Reflective foil sarking installed under tiles or metal sheets — the second line of defence most older Perth homes never had.
Overview
Sarking is the foil-backed membrane that sits underneath your tiles or metal sheets. Most homes built in Perth before the 90s don't have it, and you'd be surprised how much of a difference it makes. It's the difference between water getting through a single bad tile and dripping on your ceiling, versus that same water hitting sarking and being safely directed out into the gutter.
Sarking is doing three jobs at once. It blocks moisture, dust and wind-driven rain from getting into the roof cavity if anything ever penetrates the primary roof layer. It reflects radiant heat back outside, which keeps your roof cavity dramatically cooler in summer. And it acts as a wind-break, stopping the gusty pressure changes that can lift tiles in a Perth storm. It is genuinely one of the highest-value upgrades you can do to an older home.
Perth gets it from both ends — long, hot, baking summers and intense, sudden winter storms. Sarking helps with both. In summer the reflective foil bounces radiant heat away before it can soak into your ceiling cavity, which keeps the rooms below cooler and reduces aircon load. In winter, when a storm front drives rain sideways under a tile or up under a flashing, sarking catches that water and channels it safely to the gutter.
Sarking and insulation are different things and they do different jobs. Sarking is a moisture and radiant heat barrier — it sits right under the roof covering. Insulation is thermal resistance — it sits on top of the ceiling and slows the transfer of heat between the roof cavity and the rooms below. They work together, not against each other, and most well-built Perth homes have both.
The cheapest time to install sarking is during a re-roof or a full restoration where the tiles are coming off anyway. The second cheapest is as a standalone retrofit, where we lift tiles in sections, install the sarking with proper laps and re-lay the tiles. Either way it's a one-off cost that pays back in protection for the life of the roof.
We strip tiles in manageable sections, install premium foil sarking with the correct overlaps and orientation, and re-lay the tiles as we go so your home is never left open to the weather overnight. All ridges and flashings are re-finished as part of the job.
Re-bedding and re-pointing the ridge and hip lines with flexible pointing — Perth's #1 cause of roof leaks, sorted properly.
Learn moreTracing leaks back to the real source with thorough inspection and water testing — honest diagnosis, no guesswork.
Learn moreClean, repair, repoint and recoat — a full restoration adds 10 to 30 years of life for a fraction of the cost of replacement.
Learn moreFull roof replacement when restoration genuinely isn't an option — done once, done properly, with all the structural work along the way.
Learn moreCracked, slipped and broken tiles replaced, bedding repaired, ridges repointed — keep your tile roof for another fifty years.
Learn moreRepairs, re-seals, replacements and gutter guard — keep stormwater flowing where it should, away from your fascia and foundations.
Learn moreSame-day callbacks. No-pressure quotes. Honest advice.
