How to repair rust on roof and how much cost to do this as well as paint the roof?

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Starlancer

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#315824 19-Aug-2024 20:29

Hello all,

I’ve been informed that there’s some rust on my roof and that there are some missing nails.

I was given two quotes for the roof paint as well as the rust repair.

First quote was $5900 + GST and other quote was $2800 + GST.

The roof paint and rust repair job would take three days. My house is a 100 square metre one and the roof has four sides sloping down to gutters.

Could this job be done for a lower cost but still done right using some hired help like cheaper painters? I’ve painted my back and front fence for the cost of only a few paint cans, brushes and with a bit of help from a few others.

How urgent is it to repair the roof rust?

Advice would be appreciated.

hsvhel

1237 posts

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#3273613 19-Aug-2024 20:44

Can you share the pics from the quotes advocating for the work?

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xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
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#3273697 20-Aug-2024 07:31

Urgency, pretty urgent depending on the rust levels. Rust = holes = entry for pests/water = damage to interior = rotting ceilings = no insurance if they suspect you were negligent in getting maintenance done.

Pricing sounds ok, we're about to get our large roof cleaned, treated, nails replaced, and recoated and gutters cleaned for 2x your amount.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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tieke

674 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#3273714 20-Aug-2024 09:03

Prices seem about right. I sorted my own roof out during summer and even with the free labout it wasn't cheap and took a long time. I think there's another geekzone post regarding someone else's method, but basically I removed the old lead-heads (which requires vice-grips and a levering block when the heads have rusted off), wire-brushed and used rust-kill around the old nail holes then zinced and primered on top of that before using storm washers and tek screws as nail replacements.

It's often hard to tell which lead-head nails have failed until you check, so I replaced all of them, and the storm washers sort out the issue of the original nail holes enlarging due to the lead-heads rusting (I simply put storm washers under every screw rather than making judgement calls).

All of this takes time, and as it's often windy in my area, it would have been a bad idea to remove the majority of nails from the corrugated iron at the same time, so the process usually requires taking out a row or two of nails at a time, and of course you have to wait the appropriate amount of time between each zinc/rust kill coat before doing the next.

Depending on the height of your roof, scaffolding or edge protection is usually suggested, and in my case previous waterblasting of the roof had pushed rust up under the ridge-cap which I replaced completely.

Overall I ended up spending a couple of thousand dollars (mostly the screws, washers and ridgecap rather than the paint) and many hours on it. Roof will now be fine for at least another twenty years though, and my alternative was over $10,000 for a straight replacement.

Eva888

2429 posts

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#3273716 20-Aug-2024 09:05

We went through this exact process. Roof looked solid and fine but could see some rust here and there so got a quote to repaint. Then got a builder friend who had no interest in a job to climb up and tell me the situation close up. He reported back that there were actually around 15 holes in many areas where water was getting through.

This was not obvious from inside the house as it was soaking into the batts and wood, but one large room on the South exposed side always had a damp feel and would easily grow mould in winter. That issue has now gone with a re-roof.

I figured that spending money on scaffolding and a patch/paint jobs was short term fix and the problem would continue to worsen and more money thrown at it again and again until a new roof was inevitable. Painting rust was just shifting the problem along. Got quotes to re-roof and best thing I ever did. If you are in Wellington I highly recommend our roofers.

Our roof was not the sort you could repair by replacing a few new sheets. My mother’s place that had corrugated iron managed to get away with replacing just one bad exposed quarter as the rest of the roof was still sound. So if yours is corrugated you may want to consider a partial repair instead, but definitely get up and check it close up before you decide to accept a paint quote.

eracode

Smpl Mnmlst
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#3273765 20-Aug-2024 09:12

Eva888:

[snip]

... definitely get up and check it close up before you decide to accept a paint quote.

@Starlancer You say "I’ve been informed that there’s some rust on my roof and that there are some missing nails." It would be interesting to know who informed you and why/under what circs.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Bung

6479 posts

Uber Geek

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#3273790 20-Aug-2024 11:20

Our house has grown over the years and is a collection of single plane roofs. Most have been replaced but 1 remains with original corrugated iron. It has the typical rust at the gutter end. Years ago the underside of ends of sheets and laps used to be well painted, more recently they haven’t bothered. The usual patch up consists of slipping a short sheet under the original. The labour involved is not worth it. Probably 2 days repair and prep and 1 day paint vs 1 day to remove and replace.

Any professional working on a roof is required to have fall protection, usually some form of scaffold.

xlinknz

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#3350133 4-Mar-2025 20:10

Hi all

Almost all the roofing screws on our 2005 coloursteel roof has corroded. A number of tradespeople have advised this is a common issue as a result of roofing screws being incorrectly installed with an impact driver resulting in the roof screw paint being damaged

We have a builder lined up to replace the screws but we noted a reaction around the corroded screw. Can anyone advise what treatment product could be used that is clear to treat the reaction. I have also emailed Coloursteel too

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xWkwGj2KyYZe9JnsAntW9HStvPM6piLs/view?usp=sharing