Roof painting for concrete tile, terracotta and Colorbond roofs: cleaned, primed and finished in a heat-reflective membrane for Perth sun.
Perth is hard on roofs. UV is high most of the year, summer surface temperatures regularly pass 60°C, and coastal roofs in suburbs like Scarborough and Cottesloe take a constant salt load. The result is chalky, porous concrete tiles, faded Colorbond and a roof that soaks up heat.
A well-specified roof coating does three things. It seals porous tile so it stops absorbing water and shedding grit into the gutters. It puts UV-stable colour back on a grey roof. And a heat-reflective membrane lowers the roof’s surface temperature, so less heat pushes into the roof space.
It does not fix a roof that is structurally failing. More on that below.
The two terms get mixed up, but they are different jobs. An honest answer on which you need is worth more than a cheap quote.
| Roof painting / coating | Roof restoration | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Clean, prepare, prime and coat the existing roof surface | Structural repair: re-bedding and re-pointing ridge capping, replacing cracked or broken tiles, flashing repairs |
| What problem it solves | A roof that is faded, chalky, porous or simply the wrong colour | A roof that is leaking, has loose ridge caps, or has failed mortar |
| Typical trigger | Cosmetic decline, heat, a house sale, an exterior repaint | Water coming in, visible movement in ridge capping, broken tiles |
| Who does it | A painting contractor | A roof plumber or tiler |
We do roof painting and coating. We clean, treat, prepare, prime and coat the roof surface, and we do it properly.
We do not do structural roof restoration. If we find loose ridge capping, failed pointing or cracked tiles, we will say so and recommend fixing that first. Coating a failing roof is money spent twice. We would rather lose the job than paint a roof that needs a roof plumber.
Each roof type needs different preparation. A contractor who quotes the same process for tile and Colorbond has not looked at your roof.
Four stages over two to four days, weather permitting. Most Perth roof work happens between October and April, in the dry season.
We will not price your roof without getting on it, but here is what the price depends on.
Roof painting in Perth is priced on roof area and pitch, not house size. A single-storey hip roof is a very different job from a steep two-storey roof with dormers, even at similar floor area.
Three things move the price. Access: two storeys, steep pitch, or scaffold instead of a harness. Condition: heavy lichen and moss add cleaning time, and broken tiles add replacement cost. Roof type: metal is usually faster than tile, with less texture to cover.
Be wary of a roof quote far below the rest. The usual cuts are the sealer-primer and the second topcoat. Neither shows from the ground on the day. Both show in about two years.
Every price is a fixed written figure after we inspect your roof, not an average. Quotes are free with no obligation.
A dark, uncoated concrete tile roof in a Perth February can sit above 60°C. That heat radiates into the roof space and the ceilings below, which is why upstairs and west-facing rooms stay hot after sunset.
Heat-reflective membranes use pigments that bounce back more solar radiation, including the infrared that carries most of the heat. The result is a cooler roof space and less work for the air conditioning. Lighter colours help most, but even in charcoal a reflective membrane beats a standard coating of the same shade.
This is the part of a roof coating that pays you back, so specify it on purpose.
Roof and walls share the same access and set-up, so doing both is almost always cheaper than two separate jobs.
With safe access to the roofline, nearby jobs cost much less to include.
It depends on roof area and pitch, not the size of the house below. A single-storey hip roof and a steep two-storey roof can differ a lot at similar floor area. The main drivers are access, surface condition and whether the roof is tile or metal. We get on the roof before giving a fixed written price, and we tell you if it needs a roof plumber instead.
A well-specified acrylic membrane over a properly cleaned and sealed roof should last 10 to 15 years in Perth. It depends on the quality of the clean, a sealer-primer on porous tile, and two full topcoats. Coastal roofs with constant salt exposure sit at the lower end of that range.
Yes, but the preparation differs from tile. Colorbond chalks and fades rather than going porous, and its factory finish is made to shed coatings. We degrease it, treat any rust spots and fixings, and use a primer that keys into the existing finish. Prepared like a tile roof, the coating flakes off in sheets.
No. We clean, prepare, prime and coat the roof surface. Restoration is structural work, such as re-bedding and re-pointing ridge capping, replacing cracked tiles and repairing flashings, and that is a roof plumber's trade. If your roof needs it first, we will tell you, because coating a failing roof means paying twice.
Yes, with a heat-reflective membrane. Uncoated dark concrete tile can pass 60°C in a Perth summer, and that heat radiates into the roof space and ceilings. Reflective pigments bounce back more solar radiation, including infrared, so the roof space runs cooler and the air conditioning works less. Lighter colours help most.
We get on the roof, inspect it properly, tell you honestly whether it needs coating or a roof plumber, and send a fixed written quote.