hang of. I was good at pointing at home.
We dont work in the rain for 3 reasons. Tiles are too wet and slippy and as scaffold is only supplied in high sets, and not low sets. Pointing if not given about 3 hours to go off when rained on it discolours the roof and a lot of scrubbing is required to clean off. the last reason is that cant be arsed.

As for single ply, and built up felt roofing?????????? not seen any over here. Think slate is used a little bit in Melbourne and Adelaide, but i have only seen 2 slate roofs in brissy and only 1 clay plain tile roof. which was on a pub in centre of brisbane.

You can do new work which i have stayed away from at mo as i keep thinking it is going to be too hot. Been offered 2 jobs in new work tho but at only 900 dollars a week. They do not use felt or breather as an underlay, but a metal lined building paper, or as i have seen none. They do not use sthll saws just extra large nibblers and thay includes valleys as well, no pointing to valleys as the use steel valleys and a foam at back.

Refurb work which involves replacing broken tiles and repointing all ridge and hips. Jet spraying off the roofs and primering and painting all over, which looks quite good. Offered $40 an hour.

Of repair work as the becauses of the rain at mo and the number of rental properties, its keeping me busy. I do a lot of gutter cleans and have had to buy a petrol leaf blower. You just walk around the eaves and blow it all over the floor and clear up later. Also alot of repoints as flexi point is about 10 years old and so alot of old mortor work is being over pionted at mo. Tiles are solid and do not break under foot. Earning an average of $1300 per week, but i have lost a 5 days through rain in 5 weeks of work.

I hope this helps and if you need anything just ask. roofmandan

[Roofer]

Thanks For that Dan.

Sounds pretty straight forward stuff , though not looking forward to cutting concretes with nibblers or pointing with the flexi point , i was woudering about the sand cement work ,with it going off faster that you could get the ridge on , the heat must dry it quick ????.
Ive been roofing for 17 yrs and have covered most areas of it , i done abit of site work but try to avoid it if i can . much prefer smaller ,slower more attention to detail kind of roofing if ya know what i mean . Not affraid to get back into it for awhile just to get to know some people in the trade for future contacts but as you say the rates seems less as they are here for site work.

$1,300 - $1,400 aweek sounds good ! How are you finding that amonut to live on ??

Glad to hear you don't work in the rain ,thats one of the reasons i enjoy roofing !!

[anthony obrien]

alright mate my names anthony im a carpenter from liverpool. Me amd my misssus are going to perth ourselves hopefully in november if our agent is tobe believed but we lived ther last year for a year in subiaco and i can tell ya from personal experience that there is loads of graft especialy if you go more towards the northern suburbs like joondalup theres new builds everywhere you look. Iwas just buildind roofs all the time I was there and I never went slack for work more the opposite really. When the paper comes out on a wednesday its full of jobs but not just wage jobs builders lookind for roofing outfits mate its flyin out there. They also use alot of tin on the roofs over there rather than tile so if your not already clued up on it you might wanna have a little look at it. Hope this helps write bk if I can help anymore.

[Roofer]

Hello Mate ,
Thanks for that bit of info ,just adds to the excitment of it all when you feel secure in moving to the other side of the world. Goodbye **** England ,HELLO GREAT PERTH.

Thanks STEVE.

[Stuju]

Hi Roofer,
not sure if this site is any good or not but worth a look
Trades Jobs
all the best
gizmo