Specialists in Roofing Maintenance and Restoration
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Roofs in the Inner West are a mix. Concrete tile on a post-war extension, terracotta on the original terrace, metal over a rear addition, and often more than one of those on the same building. Coating suits some and not others. A slate roof is not painted. Old terracotta can be coated, but only where the surface is sound and the pointing has been dealt with first. On a shared roofline the boundary is a real consideration, because a coating that stops halfway along a terrace looks exactly like what it is. All of that gets worked out on the roof before we quote.
We identify what the roof is made of and whether it should be coated at all. Slate is not a candidate and we say so.
The roof is cleaned so the coating has something to bond to. On an older roof that means moss, lichen and loose surface material.
Cracked tiles are replaced and failed pointing is repaired before painting starts. Coating over a leak only hides it.
A sealer goes on first, which matters more on a porous, weathered tile roof than on a newer one.
The coats go on and are left to cure. On a terrace we talk through how the colour will sit against the neighbours.
Overspray protection goes up first, which on a terrace means the neighbouring roof and courtyard too, and the site is cleared afterwards.
Call 0452 223 327 or send the form with your address and what the roof is made of, if you know.
We come out, get on the roof, tell you whether coating is the right call and price it before any work starts.
We clean it back, carry out the repairs we flagged, then seal and coat, and check the finish.
Monkeys Roofing paints and recoats roofs across the Inner West and the rest of Sydney. On heritage and mixed-material roofs the inspection decides whether coating is appropriate at all.
No. Slate is not coated, and anyone offering to paint one is doing your roof no favours. Where a slate roof is the problem, the answer is repairing or replacing the damaged slates.
It comes up constantly here. Where the roofline runs across two properties, coating only your half is visible from the street, and the boundary needs to be agreed before work starts. We raise it at quote stage.
If tiles are cracked or the pointing has failed, yes. A coating is a surface finish, not a repair, and painting over a fault means paying for the job twice.
Before anything gets coated, someone should tell you whether your roof should be coated at all. Call 0452 223 327 or send the form for a free on-site inspection and quote.
Newtown · Enmore · Erskineville · Camperdown · Marrickville · Dulwich Hill · Petersham · Stanmore · Lewisham · Leichhardt · Lilyfield · Rozelle · Balmain · Birchgrove · Glebe · Annandale · Ashfield · Summer Hill · Haberfield · St Peters
Also servicing surrounding Inner West suburbs. See our Inner West roofing page, or how we handle roof painting across Sydney.
Australian standards and Code requirements we work to, with the source for each.
AS 2050, the installation standard for concrete and terracotta roof tiles, applies to roofs pitched at 15 degrees or more. Below that the tile system falls outside the standard and a sheet metal profile is the compliant answer, not more bedding and pointing.
Any tiled roof pitched at less than 18 degrees has to have sarking underneath it, whatever the rafter or truss length. On older Sydney houses re-roofed before that rule bit, this is a common reason a tiled roof leaks in wind-driven rain.
AS 2050 governs how ridge and hip capping is bedded and pointed. Flexible pointing compound is what holds the capping as the roof moves; when it cracks and lets go, the capping lifts in wind and water tracks straight into the roof space.
Last updated: 13 August 2026
Quoting roof painting in the Inner West is not the same job as quoting it elsewhere in Sydney. Ordinary storms flood thousands of homes here: The Marrickville Valley flood study found 3,989 properties taking more than 150mm of water in a 1 per cent storm, and 3,151 properties still flooded to… That is the kind of detail that changes the materials, the timing and the paperwork on a roof in Haberfield or the streets around it. Everything below links to the council or standard it comes from, so you can check it yourself.
The Marrickville Valley flood study found 3,989 properties taking more than 150mm of water in a 1 per cent storm, and 3,151 properties still flooded to that depth in a storm as common as a 2 year event. Flat ground and slow drainage are the cause, so undersized downpipes and blocked gutters bite in ordinary rain.
Source: Inner West Council, Marrickville Valley Flood StudyThe whole suburb is a conservation area, recognised as Australia first planned garden suburb, with a period of significance from about 1900 to the 1940s. In practice almost every roof job in Haberfield is a heritage job.
Source: Inner West Council, C54 Haberfield HCAThe DCP limits replacement roofing to unglazed terracotta Marseilles tiles, terracotta shingle tiles, Welsh slate, or non-reflective corrugated galvanised steel, and the steel only at the rear or on skillion roofs. Finials and ridge capping have to be kept and reinstated.
Source: Inner West DCP 2016, Chapter E2, controls C17-C21Inner West gives only two free skip bin permits per property per year in unmetered streets, and one in metered areas. The permit has to be in hand before the bin arrives and takes two business days. On narrow terrace streets where the bin cannot fit on the property, that permit is part of the job.
Source: Inner West Council, skip binsHaberfield does not permit skylights on the front or side of the main roof and does not permit dormers at all. Hot water and solar tanks cannot sit on the roof either: they go inside the roof space or out of public view.
Source: Inner West DCP 2016, Chapter E2, controls C11-C15 and C89We cover Haberfield, Ashfield, Summer Hill, Croydon, Leichhardt, Annandale, Balmain, Rozelle, Lilyfield, Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Petersham, Stanmore, Newtown, Enmore, St Peters, Tempe, Sydenham and Lewisham.
The Marrickville Valley flood study found 3,989 properties taking more than 150mm of water in a 1 per cent storm, and 3,151 properties still flooded to that depth in a storm as common as a 2 year event. Flat ground and slow drainage are the cause, so undersized downpipes and blocked gutters bite in ordinary rain.
The whole suburb is a conservation area, recognised as Australia first planned garden suburb, with a period of significance from about 1900 to the 1940s. In practice almost every roof job in Haberfield is a heritage job.
The DCP limits replacement roofing to unglazed terracotta Marseilles tiles, terracotta shingle tiles, Welsh slate, or non-reflective corrugated galvanised steel, and the steel only at the rear or on skillion roofs. Finials and ridge capping have to be kept and reinstated.
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