Roof waterproofing in Durbanville

Why Durbanville roofs leak the way they do

Durbanville sits high and exposed. In winter the rain does not fall straight down here, it comes in sideways off the south west and pushes water uphill under laps, over flashings and behind parapet copings. That is why so many roofs on this side of town pass a hose test in summer and then leak in the first proper front of the season.

The other pattern we see constantly is the flat concrete section over a garage, a stoep or a converted patio. Those slabs were often coated once, years ago, with a thin acrylic that has since chalked, cracked at the upstands and lifted at the edges. Water gets under the old coating and travels along the slab, so the ceiling stain appears three metres away from the actual failure.

On the newer estates towards Fisantekraal and Sonstraal Heights, we mostly deal with detail failures rather than sheet failures: parapet copings, box gutters, valley junctions and badly sealed pipe penetrations. The roof surface is fine. The joins are not.

We diagnose before we price

We get on the roof, photograph what we find, and write down the water path in one sentence before anyone talks about money. If we cannot explain how the water is getting in, we have not diagnosed it, and we will not quote you a coating and hope.

That inspection is free and it comes with photographs. You keep them either way, even if you use them to get a second opinion.

The system we use, and the one we do not

We are an approved applicator for Rubber Sealant liquid rubber. That is the only waterproofing system we install. It goes on as a seamless membrane, it moves with the roof instead of cracking against it, and it bonds over concrete, IBR and corrugated metal, fibre cement, asbestos sheeting and old failed acrylics once they are properly prepared.

We do not do torch on. If a roof genuinely needs a torch on membrane, we will tell you that and we will tell you to call someone who does it every day. We would rather lose the job than sell you a system we do not install.

What the preparation actually involves

Preparation is where waterproofing jobs are won or lost, and it is the part cheap quotes leave out. We high-pressure clean the roof, cut out and treat any rust, remove failed coating that will not bond, prime the surface to the manufacturer's specification, and reinforce every joint, upstand, penetration and crack with membrane before the main coats go on.

Then the coats go on at the specified thickness, not until the drum runs out. A coating applied thin looks identical on the day and fails in eighteen months.

Get a quote

Tell us what you are seeing in Durbanville.

We will come and look properly, photograph what we find, then send you one fixed price for the whole job.