What does a roof restoration cost in Melbourne?

Roof restoration cost in Melbourne is the question everyone asks first, and the honest answer is that it depends on your roof. That is not a dodge. Two houses on the same street can have roofs of different sizes, pitches, materials and condition, and those four things move the price more than anything else.

This guide explains what drives the cost, gives indicative ranges based on commonly published Melbourne figures, sets out what a proper restoration includes, and shows you how to spot a cheap quote that will cost you more later. The ranges below are a guide only. They are not our prices and they are not a quote. The only way to get a real number for your roof is to have someone get on it.

What drives the cost

Roof size. Restorations are priced largely by area. A small single storey cottage might have well under 150 square metres of roof. A large family home can have twice that or more. Every stage of the job, from cleaning to coating, scales with area.

Tile type. Concrete tile is the most common roof in Melbourne's postwar suburbs, and it is the most straightforward to restore. Terracotta needs gentler cleaning and matched replacement tiles, which can take time to source. Glazed terracotta often does not need coating at all, which can bring the cost down. Slate is a specialist job and is priced differently again.

Condition. A roof with sound bedding that only needs repointing costs less than one where every cap has to be lifted and rebedded. A roof with a handful of cracked tiles costs less than one with dozens. Moss and lichen thick enough to need extra treatment add time.

Access. A single storey house with a clear driveway and back yard is the easiest case. Double storey homes, steep blocks, narrow terraces with no side access, and houses close to the boundary may need scaffold or edge protection, which adds cost.

Pitch. Steeper roofs are slower and need harness work throughout. Very low pitch roofs have their own issues. Both affect labour time.

Repairs needed. Rusted valley irons, failed flashings around chimneys and skylights, and rotten battens under a section of tiles all add to the job. A proper inspection finds most of these before the quote is written.

Coating. A primer and two colour coats is the standard for concrete tile. The colour itself makes little difference to cost, but surface preparation does, and skipping coats is one of the ways cheap quotes save money.

Extras. Solar panels, aerials and air conditioning units that need to be removed and refitted; gutter replacement while access is set up; and any work outside the roof itself.

Indicative ranges, as a guide

These ranges reflect figures commonly published for Melbourne in recent years. Use them to sense check a quote, not to budget to the dollar. Your roof may sit below, within or well above them.

• High pressure roof clean on its own: commonly a few hundred dollars up to around $1,000 for a typical house
• Repointing ridges and hips on sound bedding: commonly from the low thousands for a typical house
• Rebedding and repointing together: commonly a few thousand dollars, more on large roofs with long ridges
• Full restoration of a typical single storey concrete tile roof: commonly around $4,000 to $10,000
• Larger, double storey, steep or terracotta roofs: commonly $10,000 and upward, depending on size and condition
• Converting a typical tiled roof to Colorbond, for comparison: commonly from the mid teens of thousands, often past $30,000 on larger or complex roofs

If a quote sits well outside these ranges, it is not necessarily wrong. It is a reason to ask what is included and why.

What a proper restoration includes

A full restoration on a concrete tile roof should cover all of these. If a quote leaves one out, ask why.

• An inspection on the roof itself, with photos, before the quote is written
• A high pressure clean of the whole roof, with downpipes protected
• Replacement of cracked and broken tiles, with an allowance stated in the quote
• Rebedding of any ridge and hip caps where the bedding has failed
• Flexible repointing over all ridges and hips
• Valley iron inspection, and replacement where rusted
• A primer coat, then two colour coats, applied only on a dry roof
• Gutters cleared of job debris, and the site left clean
• Before and after photos of every fault fixed

Red flags in cheap quotes

The cheapest quote is usually cheapest because something has been left out. Watch for these:

• A price given over the phone or from the driveway, before anyone has been on the roof
• Repointing only, with no mention of the bedding underneath
• No allowance for broken tiles, which almost every restoration needs
• One coat of paint, or no primer
• No mention of valleys or flashings
• Pressure to sign on the day, or a discount that expires tonight
• No certificate of currency for public liability insurance
• Vague answers about what happens if they find something worse once they start

A quote that skips bedding, primer or tile replacement can look a few thousand dollars cheaper and fail within two or three years. Then you pay for the job again.

How to compare quotes

Put the quotes side by side and compare them stage by stage, not just by the total.

• Does each quote list cleaning, tile replacement, rebedding, repointing, priming and coating separately?
• How many metres of ridge and hip is each one rebedding, and how much is pointing only?
• How many replacement tiles are allowed for, and what does each extra one cost?
• How many coats, and what kind of coating?
• What happens if they find rot or worse damage, and how will you be told?
• Will you get photos of each stage, especially the bedding before it is covered?
• Is a certificate of currency provided before work starts?

If two quotes are genuinely like for like and one is cheaper, take the cheaper one. If they are not like for like, the cheaper one is not really cheaper.

Restore or replace: the cost over ten years

On a sound roof, a restoration is far cheaper than replacement and can give many years of service: a properly prepared coating should last ten to fifteen years, and flexible pointing on sound bedding fifteen to twenty. On a roof that is past it, with porous tiles or soft battens, a restoration can be followed by years of repairs and then a replacement anyway. Our guide to roof restoration vs replacement explains how to tell the difference.

Why the free inspection gives you the real number

Everything above is a guide. Your real number depends on what is actually on your roof: the area, the pitch, the bedding under each cap, the number of cracked tiles, the state of the valleys and the access. None of that can be seen from a website or measured from the street.

Our inspection is free and done on the roof itself. We photograph every fault and send you a written, itemised quote with the photos attached. If we find something worse once work begins, we stop and call you with photos before doing anything about it. Proof on every roof is how we work.

Call 0420 541 479 or send a quote request, and we will call you back within 2 hours, Mon to Sat, 7am to 6pm.