Roof Restoration in Mount Lofty
Tick Hill
Mount Lofty was formerly known as Tick Hill. It is a residential locality on the north-eastern edge of Toowoomba, with 3,825 people at the 2021 census. The peak at the end of North Street has a garden and rainforest, a lookout and a transmission tower for WIN Television. A peak means weather, so ask a restorer about wind on exposed ridge lines.
The house called Longview
In 1904 Charles Cocks had a two-storey house, Longview, dismantled in the city and rebuilt on a 40-acre site on the crest, where it overlooked Toowoomba. It was demolished after 1956, and a reservoir now stands on the site. Roofs on a crest see weather first, so ask what the restorer would check after a storm.
Parks and Jubilee Park
Jubilee Park, a large area of parkland and bushland with riding trails, forms the eastern part of the suburb, and Bunya Park, Harvey Park and Woodward Park are among the others. Trees near a roof drop leaf litter and bring shade, which the guide says helps moss return. Ask the restorer what to do about overhanging branches.
A heritage garden
The suburb's one heritage-listed site is Boyce Gardens at 6 Range Street. Heritage status for a garden does not say anything about your house. If your property is listed or beside a listed place, ask the council what applies and ask each restorer to say whether they have worked under a heritage condition.
High school and old church
Toowoomba State High School's Mount Lofty campus, with 832 students in 2018, is nearby, and the old Presbyterian church at Mary Street, from before the 1952 church, is still used as a hall. Roofs on school and church buildings are not your concern, but crew parking might be. Ask where the trucks will go.
Cold mornings
Wikipedia says Toowoomba gets light frost on several winter nights, more often in the western suburbs than the centre. We have no gauge on this hill, and the airport figures may not match it. The guide says coatings need dry weather, so ask how a restorer would plan around cold, damp starts.
Colour and heat
The guide says light colours reflect much more summer heat than dark ones, and the airport station records 36.5 days a year at 30 degrees or more. Ask a restorer to hold a sample against your roof, walls and gutters, and to check whether any covenant or heritage rule limits roof colours.
Where metal roofs sit
For a steel roof, the guide gives $900 to $2,000 to replace all the screws, and $4,500 to $9,500 for a medium metal roof with a coating. They are national figures from a labour platform, not Mount Lofty quotes. Ask three businesses to price the same roof, then ask them to explain any gap.
The house moved up the hill
A two-storey house called Longview once crowned Mount Lofty. Charles Cocks first built it in the 1860s at Ruthven and Bridge Streets, had it dismantled in 1904 and rebuilt it on a 40 acre site at the east end of North Street. His daughter Eleanor, known as Polly, later ran it as a boarding house after he died in 1916.
What was Mount Lofty called before?
Tick Hill, according to Wikipedia.
What is on top of the peak?
A garden and rainforest, a lookout and the WIN Television transmission tower.
What is the heritage-listed site?
Boyce Gardens, at 6 Range Street.
Request a quote
Nearby
Rangeville
East Toowoomba