Concrete Tile Roof Painting in Christchurch
Faded, mossy concrete tile roofs cleaned, treated, sealed and coated with a flexible roof membrane that stops the tiles drinking water and gives the house its colour back.
What Goes Wrong With Concrete Tiles
A lot of Christchurch was roofed in concrete tile through the 1970s, 80s and 90s - Bishopdale, Avonhead, Parklands, Halswell, the older streets of Rolleston and Rangiora. The tiles themselves are close to indestructible. What fails is the coloured surface coating they came with, and once that has gone the bare concrete underneath is porous.
A porous tile drinks water. It grows moss and lichen, it holds damp for days after rain, it goes grey and patchy, and in a Canterbury frost the water inside it freezes and slowly breaks the surface up. The roof looks tired long before it is anywhere near the end of its life - and that is exactly the point to paint it, because sealing the tiles stops all of that.
How We Paint a Concrete Tile Roof
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Inspection and a written quote
Corey gets up and checks the tiles, the ridge and hip pointing, the valleys and the flashings, and how much moss and lichen there is. Broken tiles are noted. You get a written quote naming the product and the colour.
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Drop sheets and protection
Driveway, paths, gardens, spouting outlets - a tile roof wash brings a lot of moss down with it and it needs catching, not hosing into the garden.
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Water blasting and moss treatment
The whole roof is high-pressure washed to strip the moss, lichen, dirt and any loose old coating back to sound tile. Then a biocide treatment kills the spores that are left in the surface, so the moss does not come back under the new coating.
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Repairs and sealer
Cracked tiles replaced where we can, loose pointing along the ridge and hips repaired, and then a sealer or primer coat that soaks into the bare concrete and gives the membrane something to bond to. Skipping this is the most common tile roof shortcut and it is why some painted tile roofs peel.
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Two coats of flexible roof membrane
A tile roof moves - it expands in the sun and contracts at night - so it is coated with a flexible acrylic membrane rather than an ordinary paint, sprayed in two full coats so it wraps every tile edge. Dry days only, and proper drying time between coats.
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Clean up and walk around
Everything washed off the paths, sheets up, and a walk around with you before we call it finished.
Half Way Through, You Can See the Difference
The photograph at the top of this page and in our gallery is a concrete tile roof in Darfield with one side coated and one side still bare. That is not a trick of the light - the coated side is sealed, even and charcoal, and the bare side is the grey, absorbent tile the whole roof was before we started. It is the clearest picture we have of what the job actually does.
Long-run or corrugated iron roof? or decramastic pressed metal tiles.
Is Your Tile Roof Mossy, Patchy or Just Grey?
That is the roof at the right moment to seal and coat. Ring Corey for a free, no obligation quote anywhere in Christchurch or Canterbury.
Get a free quote
Concrete Tile Roof Questions
Is it worth painting a concrete tile roof?
If the tiles are sound, yes. The tiles will outlast the house; sealing and coating them stops the water absorption, kills the moss problem and gives you the colour back, for a small fraction of what a new roof costs.
Will the moss come back?
Far more slowly, if at all. Moss grows on a tile roof because the bare concrete holds water. A sealed, coated tile does not, and the biocide treatment kills the spores in the surface before the coating goes on. A shaded south-facing slope under trees will always grow something eventually; a treated and coated roof gives it very little to work with.
Can you replace broken tiles?
Odd cracked or broken tiles, yes, where a matching tile can be found - we note them at the inspection and they are on the quote. A roof with a lot of broken tiles or failed underlay is a roofer's job before it is ours, and we will say so.
Why a membrane and not ordinary roof paint?
Because concrete tiles move with the temperature and hold more water than steel. A flexible acrylic membrane stretches with the tile and stays sealed; a rigid paint cracks along the tile edges and lets water back in.
How long does a painted tile roof last?
Ten to fifteen years from a properly sealed and two-coated roof, depending on exposure. The sealer coat is what makes the difference between that and a roof that peels in three.
Other Roofs We Paint
One trade, done properly. Metal, concrete tile and decramastic roofs, prepared and spray coated by the same person who quoted them - anywhere in Christchurch and Canterbury.
Long-Run & Corrugated Iron Roof Painting
Colorsteel, long-run and corrugated iron roofs - washed, rust treated, primed and spray coated in a colour that suits the house, across Christchurch and Canterbury. Read more
Decramastic Roof Painting
Pressed metal tile roofs from the 70s and 80s, cleaned of loose chip and coated so they look like a roof again instead of a patchwork. Read more
Roof Cleaning & Moss Treatment
Moss, mould and lichen treatment and water blasting, on its own or as the first step of every roof we paint. Also driveways, paths and exterior walls. Read moreGet a Free Roof Painting Quote in Christchurch
Tell us what sort of roof it is and roughly where the house is. Corey will come out, have a proper look at the roof, and give you a written price with no obligation - anywhere in Christchurch or Canterbury.
022 169 7614- [email protected]
- Christchurch, working across Canterbury
- Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm
Photos help. If you can, take a couple from the ground or the street and mention them in your message - please do not climb onto the roof to take them.