What shapes roofs on the North Shore
Salt from two directions
The Shore faces both the Waitematā Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf. NZS 3604's exposure zone D, the high sea-spray band, takes in land within 500 m of the coast, harbours included, and within 100 m of tidal estuaries, so a home beside Lucas Creek in Albany can rate the same as one on the beachfront.
Cliffs that move
The Shore is mostly uplifted Waitemata sandstone, and its layers show in the eroding cliffs along the Gulf bays. GNS Science found the prolonged June to August 2008 rain set off major slides at Torbay and Glenfield that damaged several houses, many of them built close to or inside the 15 to 25 m Foreshore Yard set-back.
Built fast after 1959
Once the Harbour Bridge opened in 1959, the Shore's population climbed from about 55,000 to over 107,000 by 1971. Birkdale, Beach Haven and Glenfield arrived in the 1960s, Torbay in the 1970s, and Albany boomed through the 1990s.
Three character areas
Birkenhead Point, Devonport and Stanley Point, and Northcote Point sit in the Unitary Plan's Special Character Areas Overlay. Repair and restoration are permitted there, while external alterations need resource consent.
The January 2023 deluge
Albany logged 260.6 mm of rain by 10 pm on 27 January 2023. A person died in floodwater in Wairau Valley and Milford had significant street flooding. Downpours like that test every spouting joint and outlet on the Shore.
Which part of the Shore are you in?
| When most homes went up | What we'd look at first | |
|---|---|---|
| Devonport, Stanley Point, Northcote Point, Birkenhead Point | Commuter suburbs from the 1880s, now special character areas | Condition of the iron, chimney and valley flashings, and whether a change needs resource consent |
| Birkdale, Beach Haven, Glenfield, Torbay | The 1960s and 1970s, after the bridge | Original tile or decramastic roofs nearing a repaint-or-replace call, with an asbestos test before older pressed-metal tiles are disturbed |
| Albany, Long Bay | The 1990s and 2000s | Flat sections, complex roof shapes and membrane decks from the leaky-building years, and builders' warranties on the newest homes |
The jobs that come up most on the Shore
Leaks after heavy rain. These often start at flashings, valleys and spouting outlets rather than the sheets themselves. Start with roof repairs in Auckland.
Moss on older tile and decramastic roofs. Decramastic was popular in New Zealand in the 1960s and 1970s, and WorkSafe's guidance for weathered decramastic is low-pressure spraying only, never blasting. See roof cleaning in Auckland.
Re-roofs on the bridge-era houses. Resene says coatings on pre-early-1980s decramastic may contain asbestos, so testing comes before stripping. Read re-roofing in Auckland.
For more local detail, we have pages on Northcote, Takapuna, Browns Bay, Torbay and Albany.
What we'd do on the North Shore
Work out which of the three eras your house belongs to before asking for quotes, because the right job is so different. On a cliff-top section in the bays, we'd have the roofer check where the downpipes discharge as well as the roof itself. Near the water, we'd ask anyone quoting new steel which exposure zone they've assumed, and get that in writing.
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.