Staining new rosemary roof tiles to blend them in

[cf-leeds]

We've just had some velux window in the roof as part of a loft conversion.

The roofer has had to use some new rosemary tiles round one of the Velux windows and they stick out like a sore thumb. Yes we should have got them to use salvaged tiles etc, but it's really a question of making it look better now.

There are only about 4 tiles down each side of the velux that are bright coloured, though they are placed every other tile, to there's a striped look to that small area of the roof. A little detail to some maybe, but a big issue for me, as they spoil the look of the velux IMO.

So, how about spraying the bright tiles with a spray paint or something, just a brownish colour, that blends them in a little ?

Anyone tried this ? Does any specific product exist for this that I can use ?

I know about this type of roof needing to breath, but were literally talking 8 tiles here.

Thanks for any advice.

CF

[Andrew May]

Isn't this the sort of thing that is normally solved by painting with yoghurt to encourage mould growth?

[Harry Bloomfield]

cf-leeds used his keyboard to write :

Live yogurt painted on will soak in and given a few weeks, start to make them grow some moss to help match them in.

[Andy Champ]

Imagine 5 years down the line. Your paint has faded to a different colour to the rest of the roof, and is now flaking off in patches exposing the fresh tile colour underneath...

Yoghurt or ... err ... animal wastes ... I understand are the traditional ways to make something blend.

Andy

[Martin Brown]

Soot, soil, yoghurt and dung in an appropriate mix to get the right match shade of dirtiness and encourage lichens and moss to take hold.

Any paint you apply will make it look a real mess in the future.

If you are in a real fire non-smokeless zone you should not have to wait too long before they blend in though accumulated grot.

[Peter Parry]

Natural Yogurt or several pints of full cream milk which have been allowed to mature for a week in the warm mixed with twice the weight of fresh (mish) cattle dung. It is best done in slightly warmer and drier weather as in these temperatures and rainfall it will sometimes wash off before getting going.

[GB]

Can you get tiles where this has already been done?

[Peter Parry]

Prebiotically coated? I doubt it, but there are firms which specialise in the subject as it is often a condition of planning permission in country areas that the surface of whatever is erected be "aged". I once knew someone who bought rotten milk by the tanker load and made many a farmer happy by taking away the contents of their slurry pit. The mixture was dispensed using high pressure versions of a Saniflo and left my friend happy and rich and his customers satisfied and nauseous. Much like a Saniflo in more ways than one.

[GB]

It really makes much more sense to do this job well away from human habitation, so age the tiles before putting them up, and charge for doing that.

[Andy Champ]

How much extra would the roofer charge?

Andy

[GB]

If the alternative is to pressure spray a mixture of rancid milk and manure on your new roof then pray that it doesn't rain, how much extra would you pay?

[Peter Parry]

Most pay for the roof to be sprayed with a wholly organic certified eco friendly entirely natural English Nature and National Trust approved treatment to encourage natural moss growth and save the planet from global warming.

Many customers are bankers or solicitors and wouldn't know a pig from a cow while both were still breathing.

It isn't usually described to the customers minced pigshit and rotten milk.

[Andrew May]

While the rest of us are looking for ways to stop moss growing on our roofs.

[Martin Brown]

I think you have a good point there. Most people round here try to piece up their roof for as long as possible using old tiles scavenged from the buildings that have already been reroofed. The old handmade clay pantiles are a devil to match exactly so most old roofs here have a patchwork of slightly different coloured tiles. Nobody minds at all.

I can't imagine paying to encourage moss and lichen to grow on my roof!

Shame! It might put them off faffing about with it.

A new roof loses its newness edge in a couple of years but if you have a nice rectangular patch of even slightly different tiles the eye can still pick out the difference decades later.

[Steve Firth]

I can't understand the desire to spray a roof with milk & s**te. I had a barn built a few years back, oak frame with clay tiles. The tiles are covered in lichen now and there's a continual supply of bird shit to provide nutrients.

A bit of patience is all that's required.

[Andy Champ]

Copper wire or strip along the ridge.

Andy