Storm damage roof repairs in Traralgon

After a storm damages a roof in Traralgon, the order is: get people safe, stop more water getting in with a temporary make-safe, report it to your insurer, then have the permanent repair priced once the damage is properly assessed. A tarp over lifted sheets or broken tiles is not a repair, and most of the arguments with insurers start when the two stages are mixed up. Independent roofers who receive your enquiry through this site look at the damage and quote the make-safe and the repair themselves.

What should you do in the first hours after the storm?

Before anyone thinks about ladders, deal with the hazards on the ground.

• Stay well clear of fallen powerlines and anything touching them, including fences and wet trees.
• Contact VICSES for emergency help if a tree is on the house, a roof has opened up or water is pouring in. The SES is there for urgent protection, not for ordinary leaks or tidy-up.
• Keep out of rooms with a sagging or bulging ceiling. Wet plaster gets heavy and can come down without warning.
• Photograph everything before it is cleaned up: wide shots of the house and yard, close shots of tiles or sheets on the ground, every stained ceiling and any wet contents.
• Call your insurer early and write down the claim number and who you spoke to.

Do not climb onto a storm-damaged roof yourself. Tiles may be loose, sheets may be half fixed and the surface is usually still wet. Buckets and towels under the drips are as far as a homeowner should go. If water is coming through but the cause is not obvious, the roof leak repairs page explains how a roofer traces it once the weather clears.

Make-safe or permanent repair: what is the difference?

	Make-safe	Permanent repair
Purpose	Stop further water and wind damage now	Return the roof to its pre-storm condition
Typical work	Tarps over the damaged area, refixing loose sheets, clearing debris off the roof, temporary flashing	Replacing broken tiles or bent sheets, new ridge or flashings, fixing gutters, making good any wet timber
When it happens	As soon as a roofer can safely get up	After the insurer or assessor has seen the damage
How long it lasts	Days or weeks; tarps move in the next blow	The life of the roof
Paperwork	Invoice, before and after photos, note of who approved it	Written scope, quote, compliance certificate for roof plumbing above a set value
Guide price (Victoria)	$380 to $1,300	$680 to $4,800

Both price bands come from The Quote Yard’s storm damage repairs guide for Victoria, which says storm work is priced on what is found once the make-safe is done and that the insurance excess is separate. Steep pitches, two storeys and work in continuing bad weather push a make-safe toward the top of its band. The full set of local roofing price ranges is on the Traralgon roofing cost guide.

Why does the insurer often approve the make-safe first?

Insurers want the damage contained so a small claim does not turn into a ceiling, insulation and carpet claim. The Quote Yard guide notes that many insurers will authorise emergency make-safe work over the phone, and some send their own contractor. Starting the permanent repair before the claim has been discussed is where owners get caught: the insurer can query a scope it never saw.

So the practical sequence is:

1. Report the claim and get a number.
2. Ask the insurer whether they are sending a make-safe contractor or whether you should arrange one.
3. If you arrange it, keep the make-safe invoice separate from any quote for the permanent repair.
4. Let the assessor see the roof before the permanent work starts, unless more damage would happen in the meantime.
5. Get the permanent repair scope in writing, then compare it with what the assessor approved. If you still need someone to price it, request a permanent storm repair quote and quote your claim number.

Insurers commonly decline the parts of a claim they put down to wear or poor maintenance, such as rusted sheets or gutters that were already blocked. Dated photos of the roof and receipts for past gutter clearing help here. Gutters packed with debris in the storm are covered on the gutters and downpipes page.

What wind and hail do to tile and metal roofs

Wind tends to work on the edges and the ridge. On a tile roof it lifts tiles at the eaves and verges, shifts ridge caps whose mortar was already cracked and drops branches that break tiles where they land. On a metal roof it gets under sheets with tired fixings and peels them back from the edge, sometimes taking the flashing with them.

Hail is harder to spot. The Quote Yard guide points out that hail can bruise and dent metal sheeting without puncturing it, and the roof can keep shedding water for months before a leak shows. Dents along the top of gutters and flashings are a quick sign a roof took a hit. If a hailstorm went through your street and nothing is dripping, an inspection is still worth asking for while the damage can be tied to the date.

How windy does the Latrobe Valley get?

The Bureau of Meteorology station at Morwell (Latrobe Valley Airport) recorded its highest gust, 122 km/h, on 29 November 2011, and its gust records run back to 1997. The station’s August record of 91 km/h was set on 28 August 2024, during the first of two wind events that hit the valley that winter and spring.

The Latrobe Valley Express report on those two events lists trees down in Moe, Newborough, Morwell, Boolarra, Hazelwood North, Yallourn North and Toongabbie. In the second event, on 1 and 2 September 2024, Morwell SES logged 185 requests for assistance and Moe 96, and across Gippsland about 230 call-outs were for building damage. Owners in those towns can read more on the Moe roofing page and the Morwell roofing page.

What does a careful storm repairer check and refuse to skip?

• Photos before touching anything, so your claim file shows the damage as found.
• The whole roof, not only the obvious hole. Wind that lifts one row of tiles often loosens the next.
• Ceilings, insulation and roof timbers under the damaged area, because wet battens or insulation left in place cause problems later.
• Gutters, valleys and downpipes, which fill with leaves and tile fragments in a storm and overflow in the next rain.
• Matching materials. Ask whether the replacement tiles or sheets match the existing profile and colour. On an older roof the original tile may no longer be made, and the quote should say how that is handled.
• A written scope that separates the make-safe from the permanent repair, lists materials and says what was found under the damage.

A careful roofer will not work on a roof near damaged powerlines, will not walk a wet roof in high wind to save a day, and will not inflate a quote so the claim covers unrelated work. If a door knocker offers to handle your claim or pay your excess, decline. Check any roof plumber on the BPC practitioner register before work starts.

Which rules apply to storm repairs?

Replacing or refixing metal roof sheets, flashings and gutters is roofing (stormwater) work under the Plumbing Regulations 2018, and the Building and Plumbing Commission registers and licenses roof plumbers for it. A licensed plumber must give you a compliance certificate when roof plumbing work goes over the value set by the regulator. Replacing broken concrete or terracotta tiles sits outside plumbing. A big storm rebuild may also cross the thresholds for a written domestic building contract and Home Warranty cover, which the guide to roof permits and contracts in Victoria explains.

Is this form for emergencies?

No. The enquiry form is not monitored around the clock, and nobody can promise when a roofer will be free after a big storm, when many homes need help in the same week. If you need emergency protection now, contact VICSES. Use the form for the make-safe follow-up and the permanent repair. How enquiries are handled is set out on the about page.

Next step

Once everyone is safe, put the storm date, your suburb, the roof type and your claim number (if you have one) into the form. Attach photos of the damage from the ground and of any ceiling stains inside, and say whether a tarp is already on. Then send your storm repair details so a local roofer can say whether they can quote the make-safe, the repair or both.

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