Don't Get Fooled by Cheap Roof Restorations from Travelling Tradies

The Door-Knock Roof Restoration Scam

Every year, particularly in spring and summer, Canberra homeowners report door-knockers offering incredibly cheap roof restorations. They show up uninvited, point to your roof and claim it urgently needs work, then offer a deal that sounds too good to pass up - often quoting $2,000 to $3,000 for a full restoration that should cost three or four times that amount.

These travelling tradies move from city to city, suburb to suburb. They do not have a local business address. They do not have long-term customers you can call for references. And once they have your money and have done substandard work, they are gone - often interstate - with no way to follow up on warranty claims or fix the problems they have created.

We see the aftermath of these operations regularly across suburbs like Kambah, Wanniassa, Kaleen, and Belconnen. Homeowners are left with peeling coatings, unsealed ridge caps, clogged valleys, and sometimes worse damage than they started with.

Red Flags to Watch For

Here are the warning signs that a roof restoration offer is not what it seems:

• Unsolicited door-knocking: Reputable roofing companies do not go door to door looking for work. If someone knocks on your door claiming your roof needs urgent attention, be sceptical immediately.
• High-pressure tactics: Phrases like "we are in the area today only" or "this price is only available right now" are classic pressure tactics designed to prevent you from getting competing quotes or doing research.
• Cash-only or large upfront deposits: Legitimate roofing companies issue proper invoices and accept standard payment methods. Anyone demanding large cash payments upfront is a major red flag.
• No written quote or contract: A proper restoration quote should detail every step of the process, the products to be used, a timeline, payment terms, and warranty information. A verbal promise or a hand-written note is not sufficient.
• No ABN or licence details: In the ACT, anyone performing building work over $12,000 must hold a relevant licence. Ask for their ABN and licence number, and verify both before agreeing to anything.
• Interstate plates on their vehicle: While not conclusive on its own, a van with interstate plates combined with door-knocking and cheap prices is a strong indicator of a travelling operation.
• No local reviews or references: A business that has been operating locally will have Google reviews, a website with a physical address, and happy customers willing to vouch for their work.

What Goes Wrong with Cheap Restorations

The reason these operations can offer such low prices is that they cut every corner possible:

• Inadequate cleaning: A proper restoration starts with thorough high-pressure cleaning to remove all moss, lichen, and loose material. Cheap operators do a quick once-over that leaves contaminants under the new coating, causing it to peel within months.
• Skipping repairs: Cracked tiles, damaged flashings, and failed pointing all need to be addressed before any coating is applied. Cheap operators paint right over these problems, hiding them temporarily but not fixing them.
• Low-quality coatings: Instead of premium roof membranes with 10 to 15 year warranties from manufacturers like Dulux or Shieldcoat, cheap operators use watered-down or off-brand products that fade, peel, and fail within 1 to 2 years.
• Single coat instead of three: A proper restoration uses a primer plus two topcoats. Cheap operators often apply a single thin coat that barely covers the surface.
• No re-bedding or re-pointing: The ridge caps are often the most critical part of a tile roof restoration. Skipping the re-bedding and re-pointing leaves your roof vulnerable to leaks at the ridges.

The Real Cost of Cheap Work

We regularly get called to fix botched restorations. In most cases, the homeowner ends up spending more overall than they would have if they had used a reputable local company from the start. The cheap coating needs to be stripped off (additional labour and cost), underlying repairs that were never done still need doing, and then the proper restoration process starts from scratch.

On top of the financial cost, there is the stress and frustration of trying to chase up a business that has moved on to the next city. ACT Fair Trading receives complaints about travelling tradies every year, but enforcement is difficult when the operators are already interstate.

How to Protect Yourself

Follow these steps before agreeing to any roof work:

• Get at least three quotes from established local businesses. This gives you a realistic price range and lets you compare the scope of work.
• Check the ACT Construction Occupations Register to verify the contractor holds a current licence for the work they are proposing.
• Search for Google reviews and look for a consistent track record of quality work over multiple years.
• Ask for references - a reputable company will happily provide contact details for recent customers.
• Read the contract carefully before signing anything. Ensure it includes a detailed scope of work, product specifications, timeline, payment schedule, and warranty terms.
• Never pay more than 10 percent as a deposit before work begins. Progress payments should be tied to completed milestones.

Why Local Matters

A local Canberra roofing company has a reputation to maintain in this community. We live here, we work here, and our business depends on happy customers who recommend us to their neighbours. If something goes wrong - and in roofing, occasional issues do arise - we are here to fix it. We are not packing up and driving to another city.

We have been serving the ACT for over 9 years, with more than 160 Google reviews from real Canberra homeowners. If you have been approached by a door-knocker and want an honest, no-pressure assessment of your roof, book a free estimate with us. Call (02) 5133 5608 or book online. We cover all ACT suburbs, 7 days a week.