Island Bay · Wellington

Roof inspection in Island Bay, in plain English.

Island Bay roofs live with the south coast. Salt air, southerly winds, and direct sea exposure mean coated metal corrodes faster, fixings rust earlier, and edge details fail before they would inland. We're a Wellington roof inspection service, plain-language written assessments by someone who knows roofs. Bungalows, cottages, beach houses, recent townhouses, we assess all of it.

What we cover in Island Bay.

Aerial Assess provides roof inspections and assessments across all of Island Bay, from the coastline up through The Parade and the streets climbing toward Berhampore. We come out, look at the visible and accessible roof areas, use drone access where it's safe and permitted for anything too steep or too high to reach safely, and send you a plain-language written assessment letter.

Island Bay's defining feature for roofing is the coast. Salt-laden air drifts inland from the south coast and works on metal roofs, fixings and flashings every day. The closer the property is to the beach, the more pronounced this gets. None of that means an Island Bay roof is automatically a problem, plenty of them are in great condition, but the wear pattern is different from the inner suburbs and that's what we look for.

We've worked across Wellington's roofs for years, long-run metal, tile, decramastic and membrane, including plenty of coastal jobs. On the coast that background pays off: we can tell salt-driven cosmetic wear from salt-driven structural wear, and tell when a membrane section is tired versus just UV-tanned on the surface.

What we typically find on Island Bay roofs

What Island Bay building reports tend to miss: Many Island Bay properties have older roofs that haven't been re-coated or replaced in decades, plus coastal-corrosion wear that's hard to see from ground level. If your building report says "the roof was not accessed" or "we recommend a roofer assess the roof", a coastal-aware inspection is exactly what's needed.

The roofs we see most often.

1920s-1940s bungalows and cottages

The defining Island Bay housing type. Concrete tile is common, with the occasional terracotta on the older homes. Many homes have been re-roofed to long-run corrugate at some point, often in the 1980s-90s. Where the re-roof is more than 30 years old and within a few streets of the beach, coastal corrosion is usually well advanced.

Fisherman's cottages and original beach houses

The streets closest to the beach have some of Wellington's oldest small dwellings. Long-run corrugated metal is the historical default. Coastal exposure is at its peak here, and we look very closely at coating condition, fastener corrosion, and edge details on these properties.

1970s-1990s family homes

Decramastic pressed-metal tile and long-run Coloursteel are common. Decramastic, in particular, can suffer accelerated stone-chip loss on coastal weather-facing slopes. We assess the coating, chip coverage, edge condition, and fixing state.

Modern townhouses and apartments

Long-run coated metal (Coloursteel in coastal-rated grades, ideally) is the standard. Whether the specifier used the right marine-rated grade and the right fixings makes a real difference. We point out anything that looks under-specified for the coastal environment.

Renovations with decks and rear additions

Many Island Bay homes have been extended with rear or upper-storey additions, often including a butynol, TPO or WeldTech membrane section over a deck or low-pitch addition. Salt and UV both work on these, and we assess membrane condition, upstands, and any pooling separately to the main roof.

Coastal detail, safely.

Coastal roofs are exactly the situation drone-assisted inspection is built for. The detail that matters most on an Island Bay roof is often visible only from above and at close range: fastener heads, lap edges, coating wear at folds, and flashing seams. Putting any load on a corroding metal roof can damage the very surface you're trying to assess.

Where airspace allows, we hover within a metre of any roof surface and photograph it from multiple angles, capturing close-up detail across every accessible surface. Island Bay is mostly clear of restricted airspace, so we can usually fly without issue. We confirm this case by case once we have the address.

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

Island Bay roof inspection FAQs.

Do you do roof inspections in all of Island Bay?

Yes. We cover all of Island Bay, from the coastline through to the streets climbing toward Berhampore. If your address is in Island Bay, we cover it.

How much does an Island Bay roof inspection cost?

It depends on the property: roof type, size, access, and what you need from the letter. Coastal properties often need closer attention to corrosion and salt exposure detail. We give a fixed price up front. Get in touch with the address and your timing.

How fast does salt actually corrode a metal roof here?

It depends on how close you are to the beach, what grade of metal was used, the fastener material, and how much weathering it gets. A standard Coloursteel roof a few hundred metres from the coast may last decades; the same product within a hundred metres of the beach with galvanised fasteners can show real wear in 10-15 years. We tell you what we see honestly, with practical comments on what's serviceable and what might benefit from work.

I have an old corrugated iron roof, is it worth assessing?

Almost always yes, especially if it hasn't been looked at in years. Original corrugate is often surprisingly serviceable when the coating is intact, but coating failure, fastener corrosion, and edge wear can creep up gradually. We can tell you where it is in its life.

How quickly can you fit me in?

Usually within a few days of enquiry, sometimes same week if you're on a tight contract clock. Tell us your timing when you get in touch.

My building report flagged the roof, can you write a separate letter?

Yes. See our building report flagged the roof guide for how it works.

Related services and guides

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