Wellington roof inspectionsPrice confirmed before booking
Hataitai · Wellington

Roof inspections for Hataitai bungalows and hill-section homes.

Hataitai runs from 1920s and 30s bungalows on the flatter streets up into hill sections against Mt Victoria and Mt Albert, with easterly and southerly weather coming straight off the harbour. Tile, long-run metal, decramastic, the odd butynol section over a back extension: we assess all of them and send you a written assessment letter. On the steep or high roofs that are hard to reach from the ground, we use a drone for safe close-up access from the air.

3,000+ roofs assessed
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Bungalow streets below, hill sections above.

Aerial Assess covers the whole of Hataitai, the flatter bungalow streets down near the shops and the bus tunnel and the hill sections that climb toward Mt Victoria and Mt Albert. We assess the visible and accessible roof, then write up what we found and send it through. When a section is too steep or too high to see properly from ground level, the drone flies in for close-up detail from the air.

Hataitai is a family suburb with a distinctive housing profile, lots of original 1920s and 30s bungalows on the flat, then a transition to mid-century and modern hill-section homes as the streets climb. The flatter homes are mostly accessible. The hill homes typically aren't. That mix is what shapes how we approach a Hataitai inspection.

Many Hataitai homes carry an original tile or metal main roof plus a small membrane section over a rear extension. Reading each surface for what it is, tile wear, fixing fatigue, membrane age, is what makes the letter worth having.

What we typically find on Hataitai roofs

  • Ridge cap pointing past its design life on the bungalow-era concrete tile roofs. Mortar work doesn't last forever and a lot of Hataitai bungalows have never had it redone.
  • Lifted or slipped tiles, particularly on roofs that face the Cook Strait gap and cop a lot of southerly weather.
  • Stone-chip loss on decramastic roofs from the 70s-90s era hill builds.
  • Moss and lichen on south-facing slopes, particularly on shaded roofs near the town belt.
  • Aged underlay on bungalow-era roofs, visible at eaves or from inside the roof space.
  • Flashing deterioration around chimneys, dormers, and roof penetrations, especially on older homes.
  • Membrane wear on rear extensions and dormer additions with small flat-roof sections.

The Hataitai building report gap: so much of the suburb sits on hill sections perched above the road, with the roof a storey or two up from the street and nowhere safe to stand a ladder. That is why a Hataitai building report so often reads "the roof was not accessed" or "engage a roofer to assess the roof". The separate roofer's assessment those reports point to is exactly what we provide.

The Hataitai housing stock, roof by roof.

1920s-1940s bungalows (flat streets)

The defining Hataitai housing type. Concrete tile dominates, with the occasional terracotta. Many original tiles are still doing their job, but bedding mortar holding ridges is often past its design life. We frequently see lifted or cracked ridge caps, broken pointing, and the odd slipped tile.

1950s-1970s state and ex-state homes

Plenty of these around Hataitai, mostly with concrete tile or long-run corrugate. Solid construction, usually with simple roof geometry, but the original underlay is often well past its useful life and the long-run roofs (where original) are sometimes due for replacement.

1970s-1990s hill section homes

As the streets climb, the housing stock gets more recent. Decramastic pressed-metal tile and long-run Coloursteel are common. The wear pattern on the wind-facing side is what we look for, particularly stone-chip loss, edge corrosion, and aging clip fixings on decramastic.

Modern townhouses and recent infill

Long-run coated metal (Coloursteel and similar) is the standard. Newer roofs are generally tidy, but we still look for missed details: parapet flashings, edge folds at gutters, penetration flashings on solar mounts.

Renovations with rear extensions

Many Hataitai bungalows have been extended with a rear kitchen or living addition. These often have a small low-slope butynol or TPO membrane section. We treat these as a separate inspection point.

Flat streets, steep hills.

Hataitai splits into two access types. The flatter streets near the shops are mostly straightforward, often we can do a substantial part of the assessment from the ground or a safe ladder edge, with the drone covering the upper roof and ridge details. The hill streets are a different story, downhill sides are often two storeys above ground, pitches are steep, and the roof is hard to reach safely.

On the steep and high roofs, a drone flies in close to photograph the surface from several angles, picking up ridge details, chimney flashings, valley boards and parapet conditions that are hard to see from the ground. For Hataitai hill homes, that is often the practical way to get those areas into the written assessment.

For more on this, see our guide on why building inspectors can't access steep Wellington roofs.

Hataitai roof inspection FAQs.

Do you do roof inspections in all of Hataitai?

All of Hataitai is on our patch, from the shops and the bus-tunnel end on the flat up the hillsides that climb Mt Victoria and Mt Albert toward the town belt. Whichever street the house is on, it is covered.

How much does a Hataitai roof inspection cost?

Two things set the price in Hataitai: how the property sits and what is on it. A flatter-street bungalow we can mostly reach is a different job to a hill section perched above the road, and the mixed stock here (tile, decramastic, long-run metal, the odd membrane extension) all reads differently. Every job is quoted on its own, with the price fixed before we start. The letter sets out the roof's condition; it is not a promise that anything gets repaired.

I'm buying a Hataitai bungalow with an original tile roof, what do you look for?

The big things on bungalow-era tile roofs are: tile condition, ridge cap pointing (mortar holding ridges), individual cracked or slipped tiles, aged underlay, and the flashings around chimneys and penetrations. We write all of that up in the assessment letter with practical comments about what's serviceable, what's worth keeping an eye on, and what would benefit from work.

How quickly can you fit me in?

Let us know the date that matters to you when you make contact, a settlement, an auction, a finance or LIM deadline, and we will see what we can arrange around it.

My Hataitai home is on the hill side, can you still inspect it?

Yes. Hill-section homes are where drone access earns its place. The steep, high roof areas that are hard to reach from the ground get photographed in close-up from the air instead.

Can you assess flat membrane sections on rear extensions?

Yes. We assess butynol, TPO and WeldTech membrane sections regularly. See our butynol vs TPO vs WeldTech guide for what we look for on each.

Related services and guides

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