What Adelaide does to a roof coating
Heatwaves that don't let up
From 26 January 2009, Adelaide stayed above 40 °C for six days running and peaked at 45.7 °C. Dulux says some fading is expected as coatings weather, partly from chalking, where UV breaks down the acrylic binder. North- and west-facing slopes usually show it first.
Painted iron is a local tradition
Before the 1970s, painted corrugated iron was one of the standard Adelaide roofs. If yours is still original, a repaint has to deal with rust and old paint first, so the preparation matters more than the colour on top.
Decades of faded Colorbond
Colorbond has dominated Adelaide roofs since then, and plenty of those factory finishes are tired now. BlueScope says overpainting Colorbond voids its warranty, and that a water-based acrylic is generally the most suitable paint if you go ahead.
Salt air along the gulf
For steel roofs in more corrosive salt marine spots, BlueScope recommends a paint system with better corrosion resistance, such as a zinc-rich primer. If you live near the water, ask for it by name.
Is painting worth it on your roof?
On cement tiles, Monier says repainting refreshes the look but doesn't improve waterproofing, and it needs redoing every five years or so to stay looking fresh. Paint them because you want them to look better, not to stop a leak.
On terracotta, the colour is fired in and Monier doesn't recommend painting. On Colorbond, a sound but faded roof can be repainted, though BlueScope says there's no colour match for its Metallic finish and no texture match for Matt. If the sheets are rusting through, paint won't save them.
Some coatings are made to reflect more of the sun's heat. On a single-storey house, where the roof sits right over the bedrooms and living areas, that's worth asking about. See heat-reflective roof coatings.
One South Australian detail: CBS counts painting as domestic building work, so the business contracting for your roof paint job needs a building work contractor licence. The number starts with BLD and should be on the quote.
Old cement sheet roofs
Some older roofs and eaves are asbestos cement, not metal or tile. It's illegal in every state to use high-pressure water on asbestos materials, so a roof like that must never be pressure cleaned before painting. Have it tested first, and read can you paint an asbestos roof?
What to ask a roof painter
- What's the full coating system: primer, product name and number of coats?
- How will you treat rust spots or loose old paint before the first coat?
- What temperatures does the coating need, and how will you work around a heatwave?
- Is there a heat-reflective version of the colour I want?
- I collect rainwater. Is this paint system suitable for a drinking water roof?
- What warranty comes from you, and what comes from the coating maker?
If it were ours
We'd only paint a roof that's already sound, and we'd spend on preparation before colour. Under Adelaide's sun, a lighter, heat-reflective coating is worth pricing on a single-storey home. And we'd book it for spring or autumn, so the coating can cure without a 40-degree afternoon in the middle of the job.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.
Getting a painter out
We pass roof painting jobs to one licence-checked roofer in your part of Adelaide where we have one. If there isn't one near you yet, we'll tell you, so you can look elsewhere. Our national roof painting page and the Adelaide hub have more.