Indicative price list
Torch-on membrane (APP/SBS bituminous)
Two-layer system on a concrete or screeded flat roof, including primer and 150mm upstands.
Liquid-applied acrylic / polyurethane membrane
Fibreglass-reinforced coating over a sound substrate. Cheaper up front, shorter service life.
Liquid rubber / bitumen emulsion
Budget re-coat on an existing sound bituminous surface. Not a fix for a failed system.
Cementitious slurry / tanking
Negative-side or positive-side tanking for retaining walls, basements, water features.
Rising damp — chemical DPC injection
Drilling, injection cream or fluid, and sealing. Excludes replastering.
Salt-retardant replastering after DPC
Hack off to 1m, render with a salt-inhibiting mix, skim. Usually the larger half of the bill.
Roof leak trace-and-repair callout
Diagnosis plus minor sealing. Larger repairs quoted after the inspection.
French drain / sub-surface drainage
Excavation, geotextile, stone, slotted pipe, backfill. Depth and access drive the number.
Shower re-waterproofing (strip and reseal)
Remove tiles, install a bonded membrane and correct falls, retile. Tile choice moves this a lot.
Balcony / deck waterproofing
Membrane plus screed-to-fall and a new tile or trafficable finish.
Basement / cellar tanking
Cavity drain membrane or cementitious tanking, sump and pump where the water table demands it.
Wall crack repair and sealing
Rout out, prime, fill with a flexible sealant, and re-coat.
What moves a quote up
- Access. A double-storey roof with no scaffold access, or a property where material has to be carried through the house, adds labour to every stage.
- Stripping. Removing a failed system and disposing of it is a real cost before any new work starts.
- Correcting falls. A screed-to-fall on a ponding roof can add R150–R300 per m² and is not optional if you want the system to last.
- Substrate repair. Spalled concrete, rusted rebar or a delaminated screed has to be made good first.
- Replastering. On rising damp work this is usually the larger half of the bill, not the injection.
- Excavation. On drainage work, depth, rock and existing services drive the metre rate hard.
What a fair quote should tell you
- The specific system and product being installed, by name and thickness
- The area or linear metres being priced, measured not estimated
- Whether stripping and disposal are included
- Upstand heights and how terminations will be finished
- The guarantee term for workmanship and for materials, separately
- What is expressly excluded
A one-line quote reading 'waterproof roof — R38,000' is not a quote. It is a number. You cannot compare it to anything and you cannot hold anyone to it.
Common questions
How much does it cost to waterproof a roof in Cape Town?
For a two-layer torch-on system, about R220–R380 per m². A typical 80 m² domestic flat roof therefore lands roughly between R17,600 and R30,400 before any stripping or fall correction.
How much does rising damp treatment cost?
Chemical DPC injection runs about R450–R850 per linear metre of wall. Salt-retardant replastering afterwards runs about R280–R480 per m² and is usually the larger part of the total.
Why do waterproofing quotes vary so much?
Because they are frequently not quoting the same work. A liquid re-coat and a full strip-and-re-lay both get described as 'waterproofing the roof' and differ by a factor of three. Compare the system, the thickness, the number of layers and what is being stripped.
Do you charge for the inspection?
The initial inspection and written quote are free within the greater Cape Town metro. A formal leak trace involving staged water testing is a chargeable callout.