Tile Roof Restoration in Sydney

Concrete versus terracotta: they age differently

Concrete tiles are coated with a colour surface that wears off over 15 to 25 years. Once it's gone the porous concrete underneath absorbs water, gets heavier and hosts moss, so recoating with a primer and membrane is the fix. Terracotta is a fired clay that never really goes porous, so it usually just needs cleaning and re-pointing rather than a colour coat, and painting terracotta is often the wrong call.

Getting this distinction right matters, because coating terracotta that doesn't need it wastes your money and can trap moisture. We identify the tile type first and recommend only what your roof actually needs.

Ridge capping: bedding and pointing

The ridges and hips are held down by a bed of mortar with a flexible pointing compound over the top. On older roofs the original rigid cement pointing cracks as the house moves and the tiles expand, letting water track under the caps. We rake out the failed pointing, re-bed caps that have come loose, then re-point with a flexible pointing compound that flexes with the roof instead of cracking again.

Broken and slipped tiles

Sydney hail and falling branches crack tiles, and old tile clips corrode and let tiles slip. We keep common concrete and terracotta profiles on hand and match replacements as closely as possible, though exact colour matches on discontinued terracotta can be tricky and we'll be upfront about that. Every replacement is properly seated and clipped so it doesn't move in the next big blow.