How much does a roof coating cost in 2026?

A straight answer on pricing: what drives the cost of a roof coating, how it compares with a full re-roof, and the questions to ask any company quoting you.

Nobody wants a range so wide it tells them nothing, so here are the numbers we actually work to in the West Midlands. A typical three-bed semi with a concrete tile roof comes in between £1,800 and £3,200 fully finished. A larger detached house with a complicated roof line is usually £3,200 to £5,500. A bungalow can be under £1,800 if access is easy.

That figure includes scaffold or a tower where it is needed, a full moss strip, a biocide treatment, replacing any broken tiles, two coats of a manufacturer-approved coating and clearing the gutters out afterwards. If a quote is well under those numbers, something on that list has been left off.

What actually moves the price

• Roof area and pitch. We price per square metre of roof, not per square metre of floor. A steep roof has more surface than people expect.
• Access. A terrace with no rear access, a conservatory in the way or a neighbour’s driveway to work off all add scaffold cost.
• Condition. Heavy moss, failed pointing or twenty broken tiles is preparation time, and preparation is most of the job.
• Tile type. Concrete tiles drink coating. Clay pantiles and slate need a different system and a different rate.
• Ridge and verge work. Re-bedding or dry-fixing a ridge while the scaffold is up is sensible, but it is separate work.

Coating versus a full re-roof

A re-roof on the same semi is typically £7,000 to £12,000 and takes a week or more with a skip on the drive. A coating is one to three days and roughly a third of the cost. The honest trade-off: a new roof resets the clock on the tiles themselves, a coating restores and protects the tiles you already have.

So the test is simple. If the tiles are structurally sound but tired, porous and green, coating is excellent value. If tiles are delaminating, the battens are rotten or the felt has gone, no coating will fix that and we will tell you so at the survey.

If a company will coat a roof without telling you it needs repairs first, they are selling paint, not protection.

Questions worth asking anyone who quotes you

• Which coating system is it, and are you an approved applicator for it?
• How many coats, and what is the coverage rate per square metre?
• Is the biocide treatment and moss removal included in that price?
• What exactly does the guarantee cover, and is it insurance-backed?
• Are broken tiles included, or charged as an extra on the day?

What we do on a Liquid Coatings job

We survey the roof first, on the roof, not from the pavement. You get a written report with photos, a fixed price and a clear note of anything we would not recommend. On the day the property is sheeted, the roof is stripped of moss and treated, repairs are done, then two coats go on in the colour you have chosen. Gutters are cleared and the site is left clean every evening.

Every finish is covered by a ten-year guarantee on the coating, and we are fully insured with £5m public liability.

Is a coating worth it if you might move?

Two things change when a sale is on the horizon. First, estate agents and surveyors react badly to a heavily mossed, streaked roof — it reads as neglect and invites a retention or a renegotiation. Second, a buyer’s survey that flags “roof coverings nearing the end of serviceable life” can knock far more off an offer than the coating cost. A clean, uniform roof with a transferable ten-year guarantee removes that line of argument, which is why we do a steady stream of pre-sale roofs in Solihull and Sutton Coldfield.

What we do not recommend

There are roofs we turn down. Asbestos cement sheets need specialist handling, not a domestic coating. Slate that is delaminating and flaking in layers will keep shedding whatever you put on it. Roofs with failed underfelt, rotten battens or widespread nail fatigue need the covering stripped and relaid first — a coating over that is lipstick, and it will cost you twice.

How long it takes and what colour options you have

Most domestic roofs are one to three days on site: day one for moss removal, biocide and repairs, then coating once the surface is dry. Colours are mostly the practical range people actually want — charcoal, slate grey, anthracite, terracotta and black — and we can match the colour to your neighbouring properties or to new cladding and window frames if you are doing several jobs together.

How to compare two quotes fairly

Put both on the same sheet: access method, moss removal, biocide, number of tiles included, coating system name, number of coats, litres per square metre, guarantee terms, and whether the gutters get cleared. Nine times out of ten the cheaper quote is cheaper because two or three of those lines are missing rather than because the company is more efficient.