Is it necessary? Do you really need it? If you are looking to paint a concrete tiled roof, definitely not, unless of course if you want it done for your own aesthetic value or maybe you are selling and want to make your house more pleasing to the eye for cosmetic reasons – as its going to look obvious there has been a cover up it could be a disadvantage in the eyes of a purchaser.
WHAT IS THE MAIN REASON I WOULD SUGGEST YOU TO NOT GET YOUR CONCRETE TILED ROOF PAINTED
Before the roof is to be painted it is generally cleaned with a pressure cleaner. This is usually done at 2400PSI+ (Lbs per square inch) this will remove all the old colour however it also blasts away the smooth finish of the concrete tile allowing the waterproofing of the concrete tile to become compromised - in other words porous – until coated with paint.
So needless to say, sometime down the road when the paint has worn off or lifted off you are going to have problems. Although I am told the paints of today are very impervious to the elements it is just paint after all isn’t it? Once your roof has been painted and the tiles are all stuck together and sealed up you open yourself up to/or further exacerbate condensation problems in the roofspace if you do not have an effective ventilation system.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO TO MAINTAIN A CONCRETE TILED ROOF
A good sweep off with a straw broom and finish off with a blower clean will even up the faded colour somewhat. Change all broken and cracked tiles, repair all protrusion and wall flashings, rebed and point all the ridgecapping. Now if you have gable ends rather than point these, it’s much better to have barge capping fixed over the barge boards and continue the cover over the gable pointing so the gable end pointing is encased leaving the gable end maintenance free or if you haven’t got the money to do the barge boards at least cover the gable end pointing with gable end cover.
MAINTENANCE FOR TERRACOTTA TILED ROOFS
Do the same repairs as you would for a concrete tiled roof, however the terracotta tiles can be water blasted to remove lichen etc as the surface of the terracotta tiles will not be compromised – so a good clean and then carry out all repairs. Definitely do not paint terracotta tiles although if you have an unglazed roof that could be porous a clear spray will give you some protection in the interim, however if the terracotta roof is in a bad way my suggestion would be to reroof with new tiles or colorbond.
BEST WAY TO MAINTAIN A CORRUGATED METAL ROOF
Carry out repairs to all protrusion and perimeter flashings – if the roof has been previously nailed, remove nails and replace with roofing screws to the whole roof, this will give you a well maintained roof – if you want to paint, paint for cosmetic reasons only or if there is surface rust in numerous areas, otherwise painting is totally unnecessary.
However in saying that if the metal roof is near the ocean or to the hinterland I would suggest to paint the roof for the obvious reasons.
I HAVE ALSO NOTICED WHILST CARRYING OUT REPAIRS TO THE ROOF GUTTERING OF PAINTED ROOFS
In most cases after a roof has been painted I have found all round the floor of the guttering, chips of broken tiles and remnants of pointing stuck in puddles of paint that has been over sprayed into the guttering. The other problem with a roof that has been sprayed is that the tiles have all been stuck together, this makes carrying out work to the guttering a much harder proposition so therefore adds to the cost of the works. The worst thing about this situation is that the work to the guttering should have been carried out before the roof was painted. Even if the guttering does not need repair the puddles and remnants still seem to be a problem.
DON’T GET YOUR ROOF PAINTED BECAUSE A SALES PERSON SAYS YOUR CONCRETE TILED ROOF IS POROUS AND NEEDS TO BE PAINTED
This is as far from the truth as pigs may fly. Concrete tiles up to 50 years old still maintain their water tightness and will not need sealing with paint. The colour may be gone or patchy but they are still doing the job they were designed to do. As long as they still have the smooth finish they were manufactured with they will be water tight. There is only one exception to this rule – that is concrete tiles from the 50’s made by hand press, some brands Monier LGS, Atlas LGS these were mostly made by small companies by hand pressing these generally can have a porosity problem.
But none of the mass manufactured tiles from the 60’s and onward have this problem. So, if you don’t like the patchy look of the mocha browns and blacks of the 70’s. Go ahead get your roof painted however opt for the lighter greens and greys these won’t get eaten up by the ultra violet rays like the darker colours, they will also be much cooler.
So in conclusion if you want to get your roof painted for cosmetic reasons only, do so.
Roof painters will usually offer a free whirly bird to supposedly take care of any ensuing condensation problems. You know that whatever you get for nothing is usually just worth that, nothing. Whirlybirds will do absolutely nothing to alleviate a condensation problem. So if you do get your roof painted you are going to need an effective roof ventilation system to allow the ambient temperature to flow through the roofspace, to alleviate the condensation problems that may ensue from the paint sealed up roofspace.
Universal Tile Ventilators have the best roof ventilation systems in the world for the effective ventilation for tiled and corrugated roofs.