Roof restorations needed? Resurfacing might do the trick

Resurfacing a tired roof can be a relatively inexpensive roof restorations solution - with visual and cost appeal.

If you're looking for relatively inexpensive home renovation ideas, it might be worth starting woth roof restorations. Roofs are one of the first things people notice about the exterior of a home, and tired-looking ones can benefit greatly from roof restorations - either resurfacing or sealing.

Roof sealing is only done on concrete-tile roofs, which can begin to lose their colour after about 10-15 years (sealing is not suitable for clay tile roofs). "Bottom line is there's really nothing wrong with the concrete roof tiles or the roof itself, but the surface of the tiles is bad," says Kevin from the Roof and Wall Doctor.

The roof sealing process is reasonably straightforward. First, the tradesman replaces all the broken tiles and patches any holes. Then he cleans the gutters and washes the whole roof, using high-pressure equipment hooked up to the garden hose. Any loose cement is knocked out of the ridges and the tips of the tiles and they are then sealed. "We use a product called Flexi-Point, which is designed for the ridges," says Kevin. "It doesn't have cement in it but it's based on an acrylic mixed with sand. With a trowel we go back up on the roof and seal all the ridges." Any leakage problems in the roof are also addressed.

Once this preparation is done, it's time to focus on the business of sealing proper. "We have a range of about 18 different colours we use for roof restorations; I show the customer the colours and they pick one out," says Kevin. Three separate coatings are then applied to the roof to complete the roof restorations. The first is a clear, milky sealer that is sprayed over the whole roof; this process takes about two to four hours. Once that coat is dry, a layer of coloured coating is sprayed over the roof, then when that has dried a top coat is put on.

Roof sealing is suitable for any concrete-tile roof; it's up to the customer to choose tones that will fit in well with their environment. The quality of the finish will generally depend on how good the tradesman is. The best thing about resealing as a roof restorations solution is that it is considerably cheaper than reroofing.

To restore your roof to its former glory, talk to the roof resurfacing experts for roof restorations: