Roof cleaning and house washing in Balcolyn

How did roofing timber shape Balcolyn, and how are its roofs cleaned now?

She-oaks along the waterfront drew the timber trade, because their wood was good for roofing, and Shingle Splitters Point, named after the workers, was the anchorage and loading place. Awabakal middens line the foreshore from that point to the Crusader Union campsite, which began on land donated in 1946, and the Norfolk pines on the point are believed to have been planted in the 1920s.

Roads to Morisset were built between 1927 and 1937, water was connected in 1963, and the area flooded in 1984. In 2021, 95.6% of occupied homes were separate houses and 15.3% of private dwellings were empty on Census night. Modern tiles are cleaned with a roof soft wash, as Monier advises against pressure washers, and walls with a house wash.

Key figures

1881

first European settlement

1963

water supply arrives

15.3%

of private dwellings were unoccupied in 2021

Sources

• Wikipedia, Balcolyn, New South Wales
• ABS 2021 Census QuickStats, Balcolyn
• Monier (CSR), Roof Cleaning and Maintenance
• NSW Spatial Services, Administrative Boundaries (postcode, council, distance, neighbours)