Why so many Hunter roofs go back on in Colorbond
Colorbond is pre-painted steel sheeting made by BlueScope. It is not a generic term for metal roofing, and the difference matters when you are comparing quotes, because unbranded steel and Colorbond are not the same product at the same price.
Three things make it the default choice on a replacement here. It weighs a fraction of what concrete tile weighs, so it suits an older frame that was never designed for the load it is carrying. It goes on quickly, which means fewer days with an open roof. And it comes in grades specified for coastal exposure, which is the single most useful thing about it in a region where a lot of houses sit within sight of the water.
How we do it
Measure and check the frame
Batten spacing and frame condition decide the profile as much as the look does. Steel is unforgiving of a bad frame.
Specify the coastal grade
How close you are to breaking surf sets the coastal grade. This is the decision most quotes get wrong.
Choose profile and colour
Corrugated, trimdek or a standing seam, then the colour. Worth seeing a sample against your own walls.
Strip and re-sark the roof
Old roof off, frame repaired where needed, new sarking down. Steel without sarking sweats and drips in winter.
Lay, flash and fasten
Sheets laid to fall, then ridge, valleys, barge and penetrations. Fasteners matched to the sheeting so they do not corrode first.
Colorbond usually suits you when
- You are replacing a tile roof on an older frame and want the weight off it
- The house sits near the coast and you need a grade specified for salt exposure
- You want the roof back on quickly with fewer days open to the weather
- You are adding a carport, extension, patio or shed and want it to match
- Low ongoing maintenance matters more to you than the look of tile
When tile is the better answer
- You want to keep the original look on a period home or a tiled streetscape
- You are in a heritage or conservation area with a controls document that says so
- Your existing tile roof is sound and only needs restoring
- Noise in heavy rain would genuinely bother you and the ceiling cannot be insulated well
Rain noise is the objection we hear most and it is largely solved by sarking and ceiling insulation, but it is a fair thing to raise before you commit rather than after.
What does a Colorbond roof cost in Newcastle?
Colorbond is usually quoted as part of a full replacement rather than on its own, so the number that matters is the strip and re-sheet total. On a standard single-storey Newcastle home that generally starts in the mid teens of thousands. Sheeting on a new structure, a carport or an extension is a much smaller job and priced per square metre of roof area.
What moves the price: roof size and pitch, access, the profile you choose, the amount of flashing and capping the roof shape demands, and the steel grade the site calls for. A complicated roof with many valleys, hips and penetrations costs more per square metre than a simple gable, because most of the labour is in the detail work rather than the sheets.
Be careful comparing quotes on price alone here. A cheaper quote is sometimes unbranded steel rather than Colorbond, or a standard grade where the location calls for a coastal one. Ask what is actually being supplied and you will usually find the gap explains itself.
Choosing the right grade near the water
BlueScope publishes minimum distances from breaking surf and from calmer salt water for each of its steel grades, and those distances are the whole ballgame in a region like this one. A roof at Merewether, Bar Beach, Redhead or Stockton is in a materially different environment from one at Cardiff or Maitland, even though they are half an hour apart. The failure, when the grade is wrong, does not show up as a rusty roof. It shows up first at the fasteners and cut edges, years before the sheets themselves look tired. Ask whoever quotes your roof what grade they have allowed and how they worked it out.
Common questions
Is a Colorbond roof noisy in the rain?
Less than people expect. Sarking under the sheets and insulation in the ceiling do most of the work, and a modern install with both is quiet enough that most people stop noticing. An uninsulated patio roof with nothing under it is where the reputation comes from.
Is Colorbond hotter than tile?
Steel heats and cools faster, but what actually determines the temperature in your rooms is the insulation and ventilation, not the roof material. Lighter colours reflect more heat than dark ones, which is worth knowing before you pick a colour purely on looks.
How long does a Colorbond roof last?
A long time when the grade suits the location and the roof is installed and flashed properly. Getting the grade wrong for a coastal site is what shortens it, and that shows up at the fasteners and cut edges first. We will not put a number on it here, because the honest answer depends on where your house is.
Can Colorbond go straight over my existing tiles?
No. The tiles come off and the frame gets inspected and repaired first. Sheeting over an existing roof hides exactly the layer that needs checking, and the batten spacing for tile is usually wrong for steel anyway.
Can you match the Colorbond on my carport or extension?
Usually. Colours and profiles change over the years, so an exact match to an old roof is not always possible, but we will tell you honestly whether it will match or merely sit close before you order anything.
Related services
When 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 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 morePressure 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 more
Thinking about colorbond roofing?
We will come and look at the roof, photograph what we find and put a price in writing. Free, across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter.