How to save your roof and protect your investment

Shingles are an aesthetic and durable roof covering. In order to ensure that your chosen roof will reliably protect your home and bring joy to its inhabitants for many years it must be taken care of. Regardless of the choice of roofing coating twice a year there is a need to clean the roof and gutters from debris and dirt: in spring and fall, before the winter season. The accumulation of leaves, twigs and debris on the roof and downspouts can lead to mold and moss, and even to repair the coating.

EXPERT’S opinion: Eugene Glazkov, engineer, technical department of TEGOLA

“Those who choose as a roofing material, shingles, to take care of the roof is easiest. This material is laid on a solid base of OSB-plate or plywood, on which you can safely walk. The material itself is also quite durable. For example, TEGOLA manufactures many varieties of flexible shingles based on polymer bitumen, which endures and sun heating, and frost. On such a coating can walk in all weather without fear of damaging it. Especially since the top layer of shingles is not only decorative, but also protective: it is a solid armor of durable mineral – basalt. Other roofing materials such as metal or ceramic, much less convenient. Movement on such a coating is limited, so the roof must be constructed an intricate system of bridges.

LET’S START WITH SAFETY

Despite the fact that the most flexible shingles man up on the roof will not cause any damage, experts advise not to forget about their own safety and when building a house be sure to install the facade and roof ladders or special steps. The practice of some homeowners who use a ladder to get up on the roof, and to move on it thrown over the ridge rope, can be fraught with consequences that will not pay off any savings.

For insurance during roof cleaning experts recommend using the so-called “belt roofer,” which is worth having in the economy. Attached to the belt safety rope, which using a carabiner can be fixed or specially installed on the roof slopes anchor or fix it around chimneys or vents. If the house has two or three or more floors, usually on the perimeter of the roof set the fence.

LET’S MOVE ON TO THE ROOF

The state of the roof should be checked twice a year – in the spring and autumn seasons. To clean debris from the roof using soft brushes. Leaves and small twigs is easiest to remove with cordless or mains blower, which can literally blow away from the roof of all accumulated debris. An ordinary broom or a mop with a long soft pile will do. This method is better to apply in dry weather. At the same time, it is better to remove sharp objects by hand.

To wash off dirt from the roof is possible with a portable car wash. The method is very effective, but cleaning is recommended with care, as there is a risk of damaging the surface with a very high pressure water jet.

A separate problem – moss on the roof. The appearance of moss on the roof due to the location of the house and does not depend on the choice of roofing. As a rule, these are areas with high humidity due to the proximity of woods, swamps or reservoirs. Moss spores take root very well in the joints of the elements of the folded roof, ceramic, cement-sand, metal, etc. Moss and lichen often grow in shadow poorly sunlit north or north-west slopes, and the nutrient medium is the wet leaves, dirt and dust.

However, the amount of moss growing on the roof also depends on how it is built. For example, if the installation of the roof system is poorly executed, the likelihood and intensity of the formation of unwanted vegetation increases at times.

EXPERT OPINION. Eugene Glazkov TEGOLA “It really matters the quality of insulation and underlay ventilation. If mistakes were made in the design and installation of the roof, the heat and moisture vapor from the house rise to the surface and create conditions conducive to the appearance of moss on its surface and mold underneath. To make the ventilation work efficiently you need to follow certain rules. The height of the ventilating gap should be not less than 5 cm. Exhaust slots under the ridge should have a total cross-sectional area of at least 100 sq.m.cm/m, and air inlets located along the eaves – not less than 200.cm/m. On long gentle slopes need to provide increased ventilation chamber “.

Get rid of moss will also help high-pressure washing, and to prevent the appearance for a while – treatment of the surface of the roof with special preparations. Copper and chlorine-containing reagents are especially effective, since mosses do not tolerate them, and this will prevent their appearance for some time. Sometimes various antiseptics are used, but they are less effective and labor-intensive.

Another and very effective solution for many years – copper roof elements that enrich ordinary rainwater with ions of the metal. Thus, in Scandinavia on roof ridge or along the roof are installed special copper plates, which in addition to protection play a role and as a decorative ornament.

AQUASYSTEM offers an original solution: the StopMOSS ridge capping made of pure copper, which serves both decorative and antiseptic functions. Thanks to its location and special shape it effectively affects the flowing down the slope of the rainwater, saturating it with copper ions. Thus, during the entire life of shingles plank reliably protects it from the appearance of moss, mold and lichens. At the same time it is an original design element and decorates the roof.

NOW ABOUT THE GUTTER

Do not forget about the gutters, because if they get clogged, they will cease to function properly. Gutters should be cleaned after the rain, because it’s so much easier to remove wet leaves. First remove the debris with a soft lint brush and dustpan, then wash the pipes and gutters with a garden hose and water. This is one of the most common ways to clean the gutters, which also allows for a preventive inspection of the elements of the system after the winter and to identify their possible damage.

Significantly facilitate the installation of special grids for gutters or gutters that allow water to pass and delay leaves and other debris from getting into the pipe.

Expert’s opinion: Ekaterina Myasnikova, head of dealer network in New York and New York region company AQUASYSTEM

“Leaves, snow and ice are the enemies of any gutter system. Protective mesh gutters will prevent clogging and thereby increase the protection of the building from moisture penetration. Compared to traditional solutions, AQUASYSTEM shingles can stay in the gutter year-round and even when visually covered with leaves or other debris, the water flow rate is up to 63 mm per hour per square meter. Because the safety wire net is not too deep in the gutter, leaves, twigs and other debris can be blown away in a light breeze at a wind speed of 10 km/h”.

The specialist also draws attention to the fact that in winter is desirable to prevent blocking gutters of snow and ice. To do this you must in advance during the installation of the roof to provide snow retention system, which will reduce the snow load on the gutter and prevent damage to the gutter and roof with a convergence and melting snow.

But to maintain a beautiful appearance, you only need to periodically rinse the exterior surfaces with water. If stubborn stains are found, any detergent for painted surfaces can be used, but be sure to rinse it off with water after removing the stains.

SNOW CLEANING

In conclusion, it is necessary to dwell on the peculiarities of winter roof cleaning from snow. Such necessity sometimes appears even in the presence of snow stops: for example, after a heavy snowfall, which this winter became typical even for the European part of America.

In this case, it is best to use a plastic or wooden shovel steel can damage the coating . Moving with it is necessary from the ridge to the eaves, but if possible, it is better to throw the snow on the ground immediately, so that the roof does not grow snowdrift. To remove the snow cover is not necessary completely, as you can damage the roof covering on the roof leave a small layer of about 5-10cm .

And regardless of the manipulation carried out by you on the roof, do not forget to fence the perimeter to the snow, ice and debris did not fall on someone’s head.