What actually happens on roof replacement day
Every roofing website tells you about materials and warranties. Almost none tell you what the week actually looks like when a crew takes the roof off your house while you're living in it. Here's the honest preview, so nothing on the day surprises you.
How long does it take?
A typical single-storey Perth home is re-roofed in roughly three to five working days, weather permitting. Double-storey homes, complex rooflines, asbestos removal, and solar reinstalls add time. The job is sequenced so your home is weathertight at the end of each day: the crew strips and re-sheets in sections rather than opening the whole roof at once.
The rough sequence
- Delivery day (sometimes a day or two early). New sheets, battens, and materials arrive and are stacked on site or lifted to the roof. You'll need driveway or verge space.
- Setup. Edge protection or scaffolding goes up. This sometimes happens a day before the main crew arrives.
- Strip and replace, section by section. Old covering off, timbers checked, new battens and insulation on, new sheets down. Repeat across the roof.
- Detail work. Ridge capping, flashings, gutters and downpipes, penetrations sealed around flues and pipes.
- Cleanup and handover. Magnetic sweep of lawns and driveway for screws and nails, waste removed, walkthrough with you.
The noise (let's be honest)
Days one and two are loud. Tile removal, hammering, drills, and people walking above every room. If you work from home, plan your video calls elsewhere for the strip days. Tell your immediate neighbours the dates as a courtesy; it buys a lot of goodwill.
Your ceiling space and your stuff
Dust and debris fall into the roof cavity during stripping, especially from old tile roofs. Anything stored in the roof space should come out before the job, and anything precious directly under the ceiling (think display cabinets) is worth covering. Vibration can occasionally crack old, already-fragile cornices; a good crew flags pre-existing damage in a photo record before starting.
Pets and kids
Dogs generally have a terrible week. Strangers on the roof, banging overhead, gates opening and closing. If you can day-board the dog for the strip days, do it. Keep kids clear of the work zone and the waste pile, and assume the back yard is a worksite until the final clean.
Driveway, parking, and access
The crew needs space for a waste skip or truck, material deliveries, and their own vehicles. Expect to park on the street for the week and keep cars out from under the roofline; falling tile fragments and dropped tools are real.
What about rain?
Crews watch the forecast and don't open more roof than they can close. If weather rolls in mid-job, the open section gets sheeted or tarped. It's routine, not a crisis, but it's also why winter jobs sometimes take an extra day or two.
Solar panels, aerials, and dishes
Panels come off before the job and go back on after, usually by an electrician or solar contractor, and your system is down for the duration. Confirm in your quote who handles this and whether re-commissioning is included. Aerials and dishes get refitted at the end; expect to re-tune the TV.
The handover
A proper handover includes a walkaround, your warranty documents (material and workmanship are separate warranties, ask for both), disposal documentation if asbestos was removed, and a roof that looks like the photos you were shown. Don't pay final invoices until the magnetic sweep is done and you've seen the gutters are clean.