South East Queensland · Independent journal
Tile · Tin · Storm weather
Materials
Concrete tiles, terracotta, Colorbond, corrugated iron, slate and the awkward hybrids that sit on Queenslanders, low-sets and 1980s brick veneers.
Access, falls, hips, valleys and solar arrays decide a restoration as much as the tiles do. A two-storey inner-suburban Queenslander is not a low-set brick veneer with extra ladder, and the diary should not pretend otherwise.
Tom Birtles · 4 August 2025
True slate is rare in Brisbane. Mixed roofs are not. Tile against tin, an extension from another decade, a valley that has to speak two languages — one membrane cannot treat the lot, and pretending otherwise is how both materials fail.
Lila Nguyen · 21 July 2025
Cut-edge rust, tired screws and abused silicone are the real metal-roof conversation in Brisbane. A respray can be cosmetics. A sheet that has gone at the lap needs replacing, not another film.
Patrick O'Shea · 7 July 2025
Fired clay on a timber house is character, weight and a different set of rules. Brittle Marseilles profiles, a gentler clean, and the question of whether to coat at all sit at the centre of the inner-suburban roof.
Lila Nguyen · 23 June 2025
From 1970s and 1980s estates to the last brick-veneer crescents, concrete tiles are the ordinary Brisbane roof. They are porous, they fade, they lose corners, and they can still be restored if you can match a profile the yard stopped making.
Tom Birtles · 9 June 2025