Find a trusted roofer in Perth

Why Perth leaks show up in May

Most of Perth’s rain falls between May and September, so a roof can hide a problem all summer and then drip the week the first proper cold front comes through. Wind-driven rain gets under loose ridge caps and through cracked tiles, and gutters and valleys clogged with dry leaves overflow back under the roof line. That’s why autumn is the smart time to book a roofer: clear the gutters, check the pointing and swap any broken tiles while the weather’s still dry.

Summer does its own damage. Years of strong sun and big swings in temperature dry out the mortar bedding under ridge and hip caps until it cracks and lets go, and they leave old roof coatings faded and chalky. If you can see gaps along the ridge line from the street, or crumbs of mortar in the gutters, the roof is due for a re-bed and re-point.

Concrete tiles, coastal steel and bushfire-prone blocks

The typical Perth brick-and-tile home has a concrete tile roof on a timber frame. The tiles themselves are tough; it’s the ridge pointing, valleys and flashings around them that usually fail first. Many homes built before about 1990 have asbestos cement roofing instead, and WA’s asbestos rules ban cleaning it with high-pressure water, so treat any offer to pressure clean and coat one with suspicion. Taking an asbestos roof off is work for a WorkSafe-licensed removalist once it’s more than 10 square metres, which nearly every roof is.

Metal roofs close to the ocean, from Mandurah up through Cottesloe and Scarborough to the northern beaches, wear faster because salt spray attacks screws, flashings and cut edges. BlueScope makes Colorbond in heavier-duty grades for coastal sites, so ask which grade suits your street before a new roof or patio goes on.

In the hills around Kalamunda, Mundaring and Roleystone, many blocks are on WA’s Map of Bush Fire Prone Areas. Where roof work on those blocks needs a building permit, expect it to follow the site’s bushfire attack level (BAL) rating, which can call for ember guards, sealed gaps and low-flammability sarking.

Checking a roofer in WA

WA doesn’t license roofing as a trade. The rule that bites is builder registration: once a roofing job needs a building permit and the price reaches $20,000 ($50,000 for a shed, garage or carport), only a registered building contractor can take it on. Search their BC number on the WA Online Licence Search.

For smaller repairs, confirm the business is real on ABN Lookup, ask for a certificate of currency for public liability insurance, and ask how they’ll work safely at height. Our WA licence checks page explains which trades need what.

Roof repair prices in Perth

Perth roofers sit around the middle of the national range. Most work from a base of roughly $60–$110 an hour but quote a fixed price for the whole job. Expect $250–$1,000 to find and fix most leaks and $200–$600 to clear and repair the gutters. Re-bedding and re-pointing the ridges across a whole tiled roof costs more, around $1,500–$4,000. Budget $3,000–$8,000 for a full restoration, or $8,000–$20,000 to put a new metal roof on a single-storey house.

These are indicative ranges rather than a quote. The roofer price guide breaks down what pushes a roofing job up or down.

Getting matched with a Perth roofer

needatradie isn’t a directory, and we don’t hand your number to a string of roofing companies. Describe what the roof is doing and your suburb. The one roofer we line up will have been checked for insurance, ABN and reviews, and for builder registration on permit jobs of $20,000 or more.

Not in Perth? See roofers in other cities, or look at other trades around Perth. Ready to sort the roof? Get a free quote.