Asbestos roof: can it be cleaned, painted or restored? (2026)
An asbestos roof can't be pressure cleaned. It's illegal in every state of Australia, and in Queensland a homeowner who water-blasts one can be fined up to $10,000 and made to pay for the clean-up. It can be sealed or painted, but only with no blasting, scraping or sanding, using fungicides and coatings made for asbestos cement. It can't be given a normal roof restoration. Your real choices are to leave a sound roof alone, have it sealed by someone trained for asbestos work, or have a licensed removalist take it off.
We're R&R Restorations, and we don't work on asbestos roofs. We restore concrete tile, terracotta and Colorbond metal roofs across the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Logan, and the Tweed and Northern Rivers. Saying no to an asbestos roof is part of the job, and it's the most useful thing we can tell you if you own one.
In July 2025, a painting contractor in Queensland used high-pressure water on an asbestos roof to get it ready for paint. According to a 2026 WorkSafe Queensland incident alert, asbestos-contaminated dust and debris spread across the site, onto neighbouring properties and out onto the public road. Investigations are continuing.
One prep job, and the contamination reached the road.
In summary
- Cleaning: never with a pressure cleaner, compressed air or a broom. Moss and lichen are treated with a fungicide instead.
- Painting: possible on a roof that's still in good shape, with products made for asbestos cement and no surface preparation that disturbs it. WorkSafe Queensland calls sealing the least effective way to control asbestos.
- Restoring: a roof restoration means cleaning, cutting, replacing and walking. An asbestos cement roof can't take any of that safely.
- Replacing: removal of a typical home's asbestos roof costs about $6,000 to $14,000, and a full switch to Colorbond about $28,000 to $50,000 (Yakka Labour, October 2026).
- First step: if your home was built before about 1990 and the roof is grey corrugated or shingle sheeting, have it tested before anyone touches it.
How do you know if your roof is asbestos?
You can't be sure by looking. Only a lab test of a sample, taken by someone with the right training, confirms it. You can spot the likely ones, though. They sit on homes, sheds and garages built before about 1990, and they're grey or off-white cement sheeting rather than tiles or thin steel.
Asbestos cement roofing was common on Australian homes until the mid-1980s, and asbestos was banned in Australia from the end of 2003 (Yakka Labour). The best-known product is Super Six, a corrugated fibro sheet made by James Hardie. Airsafe, an asbestos consultancy, describes it as thicker than corrugated iron with a matte finish that weathers over time. The NSW Government's asbestos site adds that these sheets are hard and brittle, with a dimpled surface like a golf ball on one side.
Super Six isn't the only one. The Queensland Government's asbestos products gallery lists these roof types:
- Super Six roof sheeting, with asbestos guttering and ridge capping
- Super Six sheeting laid in a Tuscan style
- multi-notched shingle sheeting
- asbestos shingle tiles, including shingles finished with terracotta ridge capping
- Galbestos metal roof sheeting
Two on that list catch people out. Asbestos shingles finished with terracotta ridge caps can pass for a tiled roof from the street. And Galbestos is metal sheeting, so it can pass for old iron.
This table is the check we'd want any homeowner to run from the lawn, without a ladder:
| What you see from the ground | What it might be | Do this first |
|---|---|---|
| Wide, rounded grey corrugations, thick sheet edges, a dull or weathered surface | Asbestos cement sheeting such as Super Six | Treat it as asbestos until a lab test says otherwise |
| Flat, notched or diamond-shaped cement shingles, sometimes with terracotta ridge caps | Asbestos shingle tiles or shingle sheeting | Have it tested before any cleaning or painting |
| An old metal roof with a dull, coated finish on an older building | Possibly Galbestos | Have it tested; don't assume it's plain iron |
| Chunky, interlocking tiles with a colour coat that has faded | Concrete tiles | A roof restoration may suit it |
| Fired clay tiles, colour right through, often red or orange | Terracotta | Cleaning and repairs, with or without a coating |
| Thin steel sheets fixed with screws, in a factory colour | Colorbond or other steel | A metal roof restoration may suit it |
For the last three rows, our guide to the types of roof tiles in Queensland shows how each one is cleaned and restored.
A few rules hold while you wait for a test. Don't climb up for a closer look. Don't snap off a corner, drill it or sand it to "check". Look at the shed, the garage and the eaves too, because the gallery also lists asbestos guttering, downpipes and Hardiflex soffit sheeting, the lining under the eaves.
Can you pressure clean an asbestos roof?
No. The Australian Government's Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency says it is illegal in every state of Australia to use high-pressure water spray or compressed air on asbestos materials. In Queensland, homeowners can be fined up to $10,000 for water-blasting asbestos cement and must pay for the clean-up, and businesses can face heavier fines.
The reason is what the water does. WorkSafe Queensland says high-pressure water destroys the cement that binds the asbestos fibres together. The result is cement debris, fibres in the air and contamination well beyond your fence. Fibres that settle stick to walls, plants, garden soil and lawns. They stay for years, even decades, unless the contamination is cleaned up properly.
The Agency says contamination from these jobs has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix in some cases, and spreads to neighbours' yards, footpaths, roads and stormwater drains.
Preparing a roof for paint is not an exception. WorkSafe Queensland's alert says you should never use high-pressure water to prepare asbestos for painting, coating or sealing, because no method can capture or suppress the fibres. Queensland's rules also ban power tools such as angle grinders and sanders, abrasive blasting and household vacuum cleaners on asbestos, and the Agency adds brooms used in an uncontrolled way.
Your roof's material decides which side of that line you're on. We use high-pressure roof cleaning on concrete tile, terracotta and Colorbond roofs, and we match the method to the roof's material and its condition. On asbestos cement, the same tool is illegal. Our guide to roof pressure cleaning covers which roofs can take it.
If someone at your door offers to water-blast and paint an old fibro roof, say no. Queensland Police also warned on 30 November 2025 about travelling roof restoration scammers targeting Queensland residents.
Can you paint an asbestos roof?
Yes, an asbestos roof can be sealed or painted, as long as the surface is never blasted, scraped, wire-brushed or sanded first. The Queensland Government's advice is to apply a fungicide and a sealant instead of cleaning it. WorkSafe Queensland points to specially designed fungicides, primers and coatings made for asbestos cement roofs.
Queensland also publishes a safe work procedure called Preparing and painting corrugated asbestos cement roof and fences. Read it before anyone quotes you.
Paint has limits on asbestos, and they matter:
- It's the weakest control. WorkSafe Queensland calls sealing "the least effective method for controlling the release of airborne asbestos".
- It only suits a roof that's still intact. Encapsulation should be used only while the original asbestos bond holds. Airsafe says it doesn't work well on a roof that's already weathered, and calls it a temporary solution.
- It doesn't make the sheets stronger. A painted asbestos roof is just as brittle underneath, and just as dangerous to walk on.
- The person doing it needs the training. In a workplace, WorkSafe Queensland says whoever encapsulates asbestos should be trained and experienced, hold the right licences, isolate the area and wear the right protective gear.
Here is how painting an asbestos roof compares with what we do on the roofs we work on:
| Concrete tile, terracotta or Colorbond roof | Asbestos cement roof | |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning | High-pressure clean, matched to the material and its condition | Illegal to pressure clean; fungicide treatment instead |
| Repairs before the paint | Broken tiles replaced, ridge caps rebedded and repointed, rust treated, failed screws replaced | Cutting, drilling or breaking sheets is asbestos work |
| Walking on it | Done with care, on a sound roof | Brittle sheets can break; people have fallen through |
| What the coating does | Seals the roof and brings the colour back as part of a roof restoration | Reduces fibre release; the least effective control |
| Who does it | A roof restorer such as R&R Restorations | Someone trained and equipped for asbestos work |
| Typical price | $6,500 to $13,000 for most tiled homes; $5,000 to $12,000 for metal (our published 2026 guide) | Quoted job by job by asbestos specialists |
Can an asbestos roof be restored?
No. Not in the way a tile or Colorbond roof is. A roof restoration means cleaning the whole roof, replacing broken pieces, rebedding and repointing the ridge caps, treating rust, replacing screws, then sealing and recoating. Almost every one of those steps cuts, scrubs, breaks or walks on the roof, and on asbestos cement each one releases fibres.
So a weathered, cracked or leaking asbestos roof has no repair-and-repaint middle path. Yakka Labour's 2026 guide lists asbestos cement roofing that is "weathered, cracked or damaged" as one of the signs a roof needs replacing.
That's the line we hold. Our roof restorations cover concrete tile, terracotta and Colorbond metal roofs. On those, a roof restoration costs a fraction of a new roof, and our guide to whether to restore or replace your roof sets the two prices side by side. On asbestos cement, that saving isn't on offer from anyone doing the job legally.
What are your options with an asbestos roof?
You have three real options: leave a sound roof alone, have it sealed, or have it removed and replaced. Which one fits depends on the condition of the sheets, whether the roof leaks, and your plans for the house.
| Option | When it suits | Who does it | What it costs | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leave it alone | Sheets are whole, not cracked, not crumbling, and nobody needs to work on them | No one; keep everyone off it | Nothing up front | Weathering keeps going. No blasting, no climbing, no DIY gutter scraping |
| Seal or paint it | Sheets are sound and the original bond is intact, and you want to slow weathering | Someone trained and equipped for asbestos work | Quoted per job | The least effective control, and it doesn't stop the sheets ageing |
| Remove and replace | Sheets are weathered, cracked, hail-damaged or leaking, or you're renovating or selling | A licensed asbestos removalist, then a re-roofer | About $40 to $70 per m² to remove, so $6,000 to $14,000; about $28,000 to $50,000 for asbestos cement to Colorbond on a 200 m² roof | Air monitoring during removal and a clearance inspection afterwards |
Those cost figures come from Yakka Labour's roof replacement guide, published 1 October 2026. Its removal price includes disposal at a licensed facility and a clearance certificate.
Removal is licensed work. Under work health and safety laws across Australia, more than 10 m² of non-friable asbestos must be removed by a licensed removalist. A whole roof is always well over that (Yakka Labour). Airsafe adds a firm piece of advice: if your removal contractor says air monitoring isn't needed, find another contractor.
Is it safe to live under an asbestos roof?
A sound asbestos roof that nobody disturbs is not a health risk, according to the Queensland Government. The risk grows as the roof ages. The Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency says asbestos cement roofs are in the poorest condition of all the asbestos left in Australian buildings, after years of sun, wind, rain and hail.
Three things change as an asbestos roof weathers:
- It sheds fibres more easily. Heavy rain can wash fibres into the gutters and contaminate the area around them, the Agency says.
- It can turn friable. "Bonded" asbestos has its fibres locked in cement. "Friable" asbestos can crumble to dust. Airsafe quotes SafeWork NSW's code of practice: bonded asbestos damaged by fire, hail or water-blasting, or worn by water and age, "may become friable".
- It gets brittle. Old sheets thin out and can break, and the Agency records incidents of people falling through or off asbestos roofs.
Airsafe adds that asbestos roofing holds more asbestos than other types of fibro, and contains all three major types: chrysotile (white), amosite (brown) and crocidolite (blue).
Hail is a real risk here in South East Queensland. The Agency's own photos show hail damage that has exposed bundles of asbestos fibres on a cement roof.
Asbestos roofs aren't rare, either. In 2021, the Agency mapped 56 areas across Australia from the air and found about 13,000 buildings with asbestos roofing. That's around 1.4 million square metres of roof.
Is R&R Restorations right for you?
If your roof is asbestos cement, or might be, we're not the right call. We don't clean, paint, seal, repair or remove asbestos roofs, and we don't replace roofs. A roof like that needs an asbestos assessor first, then a licensed removalist or someone trained to seal it.
R&R Restorations is a good fit if:
- Your roof is concrete tile, terracotta or Colorbond, and it's faded, leaking, cracked, rusty or tired.
- You want the repairs done before the paint, and every step listed in an itemised quote.
- You'd rather deal with the owner. We're owner-operated by Alex Rowe, licensed (QBCC Licence No. 15404087) and insured.
- You're on the Gold Coast, in Brisbane or Logan, or in the Tweed and Northern Rivers.
We're not the right call if:
- Your roof is Super Six, asbestos shingles, Galbestos or any other sheeting that might contain asbestos.
- You need asbestos removal, a re-roof or a new roof.
- You want the roof blasted and painted without anyone checking what it's made of.
- You're outside our service regions.
Our customers rate us 5.0 from 10 Google reviews. Jaida Macgregor's review of 22 October 2026 says it better than we can: "He was so easy to deal with from start to finish, incredibly honest, reliable and professional. He took the time to explain everything and made the entire process completely stress-free."
Pick R&R Restorations if your roof is tile or Colorbond and you want it watertight and looking new again, so you can skip the cost of a new roof.
Not sure what your roof is made of?
Send us a few safe photos taken from the ground through our roof restoration enquiry form, with your suburb and roughly when the house was built. Or call us on 0422 630 075. If the photos show sheeting that could be asbestos cement, we'll tell you to have it tested before anyone goes up. If it's tile or Colorbond, we'll look at the roof and give you an itemised roof restoration quote.
Frequently asked questions
Is it illegal to have an asbestos roof in Australia?
No. Asbestos has been banned in Australia since the end of 2003, but older homes can keep the asbestos roofs they already have. Airsafe notes there's no requirement in NSW to remove one. What's illegal is disturbing it the wrong way, such as water-blasting it.
Can you clean moss and lichen off an asbestos roof?
Not by pressure cleaning, compressed air or scrubbing with a broom. The Queensland Government's advice is to apply a fungicide and a sealant instead of cleaning the roof. Use products made for asbestos cement, applied without disturbing the surface.
Can you walk on an asbestos roof?
You shouldn't. Old asbestos cement sheets become brittle and can break underfoot, and people have fallen through and off them. Keep off the roof and leave any inspection to someone trained for asbestos work.
How much does it cost to remove an asbestos roof?
About $40 to $70 per m², or roughly $6,000 to $14,000 for a typical home, including disposal and a clearance certificate. Replacing asbestos cement with Colorbond costs about $140 to $250 per m², or $28,000 to $50,000 on a 200 m² roof (Yakka Labour, 1 October 2026).
Does an asbestos roof affect insurance or selling?
It can. Airsafe says homes with asbestos roofs are likely to cost more to insure, and some insurers may decline to cover them. It also says some owners report an asbestos roof makes a home harder to sell.
What should I do if hail cracks my asbestos roof?
Keep everyone off the roof and away from broken pieces, and don't sweep or hose the debris. Tell your insurer the roof may contain asbestos. Clean-up and repairs to damaged asbestos cement are a job for a licensed asbestos professional.
Does R&R Restorations work on asbestos roofs?
No. Our roof work covers concrete tile, terracotta and Colorbond metal roofs. If your roof is, or might be, asbestos cement, have it tested and talk to a licensed asbestos professional before anyone works on it.