Repair, restore or replace: getting your roof sorted properly

The three tiers of roofing work

Repairs are the small end: replacing cracked tiles, rebedding a ridge, fixing a leaking valley or flashing. Restoration is a whole-roof surface job — high-pressure clean, repoint, replace broken tiles and spray a membrane coat — and it makes sense when the structure is sound but the surface is tired. Replacement is stripping the old roof entirely and installing new tiles or metal sheeting, the answer when tiles are brittle, the sarking has failed, or you're switching materials.

Restoration is priced per square metre of roof, while repairs are priced by the job and replacement by the whole project. The material matters throughout — concrete tiles, terracotta and colorbond all behave and price differently — and so does height: a two-storey home needs scaffolding or rails, which adds real cost to bigger jobs.

The wildcard is hidden damage. Rotten battens, failed sarking or, in older homes, asbestos cement sheeting can surface once work starts. Asbestos in particular changes the job: it must be removed by a licensed asbestos removalist, not a general roofer.

How the cost works

The band on this page is deliberately wide because it spans all three tiers — repairs at the bottom, restoration in the middle, full replacement at the top. The estimate here adjusts for roof area, the scope tier and whether the home is single or double storey, which are the factors that move a roofing price the most.

The scope decision is the biggest lever you control. A tired-looking but structurally sound roof might only need restoration, saving you the cost of replacement — but a roof that's genuinely failing is money wasted on a coat that won't last. A photo report of the actual condition, which good roofers provide, is what lets you make that call honestly.

Choosing the right roofer

Whether roofing needs a licence depends on your state and the scale of the work — many jurisdictions license roofing or roof plumbing, so check what applies where you live rather than assuming. Whatever the paperwork, insist on a photo report of the damage before approving work; you can't see the roof, so the roofer's documentation is your eyes.

For restoration, coatings typically carry warranties of ten to fifteen years — get that in writing with the paint system named, not just a verbal promise. Ask how they'll access the roof safely, how they handle any asbestos they find, and to see a restoration they did years ago, since the coating's real test is time, not handover day.

Mistakes to avoid

Roofing problems compound quietly — a small leak becomes a rotten frame — so the mistakes to avoid are mostly about not cutting corners on diagnosis and paperwork.

• Approving work without a photo report of the actual damage
• Paying for restoration on a roof that's genuinely failing and needs replacement
• Accepting a verbal coating warranty instead of a written one with the system named
• Letting a general roofer disturb suspected asbestos — it needs a licensed removalist
• Comparing quotes without checking each includes safe access like scaffolding on a two-storey home
• Ignoring flashings and valleys, where most leaks actually start