Just had a call from a travelling salesman regarding cleaning my roof and "proofing" it. Is this a scam or something worth doing? My roof is approximately 17 years old with thick concrete tiles, but there is a lot of moss etc.
A few folks round here have gone for said treatment. If you are a fan of stone cladding then it might be for you ;-)
Can't speak for your particular saleman, but it is not usually a scam as such, they seem to do what they claim (with regard cleaning anyway... the "proofing" aspect may be more questionable unless he was talking about sale proofing!).
The end result is a very bright roof painted a colour that may or may not be similar to how it looked when the place was built. It looses all its patina and weathering, and looks out of place I think. Especially bad when done to just half of a semi. Also reveals all the tiles that have been replaced with ones of the wrong colour that had just finally managed to blend in ;-)
If in doubt, wait a few weeks, there is sure to be someone willing to have a punt so you can see the result.
That depends on you, your attitude towards Lego, and whether you ever wanted to live in a house that looked like it was made from it.
Of all the ways that roofs fail, having the tiles themselves start to crumble isn't the biggest risk around.
I recently declined several suggestions that I re-roofed my 150 year old Victorian terraced with concrete tiles on new rafters for vast amounts of dosh.
One told me that it would affect the saleability of my house if I didn't cure the sagging.
The sagging is gentle and even and only on the south facing half of the centre valley roof. Judging by the behaviour of the 4x2s I've just used for the upstairs ceilings, new timbers might well settle into the same profile before too long ....
I invested my money in loads of lovely new leadwork :-)
What problem are you trying to solve? I cant think of any reason to do it myself. Can you?
NT
clueless2 laid this down on his screen :
Moss adds character and softens the lines, I have never heard of it actually doing any harm. Is the roof porous, does it actually need any 'proofing'?
Moss falls down and clogs my gutters. Death to it.
Hi
They claim that moss & algae 'damages' your roof - not sure how. The idea is that they pressure wash your roof to remove all the crud and then treat it with a sealer. The sealer stops the surface of the tiles crumbling apparently.
Most of the companies doing this seem to be ex double glazing or other spurious home improvement companies.
Alledgedly in improves the value of your house?
Not convinced!
Dave
MOSS GROWING ON ROOF
The reason moss grows on a roof. There are numerous reason. Concrete tiles, Hand made clay tiles and Low pitch slopes. The main reason is debris trapped in between the joints of the roof covering. Concrete Tiles combined with a low pitch slope under 30 degs. After about 15 to twenty years the cement starts to disintegrate releasing the sand and gravel which fills the side over locking and with the leaf and other debris is a good composted for moss to grow. If you don't believe me and you have concrete tiles on your roof, how many times have you clean the gravel out of the gutter. Another problem with concrete tiles is effluent, this can be identified by white streaks running down the fascia board back of the rainwater guttering.
HAND MADE TILES Roof pitch doesn't matter here, but the surrounding area does, like trees and compass position. Most hand made tiles are not identical in shape, some are rounder and some have a slight twist and some have curved sides, so they don't lay flat or fit tight together like machine made tiles. Hand made soak up quite a lot of water and again is an ideal propagation for moss.
There are moss killers for treating lawns, but think about it before you go spraying chemicals on a roof. It all runs into the rainwater guttering and straight into the water course system. Copper wire is another idea, lay stands a copper over the roof , this also kills moss..
To eradicate the problem short term you can scrap all the moss off and lift every tile and clean all the loose debris from in between the joints. Jet washing can be used but not 100% cure. If you do jet wash don't point the jet up the roof or you will flood the roof space out and probably lift the tiles. Coating is not recommended, if you don't fill in all the slightest of holes water gets in and cant run away gradually works its way into the roof under the tiles and you have a leak and it will take some rectifying. The only
100% cure is to change the tiles for new.Algae doesn't grow on roofs. Lichen does and this is part of an ageing process, usually caused by bird dropping, notably around chimneys with TV aerials and on the verge end ridge.
Keith, Slater & Tiler 50 years plus
MOSS GROWING ON ROOF
The reason moss grows on a roof. There are numerous reason. Concrete tiles, Hand made clay tiles and Low pitch slopes. The main reason is debris trapped in between the joints of the roof covering. Concrete Tiles combined with a low pitch slope under 30 degs. After about 15 to twenty years the cement starts to disintegrate releasing the sand and gravel which fills the side over locking and with the leaf and other debris is a good composted for moss to grow. If you don't believe me and you have concrete tiles on your roof, how many times have you clean the gravel out of the gutter. Another problem with concrete tiles is effluent, this can be identified by white streaks running down the fascia board back of the rainwater guttering.
HAND MADE TILES Roof pitch doesn't matter here, but the surrounding area does, like trees and compass position. Most hand made tiles are not identical in shape, some are rounder and some have a slight twist and some have curved sides, so they don't lay flat or fit tight together like machine made tiles. Hand made soak up quite a lot of water and again is an ideal propagation for moss.
There are moss killers for treating lawns, but think about it before you go spraying chemicals on a roof. It all runs into the rainwater guttering and straight into the water course system. Copper wire is another idea, lay stands a copper over the roof , this also kills moss..
To eradicate the problem short term you can scrap all the moss off and lift every tile and clean all the loose debris from in between the joints. Jet washing can be used but not 100% cure. If you do jet wash don't point the jet up the roof or you will flood the roof space out and probably lift the tiles. Coating is not recommended, if you don't fill in all the slightest of holes water gets in and cant run away gradually works its way into the roof under the tiles and you have a leak and it will take some rectifying. The only
100% cure is to change the tiles for new.Algae doesn't grow on roofs. Lichen does and this is part of an ageing process, usually caused by bird dropping, notably around chimneys with TV aerials and on the verge end ridge.
Keith, Slater & Tiler 50 years plus
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