Roof painting and sealing

Roof painting puts a primer or sealer and two top coats over a cleaned and repaired roof. On concrete tiles it restores the surface the original coating used to provide; on metal roofs it covers faded or lightly rusted sheeting after the rust is treated. A coating is only as good as the preparation and repairs under it, so painting a roof without fixing cracked tiles, failed ridges or rust first is money wasted. Painters and roofers who respond through this site are separate businesses, and the quote, warranty terms and workmanship are theirs.

Does your roof need painting?

A coating is worth considering when:

• Concrete tiles have lost their colour and turned rough, chalky or porous.
• Moss and lichen keep coming back on a roof that has been cleaned.
• Metal sheets have faded, with surface rust starting at laps, fixings or cut edges.
• You want a lighter colour to reduce heat absorbed by the roof, or a colour that suits the rest of the house.
• You are preparing a house for sale and the roof is the tired part of the street view.

A coating is usually not the answer for a roof with widespread cracked tiles, rotten battens, rust holes through the sheeting, or an asbestos cement roof. Those need repair, replacement or specialist removal.

Tile versus metal: what changes

Roof type	Preparation	Coating system	Watch for
Concrete tile	Pressure clean, replace broken tiles, rebed and repoint ridges	Sealer or primer, then two membrane or acrylic top coats	Porous tiles absorb the first coat, so the sealer step matters
Terracotta tile	Clean and repoint; many are left uncoated	Specialist primer if coated at all	Ask why paint is proposed on a glazed or sound terracotta roof
Colorbond or Zincalume steel	Clean, treat rust, replace badly rusted sheets and fixings	Metal primer on bare or treated areas, then top coats for metal	Sheets rusted through cannot be painted back to sound
Asbestos cement	Do not pressure clean or sand	Specialist advice before any work	See the asbestos limits below

The What’s The Damage Melbourne roofing price table (October 2026, GST included) lists painting a single-storey roof at $2,625 to $6,300 and a metal roof restoration with rust treatment at $3,150 to $7,900. Tile roofs that also need ridge and tile repairs fall under a full roof restoration instead.

What a provider will check before quoting

• The roof material, and whether any part of it could be asbestos cement.
• How much cleaning, repair and rust treatment is needed before paint.
• Roof area, pitch, height and access for safe work at the edges.
• Whether the house collects rainwater for drinking from this roof.
• The product they intend to use and its data sheet, including application temperature and recoat times.
• Colour choice, and whether the gutters, fascias and downpipes will be painted to match.

What the work involves

1. Protect the site: cover windows, cars, paving and gardens against overspray.
2. Clean the roof and let it dry fully.
3. Make repairs: tiles, ridges and pointing on tile roofs, rust treatment and fixings on metal.
4. Apply sealer or primer across the whole surface.
5. Apply the top coats at the thickness the coating maker specifies, allowing drying time between coats.
6. Clean up overspray, check the gutters are clear and photograph the finished roof.

Coating is weather dependent. Rain, dew, strong wind and cold mornings can all ruin a coat, so the start date may move with the forecast.

Rainwater tanks and roof coatings

If your house collects drinking water from the roof, tell the provider before they quote. The Victorian Department of Health booklet Your private drinking water supply says to wait until after the first few rainfalls before collecting water from a roof that has recently been painted. It also lists particles from lead-based paints or flashing on older roofs as a contamination risk, and advises against collecting drinking water from roofs with bitumen or tar-based coatings. Disconnect the tank downpipes before cleaning and coating, and ask the painter to confirm the product is suited to a roof that supplies a drinking water tank.

Asbestos cement roofs: where painting stops

According to the Victorian Asbestos Hub, a home dating from before 1990, or renovated before then, probably has asbestos somewhere in it. The hub’s advice is to avoid drilling, sanding, cutting or water blasting anything that might contain it. WorkSafe Victoria’s safety alert on tools used on asbestos explains that the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 bar employers and self-employed people from using a high-pressure water jet, power tool, broom or similar tool on asbestos-containing material unless the use is controlled. A roof painter who suggests water blasting a fibro roof is someone to avoid. Have the material identified first; replacement by a licensed removalist and a new roof is often the better path.

Licensing and registration

Painting is a single trade. Consumer Affairs Victoria lists painting among the jobs that do not need building practitioner registration when it is the only work involved, but a job that combines painting with other building work does. The Building and Plumbing Commission’s description of roofing (stormwater) work excludes cleaning, painting and preparation, so a painter does not need a plumbing licence to coat a roof. Replacing metal sheets, flashings or gutters is plumbing work and needs the right class.

What a careful painter will not do

• Paint over moss, dirt or loose material.
• Coat cracked tiles or rusted-through sheets and leave them in place.
• Apply paint in conditions outside the data sheet limits to keep to a schedule.
• Quote a long warranty without saying in writing what it covers and who stands behind it.

Painting roofs around Sunbury

Where Sunbury houses from the 1980s and 1990s still have their original concrete tiles, the surface coating has usually worn away by now. If the tiles and battens are sound, those roofs suit a clean, repair and recoat. On the newer estates the roofs are usually too young to need paint. In Riddells Creek and other semi-rural areas where tanks supply drinking water, the rainwater precautions above apply to most jobs. The roof restoration cost guide compares painting with full restoration and replacement.

What to do next

Note the roof material, the colour you have in mind and whether you have a drinking water tank. Then send a roof painting enquiry with a few photos taken from the ground.

Send a job enquiry