What does a restoration involve on your roof?
| Concrete tiles | Clay tiles | Pressed metal tiles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usual repairs | Cracked or slipped tiles, ridge bedding and pointing | Broken tiles and ridge pointing | Corroded or dented tiles, which Gerard says can be swapped singly |
| Cleaning | Monier strongly advises against pressure washers | Gentle: BRANZ's Level says clay is easily damaged during maintenance | Gerard rules out water-blasting and bleach-based cleaners |
| Coating | Optional and cosmetic, says Monier | Monier says terracotta generally shouldn't be painted | Gerard says white corrosion across the roof usually means recoating is prudent |
| Watch for | Asbestos cement shingles mistaken for tile | Tiles cracking underfoot | Possible asbestos in tiles made before the early 1980s |
Is your roof a good candidate?
Good signs: faded or patchy coating, moss and lichen, crumbling mortar along the ridge, a handful of cracked or corroded tiles, and stone chip collecting in the spouting (gutters). All of that is fixable.
Poor signs: tiles cracking or crumbling right across the roof, rust-through on many metal tiles, or leaks in several places at once. The restore or re-roof quiz gives you a quick lean, and our guide to restoration or re-roofing goes deeper.
Decramastic, old shingles and asbestos
Gerard says metal tiles made before the early 1980s often had small amounts of asbestos in their coating, and Health NZ says some roofing shingles are asbestos cement. For weathered asbestos cement and decramastic roofs, WorkSafe's safe work sheet calls for biocide from a low-pressure sprayer and a surface kept wet, never high-pressure spraying or blasting. If the house was built before 1 January 2000, get the roof identified before cleaning day. Start with is my roof asbestos?
How a restoration usually runs
A look at every slope
The roofer notes broken tiles, ridge condition, flashings and corrosion, and photographs what they find.
Fall protection goes up
A restoration takes days, and WorkSafe expects scaffolding or edge protection to be considered for work that long. Single-storey houses aren't an exception.
Treat and clean
Growth is killed with a product that suits the roofing, then cleaned off by a method the tile maker accepts.
Repairs
Broken tiles are swapped, ridges rebedded and repointed (relaying and resealing the mortar under the ridge caps) with the flexible compounds Monier recommends, and flashings resealed or replaced.
Coating, if it's included
Primer or sealer, then topcoats in dry, mild weather. Gerard recommends a specialist roof-restoration contractor for its textured tiles, because the coatings they need aren't sold in normal retail outlets.
Clean-up and handover
Spouting is cleared of debris and loose chip. Afterwards the contractor must give you written completion information, including product guarantees and the maintenance that keeps them valid.
What paperwork comes with a restoration?
Repairs and maintenance with comparable products don't usually need a building consent under Schedule 1 of the Building Act, and an LBP is only required for restricted building work, which applies to consented work. Two exceptions matter. The exemption doesn't cover repairing a part that failed the Building Code's durability rules, for example by letting in water, and Wairoa District Council says switching systems, such as corrugated iron to pressed metal tiles, needs consent. If you're unsure, ask your council.
At $30,000 or more including GST, the contract must be in writing, and the roofer must give you the official disclosure statement and checklist before you sign. Every residential building contract, written or spoken, also carries legal warranties that the work will be done competently with suitable materials, and you can notify defects within 12 months of completion. Written contracts and disclosure has the detail.
And check with your insurer before work starts: the Insurance Council says house insurance may not cover you during renovations. When you'd like a roofer's opinion on your roof, tell us about it and we'll pass it to one checked local roofer.
What a good restoration quote includes
- Every repair listed: how many tiles, how much ridge, which flashings
- The moss treatment product and cleaning method
- The coating by maker and product name, number of coats and colour, or a clear note that there's no coating
- Scaffolding or edge protection
- How extra damage found on the day is handled, and changes agreed in writing
- Payments tied to progress. Consumer Protection says no deposit is legally required, and advises no more than 10% if asked
- Coating guarantees and the roofer's workmanship terms, in writing
Offers that should make you pause
- Someone at the door who happened to notice your roof. If you agree to an uninvited sale, you can cancel within 5 working days of getting your copy of the agreement
- Pressure to sign today, or a big payment before work starts
- A coating described only as "roof paint", with no maker or product named
- Water-blasting planned for decramastic, cement sheet or old tile with no mention of asbestos
What you can do, and what needs a roofer
You can
- Look over the roof from the ground with binoculars and photograph the problem areas
- Trim branches that shade the roof or drop leaves into the spouting
- Run the roof through our asbestos checker if the house is older
- Ask your insurer if you're covered while the work is under way
Leave to a roofer
- Moss treatment and cleaning on the roof
- Replacing tiles, rebedding ridges and resealing flashings
- Applying any coating
What we'd do in your shoes
If the tiles are mostly sound and it's the ridges, moss and a faded coating letting you down, we'd go for a restoration. We'd ask for photos from the roof with the quote, so you can see exactly what's being fixed, and we'd treat a coating on concrete or clay as optional. If the roofer says most of the tiles are failing, take it seriously and get a re-roof quoted too.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.