State House Roofing

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31656, 17 April 1968, Page 1

State House Roofing

The State Advances Corporation had received about 500 requests for roofing repairs to rental houses in the greater Christchurch district, said the corporation’s district valuer (Mr A. Gray) yesterday. The requests that had come in since last week’s storm were for repairs to all types of roofs. Roof repairers had worked on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday and were still working, he said. Most of the damage was to tiled roofs but one State rental house in Lyttelton lost all its iron, its purlins and

some of its rafters. Mr Gray, who has been in Christchurch for about 40 years and with the corporation for more than 30 years said he could not remember anything ■ approaching the severity of this storm. Fencing had not been as big a problem as roofing. In some instances of roof damage considerable wall papering might have to be done. The acting manager of Ashby Bergh and Company, Ltd (Mr N. G. Milne) said that since the storm his firm had had requests to repair about 400 roofs—corrugated iron, asbestos and tile—in the Christchurch area. “Our boys worked through the week-end and we were open on Saturday for anyone seeking roofing,” he said. Persons requesting repairs

varied from those who had lost one or two tiles or sheets of iron to those who had lost large sections of roofs. “They have wanted their roofs repaired quickly before the wind comes again and strips more off because of the exposed opening,” said Mr Milne. Mr Milne said that there had been a bad blow at Lyttelton and Diamond Harbour again yesterday. Roofing material destined for Diamond Harbour and Charteris Bay could not be got through because of the condition of the road. He said that corrugated iron had been short in Christchurch for some time. Other requests had been made for lead for flashings and edgings around chimneys but there was no shortage of this.