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How To Clean Concrete Roof Tiles

Dirt, moss and algae usually sees concrete roof tiles as the perfect place to reside. They can damage the structural bonds of your roof, they can lead to overheating of the attic and roof space as well as blocked gutters. In order to protect the structural integrity of your roof and ensure your home and properties are well protected against the elements, it’s therefore crucial to clean your roof regularly. There are plethora of ways to go about this but which method will best suit your concrete roof tile?

When it comes to working at heights, skill and confidence is paramount even if the actually cleaning and maintenance happens to be an easy task. As a result, if you lack the two attributes mentioned, we’d strongly recommend that you call in a professional roof cleaning contractor who can guarantee the best results for help. In this article, we aim to give you a good insight into the concrete roof tiles cleaning process. Let’s have a look!

✓ Use a trowel or stiff brush

This is a manual method which involves scraping off the algae, moss and dirt by hand using an effective tool like a trowel. However, before you do this make sure its a very dry day. Also, you can make use of a stiff brush to scrape off the dirt. Both cleaning tools are very easy and effective means to clean concrete roof tiles.

✓ Use chemicals

You can apply fungicide, moss killers and anti moss treatments with the help of a spray to kill any plant life on your concrete roof tiles. However, you should only do this after you’ve successfully scraped the surface with a trowel or a stiff brush.

Chimney liners are a very important component of the chimney, but the fact is most home and property owners either continue to overlook them or aren’t even aware of their existence. This is, however, quite understandable given the fact that they usually last a long period of time – more than 50 years. To ensure that they last that long, the question that arises is, do chimney liners need to be swept and cleaned? The short and simple answer to this question is yes, chimney liners definitely needs to be cleaned on a frequent basis. A chimney liner happens to be an essential part of your chimney. When it’s not cleaned, it tends to accumulate dust, soot and dirt which can give rise to a number of problems you’d rather want to avoid. Chimney liner are able to provide adequate protection to your flue but even at that the water, creosote and other contaminant build up can make the liner to deteriorate, and making it unsafe for usage. In other words, contrary to several belief, chimney liners do need the same amount of cleaning as chimneys without liners. Failure to sweep your chimney liners can give rise to the following problems:

• Creosote buildup. If your main source of fire is wood, then you’ll definitely have creosote present in your chimney. This is highly combustible and its buildup may lead to fire outbreak.
• Carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is said to be on the rise by NCBI and its primarily generated from heating systems which are terribly ventilated as a result of uncleaned or dirty chimneys.

How much a flat roof costs to repair depends on a few factors. Is your flat roof on a garage or an extension? What is the flat roof made from? It’s always best to get a few quotes to compare prices, but we’ll give you a rough idea here. If your flat roof was installed in the 1990s or earlier, it’s likely that you’ll see some leaks or damage soon. Felt flat roofs used to be installed completely flat, which meant that water couldn’t run off. That means that water pools and can create moss and damp. Sun exposure can also damage the felt, causing damage and eventually holes that lead to leaks. If you’re lucky enough to have got away with just needing a flat roof repair, this should set you back an average of £100 per square metre. If your roof is sagging due to the weight of it putting pressure on the timber frame, you might need additional joists – which could cost anywhere between £1,000 and £2,000, depending on how many you need. But if the problem is due to the internal part of the roof system becoming waterlogged, you could be looking at over £5,000. If your roof is severely leaking or the timber joists are rotting, it might be more cost effective to replace your flat roof. If you keep forking out for repairs, it will eventually be cheaper just to replace the whole thing, which could cost around £2,000.

How To Clean Roof Tiles?

If you’re a DIY person with a dirty roof tiles or just a homeowner who’s also a lover of knowledge, you may probably like to know how you can have your roof tiles cleaned. This is a very common question which often depends on the dirt or debris you’re dealing with as well as the type of roof you possess. Most often than not, if you own a traditional concrete or slate roof tiles, then you’re more likely to battle moss and or algae growth.

If you’re not a competent DIY person or do not have enough confidence to pull this off, then it’s advisable to hire the services of a professional who can guarantee the best results for help. In this article, you’ll learn how to go about cleaning your roof tiles. Let’s have a look!

✓ Consider Safety. When it comes to roof cleaning, you have to be very careful. They’re normally high up and any task that deals with height will usually require putting safety measures in place. Firstly, it’s important to be confident with heights and ladders, if not you’d have to find someone who is. And if you’re confident, there’s also the need to find someone who can help you hold the base of the ladder.

✓ Trim the trees. Nearby trees are usually a threat to any roof and also makes cleaning much harder. So it’s always wise to cut any overhanging branches before you proceed.

✓ Bleach or not to bleach. Although you have to be very careful using beach and water but it also happens to be one of the easiest DIY ways to clean your roof. You either stand about 4 feet away and rely on water pressure or clean down the tiles by hand.

✓ Try not to make use of a blaster.

How To Clean Moss Off Roof?

Although moss attack on your roof is a less common occurrence, but when they occur they can be very harmful to your asphalt shingles if not attended to. Generally, moss are commonly found in damp environments such as the North slopes, overhanging treses or overhanging regions of the roof which causes shade which enables moisture to be stagnant and moss to develop. If you observe a green fuzzy stuff appearing on your roof, that’s likely to be moss.

The same way algae navigated its way to your roof as they can be airborne and travel via wind, squirrels, birds or other little flying or climbing animals, moss also gets carried similarly. One moss finds its way up your roof, they’ll find spaces between the shingles where they’ll form thick spongy moss which can be difficult to clean off if you don’t know the best way to go about it.

If you’re not a competent DIYer or confident enough to carry out this task, we’d strongly recommend you hire the services of a professional who can guarantee the best results effortlessly.

The best way to go about the cleaning task for both your roof and environment is to incorporate a product called Spray and Forget or Wet and Forget. You can get these at most local hardware stores. Simply put the product into a hose end sprayer and can be applied from the ladder at the edge of the gutter or even from the ground. This method may take a up to 6 months before you’ll start seeing the results but it happens to be the safest. Another method that can be used is bleach and water which is very aggressive but provides a quicker result. However, this is best done by a professional to avoid seriously damaging your roof.

Roof tiles should be replaced as soon as possible to ensure that your roof stays waterproof. Use crawl boards when replacing them to avoid damaging other tiles, if not ask a qualified roofer to carry out the work, particularly if the tiles are higher up.

How Much To Replace A Flat Roof

There’s no straight answer to this question. However, the average cost lies within the range of £1000 to £5000. This range may look too wide but the price is greatly influenced by a number of factors which is capable of making the price increase or decrease. Some of the factors affecting the cost of flat roof coverings and replacement include: the type of flat roofing system and materials you want, the area size of the flat roof in M2, the project’s location, the roofing company to be used, the ease at which to reach the roof, cost of removing the old flat roof as well as cost of removing the other waste.

Although there are many factors to be put into consideration but the most crucial factor is the size of the house or the area size of the flat roof in M2. for instance, a one bedroom apartment’s flat roof will have a price between £1500 to £3000. This is, however, with the assumption that the flat roof is going to be used as the main roof of the house. But if you’re only using it for a section of the house like your garage, the price could range between £700 to £1000

There four commonly used types of flat roof materials which includes fibreglass, felt, rubber and lead. If you need a felt roof, for example, the price is between £40 to £70 per m2. And in the same tone, a metal roof will generally cost more than a a flat roof made from rubber.

Another important factor we’ll discuss is the labour or the roofing company to be used. Different roofing companies will charge different prices. As a result, you should carefully compare the prices of the companies in order to get a great deal.

Yes, it’s a dirty job, but every homeowner out there has got to do it! Your gutter needs to be free of dead leaves, birds’ nest and other debris as well as being through clean in order to perform its functions effectively. It’s just a part of the responsibilities that comes with owning a home. Dry leaves, tree branches and other materials build up in your gutters overtime especially during the dry summer and you won’t notice until the point where your gutters start overflowing during the first main rain of the season.

In the event whereby your dirty and clogged gutter is left unattended to, this can lead to several issues like a leaky gutter and mold, leaky roof and basements,cracked foundation, driveway and yard damage and several more which will definitely make you incur more unnecessary expenses. So the question is, how often should the gutters be cleaned? The answer is, it depends. According to several experts, gutters should be cleaned at least twice a year - which is once in the late spring and once in the late summer or early fall. However, there are a couple of factors that may make you have a rethink.

If you happen to have a pine tree growing above your house, it’ll be wise to consider inspecting your gutters every 3 months. This is because pine trees shed needles year-round and they usually have a lot of these needles to shed. In the situation whereby you’re located at a higher elevation, ice is will most likely be your greatest source of concern. Making sure that your gutters remain clean throughout the winter can be quite a headache, but damage to your roof cause by ice can be an even greater pain. Prevention is always better than cure.