Roof Repairs.... How Hard is it?

[Dean]

Ok folks,
The roof of my house needs some repair/maintenance.

Basically have to replace half a dozen tiles, and do a bit of re-pointing as it is starting to crumble away.

Got a roof guy in and he said $9000. I told him, in a nice way, where he can put his $9000. Sounded way too much for my liking. The roof isnt in too bad a condition.
So, my question is to any knowledgable folk in this department....

How hard is it actually to repoint a roof? It looks to me like they just check the tiles, line em up and apply the concrete mix (or whatever it is) and smooth it off to seal up any gaps... but of course, I may be missing a few steps here?

Are there any good books/resources on the subject?

[George]

Dean,
I'd get another quote. I had 100 odd tiles replaced, 2 gable ends re-pointed and the ridge-cap completely rebedded and repointed for around $1500.

In my case it wasn't a job I would have tackled myself.

Cheers

George

[Sir Stinkalot]

I don't know how hard it is but this will give you an indication of current prices.
Archicentre Cost Guide (http://www.archicentre.com.au/costguide.pdf)

Stinky

[Eastie]

As Sir S said the archicentre prices are a good indication - if they are too far above these they don't want the work.

Pointing is not too difficult, nor is replacing tiles. To touch on another issue roof tilers are skilled at working on tiled roofs, home handy people generally aren't. This job has the highest injury/fatality rate in the industry, along with the greatest injury severity of all industries in Australia. If it's single storey (or similar drop on slopping land), you are young and agile and if the area you will potentially be falling on to is void of concrete/fences/star pickets or other things not consistent with life then you've covered the major things on the idiots roof tiling diy checklist. The other major one is securing the ladder - tie it off to a truss/battern.

Also note that if the roof is over 3.2m in height a number of roof tilers these days will also include the cost of setting up a harness fall prevention system (or guardrail for big jobs). If they don't use this stuff some will put their prices up anyway to factor in the danger of doing the work.

Be safe. Eastie

[Zed]

Hi,

What Eastie said is spot on re saftey.

re the spending :

How many tiles do you need to replace ?

do you need to replace the support batterns to ?

are the bearers warped out of shape ? (dont know what they are called - you know the ones that form the "A" shape of your peaked roof ?)

all these things could contribute to the hefty price.

When I was as telecoms rigger we did all sorts of stuff with rooves and climbing on dodgy stuff and beleive me its easy enough to set up a fall arrestor yourself if you have a climbing belt, or better yet a harness (Harnesses are better as you cant fall out of a harness as it hooks up over your shoulders and under your crotch). Note that a fall arrestor will NOT stop you getting injured - you can still fall up to about 6 feet with some models but they do stop death...

I accept no liability for the following advice - use it at own discretion :

if you insist on doing it yourself : to set up a fall arrestor rope system :

get a good length of rope preferably new- I recommend at least 16mm poly - this is the minimun diameter for hand hauling. get it from bullivants in a 100m roll. its reasonably cheap and reuseable.

FYI Breaking strain of Poly is the not the best of all synthetics which are ALL stronger than natural fibre but poly is the most common and easy to use;

Max lift capacity of a rope is dia in mm x dia in mm x multiplication factor = SLL measured in Kg.

Poly is 1.6.

therefore for 16 mm poly = 16 x 16 x 1.6 = 409kg.

Strongest is Nylon rope (multiplication factor is I think 2.26)

lift some tiles and affix it to the support beams of your roof - use a safe bend like a bowline that CANNOT come undone (No such things as knots except what granny uses when knitting)

run the rope around the apex of your roof and fix at cardinal points -make sure you lash the rope to another bearer under some lifted tiles every 6 ft or so or the flex will give you to much vertical movement on your arrestor rope - remember the rope will form an arch no matter how tight you affix it when you put your weight on it so remember to allow for that. tie it off at the other end with another bowline trying to keep as much slack out of the rope as possible.

get 4 good quality d shackles with screw in safteys that cant come undone without conciously unscrewing them (make sure they are rated to lift at least 500kg - the markings will state something like "WLL 500kg" or SLL - WLL stands for "will lift load", SLL Stands for SAfe lifting load) try a place like Bullivants to get this. DO NOT USE THE CHEAP CRAP FROM ANYWHERE UNLESS IT IS RATED!!!! (all rated shackles are marked with a SLL or WLL) (not that expensive)
Dont be a smart and use a pully to attach to your arrestor rope or you'll be on the end of an embarassing flying fox.

attach d shackles to each end of 6ft bit of your rope by splicing or lashing - if you cant do this get someone else to do it for you (make sure there are at least 5 "over and unders" on a synthetic rope!!!)

attach one end of both ropes to your harness (dont forget to screw it off) and the other end of each rope to the arrestor rope and when you move about the roof make sure at least one shackle is ALWAYS attached to your arrestor rope. (Iew move one at a time)

get a good pair of grippy shoes I recommend some dunlop volleys or a pair of squash shoes. DO NOT CLIMB if your tiles are wet as you'll slip INSTANTLY and die on the spot !!!

Dont use a wet slurry mix for your pointing mud - its gotta be reasonably stiff so it dont ooze.

mix your mud on the ground and haul up in a shallow bucket or you wont be able to get your trowel in easily.

tie off your ladder (obvious innit?)

work with a mate you trust who is capable!!!! DO NOT WORK ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the cost of the rope and the 2 shackles would probably be about $200-300, climbing harness about $3-400 or a belt for less - try bullivants for all this stuff.

what i've described is easy enough but a lot of buggering around and cheaper than 9 grand - you may want to have seperate load bearing arrestor ropes.

As to the inevitable question " how do you get up to attach the arrestor rope in the first place ?" - the answer is "carefully" - the safe answer is slowly working your way up the roof and tie off as you go around a bearer...

good luck - give me a call to discuss via email if you like. prick of a job though - easier in the old days when we were all gung ho and bulletproof...

[Grue]

Glad this one came up, I have to repoint about 4 ridge tiles. What type of cement should I use?

Thanks.

Grue

[Zed]

slight addendum to by previous post - ditch the d shackles and get "carabena's" instead

its just a stiff sand cement mixture with roof tile colouring oxide in it innit ?

dont forget to get spare tiles - ceramics are strong in compression not tension so when you step on the bastard in the wrong spot (ie not on the apex of a curve - the apex of the curve is the correct foot position) the bastard will break on ya. if you've got cement tiles you're laughing theys strong as - even my 96kg wont break 'em.

[ozwinner]

Hi all
Here is the Boral price for new roofing supply and fit, Direct from the HIA price guide.
At this price, if you had ALL the options, your $9 grand will get you 106 sqM of new roof. :D
I think some one is pulling ya leg. :D
Cheers, Allan :)

[Sir Stinkalot]

I would think that the quality of the price that you are given will very much reflect the interest in the job by the tradesperson. The $9K sound very high ..... as if the guy doing the quote wanted to give you a figure but really didn't want to do the job. You never know though he could have gotten lucky and had you accept his high quote which would mean high $$$'s for him.

I have just received a quote for 100m2 of domestic paths and an entertaining area ...... $8.5K .... thats $85 m2 .... what a joke. It seems as if there is too much work on out there at the moment for trades so they can pick and choose ..... it will be interesting to see what happens in 12 months with the interest rate rises.

Stinky.

[soundman]

In may previous life as an antenna installer I trod many a tile roof and learned a few small things.

carry a black felt marker when on the roof to mark cracked tiles you makes them easier to find.

do not kick tiles off with your boot, it will reck your knee (antenna installers knee) use a rubber mallet.

Dont do pointing on a screaming hot day it will crack for sure.

If you find yourself falling from a 3 story roof & heading to land on a spiky wraught iron fence try to land head first.
(refer to yess minister)

[Theva]

Grue,

One of the best products around is Nutech's Maxipoint.

Check this link:Nutech- Maxipoint (http://www.nutechpaints.com.au/maxipointapplication.htm)


Regards,

Theva

[Caliban]

Don't be a girl, get up there and fix the roof yourself. Better still wear thongs and drink plenty of Dutch courage first, that way you can blame the booze when you stuff up.
cheers
Jim
ps I fixed my roof myself it was easy. But you could take everyone else's advice and be safety conscious. I accept no liability for any of my advice.