Medlow Bath: a thin strip of houses in fire-prone forest

A narrow village with the bush on both sides

Medlow Bath sits at about 1,050 metres between Katoomba and Blackheath, strung along the Great Western Highway with the Hydro Majestic on the escarpment side and the Megalong Valley dropping away behind it. It is a small, semi-rural settlement surrounded by fire-prone eucalypt forest, and that shapes most of what matters about a roof here.

Houses are scattered rather than packed, some of them well back off the highway on long unsealed driveways. Access is a genuine factor in both scheduling and cost, and we would rather see it before quoting than discover it on the day.

(02) 4703 5000 for a free inspection and a written quote.

The roofing priorities here

Because the bush comes right up to the building line, the detailing at the roof edge matters more than the colour of the tiles. Where a Bushfire Attack Level applies to your block under AS 3959, that means a fully sarked roof, a sealed roof-to-wall junction, non-combustible ember guards to openings and penetrations, metal gutters, and any box gutter non-combustible and fully flashed. Your Section 10.7 planning certificate and a BAL assessment are what confirm what applies to your property.

Worth knowing that a leaf guard and a certified ember guard are different things, even where a single product is marketed as both. We will show you what a product is actually certified for.

And then there is the altitude

At 1,050 metres you get the full upper-mountains package on top of the bushfire detailing:

• Frost on most winter mornings and freeze-thaw cycling that destroys bedding mortar
• Settled snow a few times in a typical season
• Fog that keeps a roof wet for days at a time
• Moss and lichen on anything facing south under canopy

So a typical job here is a combination: rebed and repoint the ridges, clear and renew valleys, sort out the gutters and the guard, and get the ember detailing right while someone is already up there.

Nearby

Blackheath is a few minutes west and Katoomba about five kilometres southeast, with Mount Victoria beyond Blackheath. Relevant pages: gutter repair and replacement and roof restoration. Full area list.