What Browns Bay roofs face
Holiday homes first, suburb later
The Brown family farm was subdivided in 1916, holiday homes were going up by 1919, and Browns Bay only turned into a commuter suburb in the late 1950s, after the Harbour Bridge. The 2023 Census counted 3,573 dwellings.
Facing the Gulf
The bay looks straight out to Rangitoto, Motutapu and Rakino. In 1936 a major storm damaged the wharf, a dam and buildings here, and the wharf was never rebuilt.
Clay and sandstone underfoot
The soil is mainly clay over Waitemata sandstone, the same rock that shows in the coastal cliffs. GNS Science says the most common failure on this coast is sandstone blocks dropping once the softer siltstone beds beneath them erode.
Cliff-top set-backs
Auckland's Foreshore Yard keeps cliff-top housing 15 to 25 m back from the coast. After the wet winter of 2008, GNS found many of the houses hit by cliff failures had been built close to, or inside, that buffer.
Where your roof water goes
A roof sheds a lot of water in a downpour, and on a cliff-top section it has to go somewhere safe. South of Rothesay Bay, GNS Science found drains discharging down the cliff face appear to have caused or added to small rock and debris falls near their outlets.
Its suggestion was simple: drains should discharge at the bottom of the cliff, not at the top or halfway down. If your downpipes run to a soak hole or an outlet near the edge, have a roofer or drainlayer trace where the water actually ends up.
Up on the roof, the usual coastal jobs apply. Salt off the Gulf works on fixings and the underside of spouting, and leaves block outlets. See downpipes and spouting in Auckland.
After heavy rain, check these from the ground
Watch the spouting while it rains
Overflow at one corner usually means a blocked outlet or a run that's lost its fall. Note where it happens so the roofer doesn't have to guess.
Follow each downpipe
Check it's still connected at the bottom and see where the water goes. Water pouring onto the ground near a bank or the cliff edge is worth fixing soon.
Look for new cracks or slumping
Fresh cracks in the lawn, leaning fences or a sagging bank near the edge are a matter for Auckland Council and a geotechnical engineer, not a roofer.
Check the ceilings
Brown rings or a soft patch after a storm mean water is getting in. Stay out from under a sagging ceiling, and turn the power off at the switchboard if water is near lights.
Stay back from the edge
Never go up on the roof to clear spouting, and never when it's wet. On a cliff-top section, keep ladders and people well back from the edge, especially after rain, when saturated ground is at its weakest.
What we'd do in Browns Bay
We'd get the roof and the drainage looked at together. A roofer can sort the spouting and flashings, but on a cliff-top section we'd also want to know every downpipe ends up somewhere that won't wash out the bank. It's a small job next to what uncontrolled water can do to a cliff.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.