Roof Painting - any advice

[GeoffW]

I have a terracotta coloured cement tile roof (in Perth) which is about 9 years old. I intend to get the roof painted in a charcoal or similar blackish colour to go with the rest of the house renovations I am doing. I have had some quotes from supposedly reputable and long established companies.

I have heard scary stories in the past about people getting burnt by dodgy work/products and fly-by-night companies. :eek: Hence I am a bit cautious. :(

Can anyone offer any advice in regard to:
1) Preparation, restoration and coating process
2) Products to use or avoid - sealer and colour coating etc
3) Companies you recommend or otherwise (send me a pm or email if you prefer not to bag anyone on the forum).

Any help greatly appreciated. ;) :)

Regards
Geoff

[Theva]

Geoff,

Try the following link for some hints. Their products are good.

www.nutechpaints.com.au/homepage.htm

Surface should be CLEAN; very important for bonding of new coatings as in any painting application; then sealer and paint/coating. Acrylic based coatings are better. Gloss coatings last longer than mat.

Regards,

Theva

ps : now, with the missing link ;)

[gatiep]

Theva, You omitted the link
Rgds
Joe

[ozwinner]

Every roof restoration that I see looks bad after only a couple of years.

I was going to get it done too, but I wont bother now.

Al

[Sturdee]

I had mine cement roof tiles done about 10 years ago because,with age weathering off the top surface, they were no longer waterproof. I used a Melbourne company called Ceramafix P/L.

The first day they water blasted the entire roof in the morning and followed it with sand blasting during the afternoon and recemented the ridge cappings etc. The next day they sprayed on a sealing coat and two days later followed up with a final coat. We opted for a different roof colour and so far no deterioration in colour and the roof is still okay.

I don't know if we were very lucky or not, but it was done when I was still working so I took a week's holidays and watched the guy work ( I love seeing others work ;) ) and kept asking questions as to what and why he was doing. I think this helped to make sure that I got a top job.


Peter.

[ozwinner]

I saw one today in Castlemaine, just been done, all RED and shiney, but all the edges of the tiles were GREEN with moss. :( :(

Must be disapointing to pay so much and get a bodgey job.

Al

[Theva]

Mine are unglazed terracotta tiles. It was covered with 50 years worth of moss and took me one week to pressure clean (with hypo and caustic soda).

Gutters were replaced after that :p .

Then, got the pros to do re pointing and glazing. So far so good.

Regards,

Theva

[bitingmidge]

Remember that repainting roof tiles is just that rePAINTing. They get a bit of a hiding sitting out in the heat rain and cold all day, and one must understand that any coating will break down eventually.

A good repaint is probably ok for 10 years, but with a darker colour you are likely to experience weathering and fading earlier. Probably not any worse than a light colour, just easier to see. Imagine what your car would look like if it was parked on your roof for ten years unwashed (a bit like mine I guess!) and you'll get a better idea of what is happening.
It's not rocket science, just clean, etch, repoint as necessary, then spray with a good product and go home..... which is why there are so many blithering idiots doing it!

Find a contractor in the yellow pages, ask him for addresses of places he (or she?) has done 1, 2, 5 years ago, and don't be afraid to knock on the door of one or two of them and ask the owners their opinion.

In Qld I would also do a search at the Building Services Authority to see if they had any claims lodged against them, but I don't know if that service exists in WA.

At the end of the day it's only paint, if it falls off it's not the end of the world, you can do it again!

Good luck,

P

[Theva]

More cautionary notes:

Black is probably the worst colour for thermal performance and ageing.

Water with all the bleach will get into roof cavity when cleaning.

The whole process should be repeated every ten years to keep the tiles looking good.

Well, if you are game then go for it.

I found the mob who did ours through another tile coating manufacturer’s web site. They have distributers in WA, chech with them for loacal tradsmen:

www.shieldcoat.com/approved.asp

Regards,

Theva

[soundman]

I went to a house in mansfield QLD to do an antenna one day, came down from the roof & said,"just had the roof done?"

the roof had been done 7 years ago & looked great & the finish was realy sound & seemd to shed filth prety well.

it was some sort of thick conformal coating, probably epoxy.

Icrawled on my fair share of roofs this was the best looking tile roof I had ever seen , new or old.

who did it or what it was? I dont know.

black roof..... not good..... very hot.

[jackiew]

do a search in google for black+roof+temperature+roof+space and you will find a number of links which discuss the effect a black roof will have on your cooling bills. :eek:

[Eastie]

From my experiences the better operators have a 95% strike rate with a good finish, with averaging around 1 in 20 roofs treated requiring re-spraying due to problems with the finish, mainly due to either color defects or poor adhesion. Thus, a hell of a lot of people get burnt when the cheapest back-yarder-non-registerd for gst unlicensed untrained tradesperson scumbag quote they accepted never returns their call to come back and re-spray under warranty. bitingmidge has summed it up pretty well.

[GeoffW]

Thanks for all the replies - much appreciated. :) Any others still welcome.

Some slightly mixed opinions - which I guess is why I asked the question in the first place, because I had heard different things.

I agree - bitingmidge has summed it up fairly well. Sturdee's point about checking the work as it progresses is also very valid.

I realize that charcoal or blackish isn't the best colour, however, colour is SWMBO's thing - and with this one there is little room for negotiation! :rolleyes: The ageing does concern me a bit but I'm not too worried about the thermal performance - yes, the roof cavity will be hotter but the ceiling is well insulated and we have ducted evaporative aircon anyway.

With the quotes I have asked for addresses of recent jobs (in a similar colour) as well as jobs 5 or more years old. All supplied recent examples but interestingly only one company supplied the older info no problem. For the others it wasn't that easy - "don't have that information available" and "we'll get back to you". :p :p I haven't knocked on any doors yet, but probably will before I lock in the final choice.

Thanks again.
Geoff :D

[Ian007]

g'day im in the air connditioning industry in adelaide so therefor im on a roof most days of the week, so some things of note.

1. are your tiles glazed? they would need to have the glaze removed b4 repainting

2. terrecota tiles are lovely to look at but crap to work on. they break easy so have plenty of spare tiles. if you can always walk on the overlap of the tiles eg at the bottom edge of the tiles where there is a tile and a timber batten underneath.

3. having said all that i am yet to see a repainted roof that is any good after a couple of years from being done. nearly every one i look at looks ok from a distance buts a real shocker up close. tiles painted together, siliconed tiles painted over doggy pointing etc

or you could do the job yourself and then only have yourself to blame plus you wont get ripped off.

hope this helps
regards Ian

[jackiew]

I'm not too worried about the thermal performance - yes, the roof cavity will be hotter but the ceiling is well insulated and we have ducted evaporative aircon anyway.
Geoff :D

No wonder Australia has such a bad reputation for our profligate waste of energy, production of greenhouse gases etc.

I am a little bemused that anyone would deliberately do something to their house which would make it more expensive to run. Perhaps you could suggest to your wife that the savings in air conditioning costs over the next 10 years from choosing a more sensible colour could be put towards a holiday, new car, new charcoal coloured lounge suite?

[silentC]

No wonder Australia has such a bad reputation

Them's fight'n words, Jackie....

[jackiew]

Them's fight'n words, Jackie....

but sadly true :(

[silentC]

Is it really? I know America has a bad reputation and we're nowhere near the worst. I think we might be near the top per-capita. We are industrialised but have a small population, so judging on that basis makes us look bad. We also have a lot of livestock.

[jackiew]

http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=1380028

yesterday's daily telegraph ( probably equivalent of the Age / Australian i.e. no busty blondes on page 3 ). Since being here I have been shocked at how profligate australians are with both energy and water. The uk has regular hose-pipe bans in summer. Here I still see sprinklers in use ( sometimes even in the rain ). I know more people in England with Solar Hot Water systems than I do in Melbourne ( its on my renovations list ). Petrol guzzling cars appear to be the norm here etc etc. hmm maybe this should be in another thread I suspect I could be being a bit contentious.

[silentC]

Never believe anything you read in the Daily Telegraph!!!

All that may be the case in Melbourne (cars, sprinklers etc.) but up here most people I know drive 4 cylinder cars and we have water restrictions on as I speak (it's not even summer).

Yes, maybe you should start another thread ;)

[ozwinner]

I put in solar hot water last year.

But I drive a BIG MOTHER F#CKER V8 TOO. :D
See I care for the enviroment.

Al




Sorry :)

[jackiew]

have opened a thread in Nothing to do with Woodwork ... so we can keep this one to roof paint :D

[kenmil]

Geoff,
I had my concrete tiles done in 1997 and they look as good today as when they were done. the company concerned was Roofshield. They are in all states except WA & Tas it seems. They also provided a written 7 year guarantee.

[GeoffW]

Thanks Ken for your relevant comments, and getting this thread back on track. Pity the company isn't in WA - hopefully I can find something similar.

Ozwinner, I'm having trouble typing because every time I think of your comment it cracks me up. :D :D

Jackiew, I don't really want to get into a debate or argument over the colour of my roof however I find your comments rather discombobulating and I do take issue with them:

Firstly, I completely fail to see the relevance or connection between the colour of my roof and the Kyoto Protocol, let alone Russia's ratification of it or Australia's refusal to adopt it. Maybe I've missed something. :confused: Does the Kyoto Protocol outlaw back roof tops??? If so it is no wonder John Howard refuses to adopt it! :p

Secondly, to the heart of the issue you raise - the colour of my roof. The research I have done (and yes, I have done factual research because I was concerned about the effects of a dark coloured roof) shows that the effects of a black roof on the internal house temperature when the ceiling is properly insulated to be VERY minimal. Scientific tests conducted showed less than half a degree increase in temperature in the worst case scenario. In most cases the difference was not measurable. Combined with knowledge of how an evaporative air-conditioner works, I believe my conclusion that the net effect of a black roof will be negligible to be factual and sound. :)

Perhaps in future if you must make environmental or political statements you could at least ensure they are accurate and back them with relevant facts and information rather than babbling rhetoric and emotive comments that have no basis. :rolleyes:

Finally, thankyou for taking your contentious environmental views to a more appropriate forum.

Geoff :D

[jackiew]

Hi Geoff,

absolutely no offence was meant. I think I'm just exasperated at the "it doesn't matter what i do in the great scheme of things which I encounter every day and I fired off the post without reading properly and I do apologise for that. I didn't spot the bit about the insulation ( problem with hurridly reading a post while waiting for some code to compile ) and I didn't even know there was more than one type of air conditioner much less the differences in running costs etc :o Lets admit it i'd never even seen an air conditioner in a private home before I came to Australia and they still strike me as a little decadent :) You've obviously done your research and made the energy efficient choice. Having done a bit of reading i've suspect that all the rented houses and the house I've bought have not had evaporative air conditioning Certainly they none of them appear to have had any "maintenance requirements" or if they did I didn't maintain them ( not that i ever used them more than once or twice ... the noise was too much for me ). While in your case black paint on the roof might not have much of an effect I think one of the advantages of a Forum like this is that at least some of the issues get raised for people whose situation doesn't quite match yours. With (1995 stats ) only 51% of australian homes having roof insulation ( and there have been posts about installers only installing it round the loft hatch so if you think you've got it you mightn't have) there is around a 1 in 2 chance ( don't we all wish that were the odds for the lottery ) that someone thinking of painting their roof black doesn't have any insulation at all and they may well NOT have the most efficient air conditioner on the market.

I make no excuses for believing a lot of little savings can add up to one big saving whether it be energy or money or time :D

( a somewhat chastened ) Jackie

[Buzz]

Geoff

We went through this process four years ago (Forrestfield, WA) and got differnt quotes including addresses of previous clients which we visited. Eventually settled on "DTS Restorations" (9379 2779) and are still very happy with their work. Apart from the cleaning and painting, there was a lot of repointing and tile replacement, in addition to gutter replacement to do, and it was all done to a very high standard.

All the best
Chris

[modernline roof]

g'day geoff,i'm in the roof restoration business, feel free to call me and i can let u know what the whole process should be on restoring a roof, and i will let u know which products are good and which are bad

[modernline roof]

sorry geoff,

my number is 1300-766964

[capedcrusader]

Perhaps you could suggest to your wife that the savings in air conditioning costs over the next 10 years from choosing a more sensible colour could be put towards a holiday, new car, new charcoal coloured lounge suite?

Or shoes maybe??
Ah just kidding