Fixall Roofing takes on roofing in Dundas with the town's older housing in mind: steep Victorian gables, plank roof decks, built-in box gutters and chimneys that have been patched for a century. These are problems that newer suburbs simply never see.
Dundas sits at the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment, with Spencer Creek running through town and Cootes Paradise to the east. The valley setting that gives the Valley Town its character also means more shade, damp roof surfaces and fast moss growth than on the lake plain in Burlington.
Our Burlington roofing crew reaches Dundas in about 20 to 25 minutes via Highway 403 and Main Street West outside rush hour. For owners of century homes inside the town's two heritage districts, we also plan the scope around the City of Hamilton's approval process.
Dundas is compact, so most of our work falls within a short walk of King Street West: the Victorian streets around Melville, Park and Hatt, the slopes rising toward Sydenham Hill, and the postwar blocks closer to the town edge. Because the town has not expanded into the protected Dundas Valley, its housing stock is older on average than most of the communities we serve.
Leak tracing and roof repair on older homes make up a large share of Dundas calls, along with full replacements that start with a careful look at the deck underneath.
Dundas was incorporated as a town in 1847, and its core streets still hold brick and frame houses from the second half of the 1800s and the early 1900s. Their roofs share a set of features that shape every repair and replacement we quote.
Pitches of 10/12 and steeper are common, often with front gables, side dormers and porch roofs tied in at awkward angles. Each tie-in needs its own step and counter-flashing, and the porch roof is frequently a low-slope section that needs a membrane rather than shingles.
Original roofs were sheathed in solid or spaced boards, sometimes left from the wood shingles that came first. After tear-off we replace rotten boards and usually add a plywood layer over spaced planks so new shingle nails hold properly.
Some homes keep slate on a front bay, a mansard face or a porch while the main roof has gone to asphalt. Where it is sound, we repair it as part of our work on slate roofs rather than removing a feature that still has decades left.
Houses heated by stoves and fireplaces often have two or three chimneys, many now unused and unlined. Each one is a flashing point, so we discuss whether to re-flash, cap or remove an unused stack before the new roof goes on.
Many older Dundas homes do not have hung eavestroughs at all. Instead, a wooden trough is built into the cornice at the roof edge and lined with sheet metal, so it reads as trim from the street.
When the lining splits at a seam or rusts through, water runs into the wooden box, the soffit and sometimes the wall cavity. The first signs are usually peeling paint on the cornice, a stained ceiling along an outside wall or icicles forming in odd places.
There are two honest options, and the right one depends on the condition of the wood and the look you want to keep.
We repair or replace rotten blocking, then reline the trough with a seamless membrane such as EPDM or a modified bitumen sheet, or with soldered copper where appearance matters most. The membrane laps well up the roof slope under the first courses of shingles so ice backing up cannot get behind it.
The box can be decked over and roofed, with a hung K-style or half-round eavestrough added at the edge. It costs less to maintain, but it changes the profile of the house, so in a heritage district it needs approval first.
Older chimneys were often sealed with a mortar fillet instead of metal, and that cement cracks with every freeze. Proper chimney flashing repair means step flashing woven with the shingles and counter-flashing cut into the mortar joints above.
Dundas has two Heritage Conservation Districts side by side. Cross-Melville was designated in 1990 by the former Town of Dundas, covering Melville Street east of Sydenham Street toward Cross Street.
The newer Melville-Park West district grew out of the City of Hamilton's Melville Street study. Council passed its designation by-law in May 2026 and it took effect on June 27, 2026, covering about 331 properties generally bounded by Sydenham Street, Park Street West, Brock Street South, Victoria Street and Melville Street.
Inside either district, the City treats a change of roofing material, new skylights or dormers, chimney reconstruction and eavestrough replacement as work that needs a heritage permit. Replacing a roof with the same material, scale and dimensions, such as asphalt shingles with asphalt shingles, generally does not, but the City asks owners to confirm first.
Homes tucked under the escarpment lose direct sun early in the day, especially in winter when the sun sits low. Add the tree canopy along Spencer Creek and the edge of the Dundas Valley, and many Dundas roofs stay damp long after a rain or a heavy dew.
Moss roots into the granule surface of shingles, lifts the edges and holds water against the mat. On north-facing slopes under maples, a thin green film can become a thick mat within a few seasons.
We remove it with a low-pressure soft wash, never a pressure washer, and suggest zinc or copper strips near the ridge so each rain carries a mild moss inhibitor down the slope. Trimming branches back from the roof lets more sun and air reach the surface, which is the same advice we give homeowners on the wooded escarpment lots of nearby Ancaster.
Since 2001 Dundas building permits have been handled by the City of Hamilton, whose rules let you re-shingle with the same material without a permit but require one for structural repairs such as new roof sheathing and for a change to a different roofing material.
In Dundas, the heritage permit is often the bigger question, because so many homes sit inside the two districts. Apply early: a heritage permit can involve review by City heritage staff and, for larger changes, the Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee.
Properties inside a district may also qualify for heritage grants or tax incentives that help with conservation work such as box gutter relining. Ask the City's heritage staff what applies to your address before you commit to a scope.
We keep customer addresses private and do not dress up sample jobs as case studies. These are the kinds of Dundas work we are most often asked to look at.
Stained cornices and wet soffits traced to split linings, followed by blocking repairs and a new membrane or copper liner.
Mortar fillets and tar patches replaced with step and counter-flashing, or unused chimneys capped below the roofline where approvals allow.
Tear-offs that expose plank decking, multiple old layers and occasionally charred rafters from an old chimney fire, all dealt with before new shingles go on.
Soft washing and zinc strips on shaded roofs near the creek, often paired with a repair of shingles that moss has already lifted.
Every review we show comes from a real customer. Search Fixall Roofing on Google Maps to read them on our Business Profile, and use the review search box to look for Dundas, box gutter or chimney.
For an older home, the most useful reviews describe hidden problems found during tear-off and how the roofer explained the cost before doing extra work.
Yes. We open the trough, replace rotten wood blocking and reline it with EPDM, modified bitumen or soldered copper lapped well up under the shingles. If the box is beyond saving, we can also price converting it to a hung eavestrough, subject to heritage approval where it applies.
If your home is in the Cross-Melville or Melville-Park West district, or is individually designated, changing the roofing material, eavestroughs or chimneys needs a heritage permit from the City of Hamilton. Replacing like with like in the same material and dimensions generally does not, but confirm with the City before work starts.
The escarpment and the trees along Spencer Creek shade many roofs for much of the day, so they stay damp after rain and dew. Moss thrives on that moisture, so soft washing, zinc strips at the ridge and trimming branches back are the best prevention.
Let us know what you have noticed, from a wet cornice to moss along the north slope or a chimney stain in the attic. We will inspect the roof, check the box gutters and flashing, and send a written quote with photos.
If your home is in one of the heritage districts, say so when you reach out and we will plan the scope around the City's approval process.
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