Tile Roof Prep and Paint: Case Study
Tile Roof Prep and Paint — installed as a complete SealPro system by BloemGuard.
A tiled roof had reached the point where its protective top coat could no longer do its job. Years of sun exposure had UV-faded and chalked the coating, exposing bare concrete tile in places, while the ridge line had started to crack and shed its bedding cement. With solar panels already installed across large sections of the roof, the homeowner needed a contractor who could work carefully around the array. BloemGuard was brought in to repair the ridges, wash down the full roof, and apply a fresh two-coat protective paint system.
The problem with the existing roof
Up close, the tile field showed the classic signs of a coating at the end of its life: dull, patchy colour, algae staining in the shaded sections, and areas where the top coat had worn through to bare concrete. At the ridge line, the bedding cement holding the ridge caps in place had cracked and, in places, gone missing entirely — leaving gaps at the highest point of the roof where water could track straight into the structure. Left alone, both problems compound each other: a failed top coat lets moisture into the tile itself, and a cracked ridge gives that moisture a direct path inside.
The solution
Working to a sequence built to fix the cause of the damage before refreshing the surface:
- Rake out and re-fill the ridges — The cracked ridge cement was raked out along the full ridge line and re-filled with fresh fibre cement to rebuild a solid, even base for the caps.
- Prime and waterproof the ridges — Once filled, the ridges were primed and sealed with the Stretch Seal waterproofing system, a flexible membrane that moves with the roof instead of cracking again under thermal expansion.
- High-pressure wash the full roof — The entire tile roof was pressure washed by hand to strip away dirt, algae and loose material ahead of painting, working carefully around the solar installation.
- Two-coat roof paint system — The full roof was then coated in two coats of Marley roof paint, rebuilding UV protection and giving every tile a uniform, durable finish from ridge to eave.
The result
The roof went from a faded, algae-marked surface with a cracking ridge line to a rich, uniform terracotta finish with every ridge properly sealed against water ingress. Fixing the ridge cement first means the new paint system isn't just sitting on top of an old defect — the root cause has been addressed, so the fresh finish is backed by a roof that's actually watertight where it matters most. The solar array stayed fully operational throughout, and the homeowner ended up with a roof that looks new and is protected for years to come.
BloemGuard is an approved SealPro applicator serving Langenhoven Park and the greater Bloemfontein area. If your tiled roof is showing faded paint, algae staining, or a cracking ridge line, the same rake-out-and-reseal approach applies — fix the ridges first, then rebuild the surface with a two-coat system built for South African sun.
Contact BloemGuard for a free inspection and quote: 072 933 0162 · bloemguard.co.za
The work, step by step
