Australian weather conditions can make your roof look pretty cactus, even if you’ve got the best quality Colorbond steel, terracotta or concrete tiles around. Painting your roof is a great way to make your home once again look a million bucks. Sadly, you can’t just go down to Bunnings, grab a spray can (and a Bunnings snag with onions on the top) and go to town. You need a roofing professional who uses the right kind of paint and painting processes. In this post, we outline which type of paint is best to use on your roof.

Elasticity
When talking about elasticity in roof paint, we don’t mean that it’s as stretchy as a rubber band or mozzarella cheese. We’re referring to its flexibility in moving with the material of your roof. Differing temperatures cause your roof to expand in the heat and retract in the cold, even if they do so on a minute scale. Your paint has to be able to ‘stretch’ with your roof so that it doesn’t flake or peel off. This would cause your roof to look even worse than before it was repainted.

Water-based acrylic paints that are elastomeric tend to be the standard choice for roof painting. Their elasticity will guarantee that they won’t peel off or flake and will protect your roof from further cracking.

UV radiation
If you live in a hot climate (in which most of Australia does) you need to make sure that the paint you use on your roof is resistant to UV radiation. UV rays can cause our skin to burn within minutes, so imagine what it can do to a painted roof exposed to 40-degree heat for 8-12 hours a day in the cruel Australian summer. Like you may have seen on some cars which are left out in the sun over long periods of time, roof paint has the tendency to fade in hot temperatures if it’s not UV resistant.

Painting method
It’s important to hire a roof painter who uses the correct methods of painting a roof and doesn’t take the ‘easy’ way out. Royce Roofing uses the successful method of painting a roof: applying one coat of primer and at least two to three coats of paint. Other roofing companies may cut corners by using less paint or primer, thus saving themselves money. Make sure you check that your roofing company uses the diligent method of roof painting.

Choosing what type of paint to use on your roof can be tricky, especially if you’ve got little experience with painting products. This makes it important to leave your roof respray in the hands of a professional who understands what makes certain paints appropriate for the job. Royce Roofing have painted countless Melbourne roofs and have countless happy customers as a result. Get in contact with Royce Roofing, your local professionals in roof repairs and roof painting.