The job
Roof membrane removal on the Level 3 roof terrace at The Oasis, Broadbeach, a block back from the beach on the Gold Coast. The terrace is a podium roof beside a glazed tenancy wall, with planters, plant rooms, ductwork and plant frames spread across it. It had been finished with synthetic turf laid on sand, over an old bitumen sheet membrane.
NCR, a remedial builder, was re-waterproofing the terrace. They brought in Perfect Concrete Care to take everything back to bare concrete first. Our Queensland crew started on 13 July 2026 and worked the roof through July into the first days of August.
What the roof membrane removal involved
- Lifting the synthetic turf and sand bedding, rolling it up and carting it out with a mini dumper to the ute and cage trailer
- Breaking out the old bitumen sheet membrane with electric breakers and taking the lapped sheets off with a power scraper
- Grinding the bitumen glue off the slab with a three phase walk behind floor grinder, back to bare concrete
- Hand grinding and breaking the old membrane off the wall upturns, thresholds, plant bases, planter edges and the strips under the ductwork
- Running every grinder into a dust extractor, with floor protection down on the access route
- Surface preparation across the whole terrace so the waterproofer had a clean, sound slab
What made it hard
The Oasis is a working centre with tenants right beside the terrace. Breaker work is loud, so the heavy breaking was done in the early morning window and the crew switched to scraping and grinding for the rest of the day.
The terrace is cut up by planters, plant rooms, ductwork and frames. The big floor grinder could only do the open areas. Everything around and under the plant, and every upturn, had to be done by hand.
It is an exposed roof. A wet slab won't grind clean, so on showery days the crew kept to scraping and loading out and went back to grinding once the deck dried.
How it was done
The turf and sand came off first, so the membrane was clear to work on. Then the breakers opened up the bitumen sheets early each morning, the power scraper lifted them, and the floor grinder followed on extractors to take the glue off the open slab.
The terrace was done in two halves. The first half was ground and handed back to NCR on 24 July, ready for coving, so their waterproofer could start while we kept going. The second stage picked up the edges, the strips under the ducts, the plant bases and the wall upturns, finishing with the corners by the glazing in early August.
Outcome
The Level 3 roof terrace, its upturns, planter edges and plant bases were handed back to NCR as bare, clean concrete, one half at a time, so re-waterproofing could start before the whole roof was finished.
Lessons learned on this job
Every job teaches the crew something. These are the ones we took from The Oasis.
What worked
- Getting all the turf and sand off before breaking, so the scraper and grinder only ever worked on membrane and glue
- Doing the loud breaker work first thing and saving grinding and scraping for later in the day
- Handing the terrace over in two halves, so the waterproofer was not waiting on us
What was difficult
- A terrace broken up by planters, plant rooms and ductwork, with a lot of hand work around them
- Keeping the breaker noise to hours that suited the centre and its tenants
- An exposed roof where showers stop grinding until the slab dries
If you have something similar
Remedial builders and waterproofers re-doing a roof terrace, podium or balcony on the Gold Coast need the old finishes and membrane off cleanly while the building keeps running. Have a look at our waterproofing membrane removal Gold Coast, concrete grinding Gold Coast and coating and membrane removal pages, see another membrane removal job in Broadbeach, or other rooftop jobs for NCR at Infinity Apartments, Hamilton and Windsor. Or get in touch.
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Perfect Concrete Care acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Traditional Custodians of the country on which we live and work. We pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians and Elders past, present and future, and honour their connection to the land and ongoing contribution to society.