Flat Roof Patios in Claremont

The established streets hold interwar and postwar houses on regular lots, with the fixing considerations that come with brick of that age and fascias set lower than modern ones.

The redevelopment areas are a different building type altogether. Townhouses and apartments on the former showground land and around the station, where the outdoor space is a defined courtyard rather than a yard.

Between the two sit the rebuilds. Larger modern houses on old lots, often two storeys with a wall of glazing across the back and not much ground left uncovered.

Pricing one of those off another does not work. They are three different structures answering three different problems, and the only thing they share is the assessing officer.

Claremont faces sheltered river water, with a suburb and a rail corridor between it and the coast. That is a materially different atmosphere to a beachfront address a few kilometres west.

So standard Colorbond with properly sealed cut edges and quality fasteners is generally appropriate here. Marine-grade sheet is specified where a site genuinely warrants it, not as a default because the western suburbs sound coastal.

The money that saves is better spent on the parts you look at. An insulated panel roof, a considered ceiling, or a longer span with one less post all do more for the finished result.

The Town of Claremont maintains heritage protection over individual properties and older streetscapes, with the intent of keeping those streets reading as they were built.

A rear patio, below the existing roofline and out of public view, is usually the structure those controls are least concerned with. The assessment focuses on what the street sees.

Two situations change that. An individually listed dwelling, and a corner lot where the side of the property is effectively a second street frontage. Both are worth checking before the design is locked.

In the townhouse pockets the outdoor space is often a walled rectangle four or five metres wide. There is no room for an intermediate post, so the beam carries the full span and the posts stand tight to the edges.

Height is the other constraint. Too high and the courtyard becomes a lightwell with a lid, too low and it feels closed in, so the roof usually lands just under the top of the surrounding wall.

If the property is strata titled, the strata company generally has to approve the work before anything reaches the council, and it will want to see appearance, drainage and any fixing into a shared wall.

Claremont ground is Spearwood sand with limestone below, and the depth to rock is not consistent across the town. Two holes on the same block can behave differently.

Where the sand runs deep, the footing works by depth, diameter and mass, because loose sand offers a post very little lateral grip. Where the cap is shallow, coring replaces augering and the footing is redesigned for rock.

Old fill is worth a mention on the redevelopment land. Ground that has been reworked during a subdivision is not the same as undisturbed sand, and the footing may need to pass through the disturbed layer into what is below it.

A patio is Class 10a work, so a building permit from the Town of Claremont is required before construction. What goes in with it is a site plan, elevations, engineering signed off for the assessed wind classification, and a stormwater layout.

It can be lodged uncertified for the town to assess, or certified with a certificate of design compliance from a registered building surveyor already attached.

The R-Codes decide whether development approval is also needed. Boundary setbacks, the open space left on the lot and whether the required outdoor living area remains uncovered are the three provisions that come up most on Claremont lots.