Seasonal Tips
The Cairns Wet Season Roof Checklist
The Roof Repair Cairns Team · Published 2026-01-21 · Updated 2026-01-21
The Cairns wet season does not test whether your roof looks good. It tests capacity and connections: whether the drainage can pass monsoonal intensity, and whether the fixings and flashings can hold out wind-driven rain. A pre-season check that focuses on those two things is worth far more than a general tidy-up.
Clear gutters, valleys and downpipe outlets
Debris is the single most common cause of wet-season water entry. A blocked valley or outlet turns a normal downpour into overflow that runs back under the roof edge. Clear before the season and again mid-season if you have canopy over the roof.
Check gutter capacity, not just cleanliness
If your gutters overflow when they are clean, they are under-capacity. Look at how many downpipes serve each roof section and how large they are. Adding downpipes or rainwater heads with designed overflow is usually cheaper than the water damage from another season of overtopping.
Inspect fixings and flashing upturns
- Rust bleeding around screw heads, or screws standing proud of the sheet.
- Perished or missing rubber washers.
- Flashing upturns bent flat by wind or foot traffic.
- Split or lifted sealant beads at wall abutments and penetrations.
- Cracked pointing or loose mortar on tiled ridges and hips.
Look in the roof space
Old water staining, compressed or discoloured insulation and daylight visible at laps all tell you where water has been getting in. It is much easier to find an entry point on a dry day with a torch than in the middle of a storm with a bucket.
Trim back what overhangs the roof
Branches over the roof do three things: drop debris continuously, hold moisture against the surface, and become impact damage in a cyclone. Cutting them back before the season removes all three risks at once.
If you would rather have someone else do the climbing, the inspection is free and includes photographs of everything we find.
