How to give your home a new lease of life

Remeura is a beautiful corner of Auckland, filled with gracious homes and leafy surrounds. The homes of the suburb are often built on the grander side, usually Edwardian or mid-century, and reflect the easy pace of days past.

Jonathan McDonald and his family have owned their house in Remeura for about five years, settling into the neighbourhood well, with the kids at local schools. “It’s a nice part of Auckland,” says Jonathan. “We are really enjoying it. Our house is in a cul-de-sac, which is quite nice, so it’s safe for the kids to ride their bikes.”

The home is close to 100 years old and brimming with character. It’s built on generous lines at 760sq metres and includes a large established garden and beautiful swimming pool. 

Jonathan and his wife have three growing children, so they were keen to make the house their forever home, investing in the building for the long term by giving the whole exterior a refresh, which included a new roof from Monier Roofing and a repaint to the façade.

They chose Monier’s new Concrete Perspective tiles in the black colour Sambuca to cap off the house, giving it an instant facelift. “We liked the look of them and we thought they were good value,” says Jonathan. “We felt they fitted in with the heritage. We were going to put a tin roof on, but it wouldn’t have looked right.”

The old tiles were probably the original roofing material from 100 years ago and were due to be replaced, but they had protected the home well, so the family didn’t really need to replace much of the roof substructure, As to be expected with most roof claddings, the colour had faded over the years, so the Sambuca black tiles made the crisp white of the façade stand out creating a striking contrast.

The Perspective tile has a geometric profile, creating a modern roofing look that fits in well with the heritage of the home, which includes the sprayed concrete exterior of the 1920s that Auckland does so well. Concrete also gets stronger over time, so the family are comforted knowing it will be the last time they have to complete such a big overhaul. 

The tiling work was done in stages, in conjunction with the exterior painting, which was in a crisp white. Essentially a three-layered roof, the top level was replaced first, then the painters completed their work on the top story, then the second level of roofing was replaced (so the painters didn’t stand on new tiles) and so on down until it was completed. 

“It’s made a massive difference,” says Jonathan

“It’s great; we are really happy with it.”   

The Easy Way to Re-roof your home

1. Call Monier for a free, no-obligation quote. Monier will come to you and you don’t need to be there for the initial site visit, which is where we measure your roof and assess the site.
2. After discussing tile/colour options, Monier will present the quote and walk you through the entire re-roofing process. Once you have confirmed your chosen colour/tile Monier can organise fall protection (as required by law) on your behalf and then remove the existing roof tiles and battens, disposing of all waste accordingly. 
3. This is also a great opportunity to install insulation to your home or top up existing insulation (as often older homes will have no or little insulation), just ask us and we can assist to coordinate this option with Bradford Insulation.
4. After the old roof has been removed, we get on with installing new battens, tiles and underlay. Depending on the size of your roof, this can take from 1 to 4 days, but your home is never left exposed to the elements. Residents can stay in the home during the entire process – there is no need to pack your bags and move out.

Most people are pleasantly surprised at how quick and painless it is to re-roof their home. If you are new to this, it may seem like a daunting task, but we are experts at what we do, and we make the process as simple and easy for you as possible.