What Cardiff roofs are dealing with
Cardiff is far enough inland that salt is not the driver here the way it is at Belmont or Swansea. What you get instead is age and heat. A great deal of Cardiff is post-war housing on concrete tile, much of it original, and those roofs are now at the point where the mortar has done its time even though the tiles have not. Cracked pointing along every ridge and hip is close to the default condition on an unrestored roof of that vintage.
That is genuinely good news for most owners here. A sound tile roof with failed mortar is the textbook restoration case: clean it, re-bed and re-point the capping, swap the handful of broken tiles and coat it, and you have bought another decade or more for a fraction of what replacing it costs. The roofs where that is not true are the ones that have already been coated twice, or where the battens have gone, and both are things we check before quoting rather than after.
What we look at first here
Age rather than exposure. On a Cardiff roof the questions are about mortar, previous coatings and what is under the tiles.
Original ridge capping mortar
Rigid cement mortar cracks because a roof moves with heat and the mortar cannot. On sixty-year-old capping it has usually cracked the whole length. Re-pointing over a failed bed rather than re-bedding it is the shortcut that has it cracking again the first hot summer.
How many times it has been coated
Plenty of Cardiff roofs have been restored once already. A roof that has been coated twice is generally at the point where another coat flakes rather than holds, and replacement becomes the better spend. It is worth knowing which one yours is before you pay for a third.
The battens underneath
Everything above only matters if what is under the tiles is sound. We get into the roof space and look, because a restoration on rotted battens is money spent on a roof that still needs replacing.
What we do in Cardiff
Pressure clean, re-bed and re-point the ridge capping, replace broken tiles, then a coating system. Typically buys another 10 to 15 years out of a sound tile roof.
Learn moreSlipped and cracked tiles, failed pointing, rusted valley irons and flashing. We find what is actually causing the problem rather than patching the wet patch.
Learn moreWhen the battens or sarking have gone, a coating will not save it. We strip the old roof and re-sheet, usually to Colorbond steel.
Learn moreColorbond steel roofing, supplied and installed. Lighter than tile, quick to install, and it holds up well to the salt air along the coast.
Learn moreRoof plumbing is its own licensed trade: metal roofing, guttering, downpipes, flashing and box gutters. If water is meant to move, this is the work that moves it.
Learn moreA stain on the ceiling or a drip during last night's rain. Call us and we will come and look at it, find where the water is actually getting in, and make it safe.
Learn more
Common questions
My Cardiff roof has never been touched in sixty years. Is that bad?
Not necessarily, and it is often better than a roof that has been coated badly twice. An original tile roof with cracked pointing is the standard restoration job. The thing that decides it is the condition of the battens and sarking underneath, which is what the inspection is for.
What is the difference between re-pointing and re-bedding?
Bedding is the mortar bed under the ridge caps that holds them in place. Pointing is the flexible compound over the top of it. Re-pointing renews the surface. Re-bedding removes the caps and rebuilds the mortar underneath first. If the bedding has failed, pointing over it cracks again fairly quickly, so any quote should say which one it is.
Do I need coastal-grade steel in Cardiff?
Generally not, and it is one of the advantages of being this far in. It is still worth the quote naming the grade it has allowed, but you are not in the environment that Belmont and Swansea roofs are dealing with.
Is it cheaper to restore than replace?
Substantially, when the roof is a candidate for it. That is the whole reason we check the battens first: a restoration on a sound structure is a fraction of a replacement, and a restoration on an unsound one is wasted money. Which one applies is not something anyone can tell you over the phone.
Around Cardiff
We cover the streets either side of Cardiff as well, so if you are just over the boundary it is the same job and the same free inspection.
- Cardiff South
- Cardiff Heights
- Glendale
- Argenton
- Macquarie Hills
- Boolaroo
- New Lambton Heights
Roof playing up in Cardiff?
Give us a call and we will come and look at it. Free on-site inspection across Lake Macquarie and the wider Hunter, with the quote in writing before anything starts.