Roof Maintenance: Cleaning and Stain Prevention

A dirty roof bounds to induce serious problems for your house like molds, leaks, and corrosion. To prevent that, you must maintain your roof in its good condition to ensure the long lasting and reliable roofing over your living spaces. In maintaining a roof, you need to check it regularly in every seasons change (for around 3 or 4 times a year) for missing or broken tiles, excessivedirt, clogged gutter, corrosion, molds, and stains. As for molds and stain, they need special treatment to remove. Here are 5 simple steps in clearing molds and stain out of your roof.

1. In clearing them out, you will need a mixture of one part of water and one part of bleach or sodium percarbonate. Or you can use a 50:50 mix of water and 12.5% sodium hypochlorite (pool chlorine) as the solution as recommended by The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA).
2. With a moderate power flow, spray the solution all over the roof. Be aware that this solution is harmful for plants. If you have plants around, make sure to spray them with clean water before you apply the solution to your roof. This will prevent the plants in absorbing the solution. After you have done in applying the solution into your roof, you need to spray the plants with clean water once again in case the solution stays on them.
3. Let the solution does its work for a while (few hours).
4. Spray clean water with a very slow pressure all over the tiles. Make sure that the water reaches all part and that you rinse the tiles thoroughly to get rid of the chemical. Never use strong pressure washing for tiled roof as it will cause damage on it.
5. Let the tiles dry for a day or two.

Cleaning and Stain Prevention

To add an extra protection for your roof, you may likely consider applying addition protections onto it. The application of these extra protectors will act as further stain prevention. The first step is roof refurbishing and the second is adding metal strips.

1. Roof refurbishing is spraying layers of liquid called coatings to the roof. First, you need to buff the deposit on the roof layer with a rag. Make sure that the tiles are free from dust and fully dried. Then, apply the primer or base coating and acrylic sealer thinly and evenly to all the exposed parts of the roof. The last step is repainting or applying the last coating to the roof with a mix of thick water and mildew proof acrylic paint.
2. After the coating is fully dried, add zinc, galvanized sheet metal, or copper strips under the top row of tiles on both sides of the roof and let the edge of the strips exposed. The addition of the strips near the roofs peak may reduce the regrowth of algae and moss as the metal molecules are fatal for them.Often, copper strips are more expensive because they are more toxic for algae (more effective).

How to Finance Your New Commercial Roofing

If you are planning on getting a new commercial roofing for your buildings, you may need to prepare a lot for the finance of it. You are in a dilemma, you need new commercial roof as soon as possible yet you do not have any backing for it. You do realize that the investment will pay it off over the time but sometimes, the initial expenses you must spend can be inconvenient. If that is the case,you may consider getting your new commercial roofing funded by the roofing company then you can regularly pay it off for an exact span of time you have agreed upon.

The Roofing Company

These days, roofing company usually offer 2 options in financing your new commercial roofing. The first is 100% funded by the roofing company, while the second is only 50% of the total expenses will be funded by them.

1. Fully (100%) Funded by the Roofing Company

The first option of the finance is all of the expenses you spend on your new commercial roofing will be backed first by the roofing company. Discuss the plan and the finance with the roofing company. Please keep in mind that the total cost you will spend on it differ by the materials of the roofing you choose. Commercial roofing system usually consist of sprayed polyurethane foam, restoration coatings, single-ply that you might choose (TPO, PVC, and EPDM), modified bitumen, concrete, built-up, tar and gravel, and many others. If you are planning on making an eco-friendly commercial roofing, you may want to install solar shingles on the roof (which will cost you a lot more on the finance).

For this kind of loan, the roofing company usually give you time from 1-15 years to pay your debt. You can choose to pay it every month or every year regularly. The interest rates for this loan usually start from 4%.

2. Half (50%) Funded by the Roofing Company

The second option of the finance is that only half of the expenses will be backed by the roofing company with the minimum contract of $20,000. With the reason that you do not need to pay the initial expenses fully in advance for the project to start, you do not need to worry about the finance until the project is done. Usually, the roofing company will offer an agreement in which the first 50% of contract will due at the time of sign off. The roofing company will also offer you various finance rates start from 0% if it is paid in full in in the span of 3 months. And the rates are going up if you extend the due time. For example, if you are going to pay the loan by the time in 6 months, the interest rate is 3%. But if you extend it to 9 months, the interest rate is going up to 6%.

For the reason that the roofing company only pay 50% of the total expenses, the time offered usually limited only up to 18 months.

DIY Project: Keep Your Home Cozy and Warm during Winter with Draft Blockers

In winter days, the howling winds outside could be adistress. It can go inside your house and make the temperature in your house get chillier. In that case, you might need to shut all your doors and windows, and close any possible gaps between them. A way to close the gaps is by blocking them using draft blockers.

Draft Blocker

A draft blocker is a cloth cylinder that acts as a barrier between the inside and outside of your house, blocking the chill from going inside the room. A draft blocker usually made from clothes filled with various filling to make it heavy enough to stay in place. Here are simple steps to make your own draft blockers at home:

1. Measure Up

Grab a measuring tape and measure the gaps you need to cover (length). After that, measure the width of the gaps and make sure that it will completelyblock the crack between door and floor or window and sill. Because you need to make a cylinder out of it so you can fill it with the fillings, you need to take extra care on determining the height of it.

2. Cut the Materials

Cut the material you want to make the draft blockers casing from based on the measurement you made before by adding one or two centimeters to sew it. Choose a slippy but sturdy materials so that it can move over a surface without snagging when you open and close the doors. You can use your old towels, clothes, bedding, pillowcase, or anything that seems to fit the sketch of the draft blockers. But if you want to make it prettier and more presentable (in case you want to make it as a gift), you may need new pieces of cloth with patterns. Please keep in mind that draft blockers are easy to get dirty, as it can pick up a lot of dusts, so you may prefer dark-colouredmaterials for the draft blockers casing.

3. Sew the Casing

Turn the materials into a tube. Fold the cloth in half so that the side you want to see is on the inside. Sew up both the long side and one of the short side. Turn the tube inside to outside so that you can see your desirable side.

4. Fill It Up

After you double-check that the casing has no sewing gaps where the filling may spill out, you can fill it with the stuffing. There are various filling materials such as cotton balls, shredded packing peanuts, scraps of clothes, rice, and sand. Rice is the most popular filling materials as it is easy to fill out and quite heavy. Although sand has the same criteria with rice in the way it is quite heavy and easy to fill out, the small grains of it are more likely to leak out of the casing through the small gaps between the stitches which you need to clean up frequently.

Five Steps to Make Your Roof and Your Entire House Survive an Extreme Storm

Stormy days can be a nightmare and even only a slight thought of it would leave you with an uneasy feeling. The first thing that might come across your mind is finding the safest place to hide which is your own house. In actual fact, house could be the worst place out of all available places to stay during stormy weather, unless you have a safe room inside your house. A safe room is made of steel-reinforced concrete which could actually be the safest place to reside in during harsh storms. If you don’t have any safe room in your house, you might need to consider a retrofit. Adding it to an existing building can be a little bit pricey compared to having one of it planned beforehand. However, it is still necessary to add a safe room to your house or buildings to provide a fortified area in which people can have a place to hide during severe weather without fear.

Your Entire House Survive an Extreme Storm

Here are the five steps to help you protect your house and its facilities during the incidence so your house can have its turn to protect you.

1. Learn More about the Enemy, Storm

Check the weather or climate predictions according to your geographic location from time to time. It is also advised to learn more about the facts on different types of severe weather and emergency-management guidelines. These will help you in preparing your house to survive the severe weather and to have time to evacuate yourself and your loved ones when needed.

 

2. Calculate the Weak Points of Your House

In this step, what you need to do is taking a closer checkup on your house starting from the outer parts of the house such as doors and windows to the middle part of the house, which is the rooftop. You need to make a list of the major and minor weak points then decide the consequences of what you need to fix first.

3. Check the Windows and Doors

After you have finished the calculation step, you need to check your windows and doors. Do the inspection extra carefully since they are the outer parts of the house which have direct intact with the storm. You may need to replace the missing screws or belts and tighten the loose hinges. It is better to upgrade your windows with shutters, high-impact glass, and double-paned models to have a better chance in withstanding the storms. Installing a permanent shutter is highly advisable because of its high endurance. Don’t forget to close all your doors and windows before a storm arrives.

 

4. Prepare All the Important Things

Because the windows are often the weakest parts of the house, it is recommended to take extra attention in protecting the windows. You may need some or all of these important things: accordion shutters, Bahama shutters, still track horizontal rolling shutters, roll-up shutters, colonial/board and batten shutters, storm panels, aluminum awnings, perforated metal screens.

5. Check the Highest Part of the House, Rooftop

In this step, you are recommended to consult a professional to do the inspection. They may know and able to identify the problems on your rooftop better and faster. They may ask you to reinforce your rooftop by retrofitting it with certain types of brackets, clips, bracing, or straps. They may also ask you to secure any loose shingles with a heavy duty adhesive. Or if your roof is made from tiles, you may asked to fasten them with screws and wires instead of nails to make them stronger.

Ways to Remove Snow from Your Roof

Removing heaps of snow from your roof could be challenging and exhausting. It is definitely not what people love to do but it is important to do since piles of snow on the roof may lead to damage and leaks. In winter, your house will give you a signal on when to start cleaning your roof. The signal is when your interior doors and windows begin to stick and hard to open or close, especially doors or windows in the center of the house. If the signal is there, you need to do the clean up fast to prevent your house’s roof from collapsing and your walls from breaking apart.

There are two ways in removing those heavy piles of snow from your roof. First is to do the snow removal by yourself and two, is to hire professional to do the job.

 

• DIY (do-it-yourself) Project of Snow Removal

 

Please do note that this DIY project might be safe only when the house’s roof is low where the work can be done entirely from the ground. In removing the snow from your roof, you will need a new tool. The tool is called snow rakes. It comes in different shapes; some even comes with adjustable telescoping handle to ease the process of snow removal since roof could be quite high in height.  The snow rakes are quite cheap and you can also make your own snow rakes using PVC pipes. With snow rakes, all you need to do is staying on the ground and scratch the snow from your roof slowly. It is not recommended to climb a ladder since the ground could get slippery and the heavy snow might fall on you. It is advisable not to do this by yourself because accidents may happen and you will need someone to be around to help you if those do happen.

Hiring Professional Snow Removal Contractor

 

 

If the house is a two story house or the snow is too thick, it will be dangerous to do the “DIY Project Snow Removal”. It is wise to call a professional snow removal contractor to help you with the job. Getting help from professional is definitely make the process of snow removal safer and faster. It can get little bit pricey but they can do the job safely for you as they will use special gears. It will cost you around $300-$500.  Ensure that the contractor is a professional with license and insurance.

Please do keep in mind that snow removal will not let you have the perfectly-free-from-snow roof. The professional might tell you this in advance. Scratching the snow from roof completely might result in irreparable damage to your house’s roof and the professional will not take the risk. While in the DIY Project, scratching the snow completely might leave your roofing scratched or pulled off. Please note, the goal of doing the snow removal project, either the DIY or with the help of professional, is to relieve the excessive load on your roofing.

Pro and Cons of Leasing Solar Panel

The system of solar lease makes possible for people to have solar panels on the roof, however there is a little known implication in the long term of this arrangement for the homeowners. In general, by giving up ownership of solar panels means giving up a big share of profits. Here is more explanation about pro and cons on solar leasing.

There are drawbacks to solar leasing. Firstly in term of ownership, the solar leasing companies own the solar panels, so the companies get the 30% federal tax credit or any local incentives that may exist.
The solar leasing lease companies own the power that your panels generate, so although you will get a reduction in your monthly bill you will still be obligated to continue to pay the 80-90% utility payment to the solar leasing company. In essence, they become your utility provider.

You’re buying your energy from the solar service provider, but in cases where your panels don’t generate enough power, you also have to buy your energy from your traditional utility.
The price per kilowatt may be fixed, but solar service providers often build in an annual price escalator of 1-5%.

Transferring property ownership with a solar lease can be problematic. Solar contracts require the new owner to take over the leases and terms, which often aren’t attractive terms to potential new owners who would prefer to own the equipment. In these cases, the current owner may be liable for the remaining lease term and any fees associated with removing the equipment.
Furthermore, you can’t claim ownership or get credit on your appraised value with leased solar panels.
In contrast, consider all the financial benefits of owning your solar panels as described below.

Firstly, you harvest the SRECs (solar renewable energy credits). In addition to that, you pay little or no money for your electricity bill, except in cloudier weather when your system generates less electricity
By owning the panels, this also can be legally sold them together with the house, and you can receive a potential higher green premium on your sale or on a new appraised value. Many consumers now recognize solar power as a justifiable premium cost and value when making property purchase decisions. If you lease the solar panels, this will scare potential buyer. The reason is a typical lease term is for 20 years. With the average home selling in five to seven years, that means a potential buyer is buying not only a home but a lease obligation as well. Having a lease can scare away homebuyers who don’t understand or want the long-term obligation.

Solar Panel

The benefits of owning solar are many. For people who own rooftop power systems, solar adds value to the home – about $25,000 for the average installation in California. Also, you can earn annual returns on investment of 10 to 30 percent depending on your location, state incentives, and property characteristics, plus you get free electricity for 25 to 40 years.

The bottom line is that leasing solar panels is not a good economic decision for homeowners or a good business practice for building owners (commercial properties may make more economic sense) because leasing greatly diminishes the economic returns for building owners and makes money for the equipment owner, not the building owner. Leasing also encumbers the real estate selling process because prospective buyers may find that the equipment is obsolete and the terms from the solar service provider may not be attractive.

Top type of solar panel

Thinking about buying solar panels but got confused about which type to purchase? There’s a myriad of variables that you should take into account when buying a solar photovoltaic (PV) system. There are the different types of solar panels currently on the market. Some of the solar panel available in the market namely are as follows.

1. Crystalline silicon forms the basis of mono- and polycrystalline silicon solar cells. Monocrystalline solar panels live the longest. Most solar panel manufacturers put a 25-year warranty on their monocrystalline solar panels The efficiency of polycrystalline-based solar panels is typically 13-16%.
2. String Ribbon solar panels- Efficiency is at best on par with the low-end polycrystalline solar panels at around 13-14%
3. thin-film solar cells – Depending on the technology, thin-film module prototypes have reached efficiencies between 7–13% and production modules operate at about 9%. Future module efficiencies are expected to climb close to the about 10–16%.
4. Amorphous silicon With a manufacturing technique called “stacking”, several layers of amorphous silicon solar cells can be combined, which results in higher efficiency rates (typically around 6-8%).
5. Cadmium telluride The efficiency of solar panels based on cadmium telluride usually operates in the range 9-11%
6. Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIS/CIGS) Solar Cells. The efficiency rates for CIGS solar panels typically operate in the range 10-12 %.
7. Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), Rather than an individual type of solar cell technology, building integrated photovoltaics have several subtypes (or different methods of integration), which can be based on both crystalline-based and thin-film solar cells. Building integrated photovoltaics can be facades, roofs, windows, walls and many other things that are combined with photovoltaic material.

Solar Panel

There is a common situation which can determine which solar panel is the suitable for the condition, namely space and cost.
For those who don’t have enough space for thin-film solar panels, or if want to limit the amount of space their PV-system takes up, crystalline-based solar panels are the best choice. There are not a whole lot of solar installers and providers that offer thin-film solar panels for homeowners at this point.

There is the choice of different solar panel sizes. The 180, 200 and 220-watt rated solar panels are usually physically the same size. They are manufactured exactly the same way, but under- or over perform when tested, hence ending up in different categories for power output. If size is important, then go for the highest rated power output for a particular physical size.
Both mono- and polycrystalline solar panels are good choices and offer similar advantages. Even though polycrystalline solar panels tend to be less space-efficient and monocrystalline solar panels tend to produce more electrical power, this is not always the case. It would be nearly impossible to recommend one or the other by not examining the solar panels and your situation closer.

Monocrystalline solar panels are slightly more expensive, but also slightly more space-efficient. If you had one polycrystalline and one monocrystalline solar panel, both rated 220-watt, they would generate the same amount of electricity, but the one made of monocrystalline silicon would take up less space.
If lowest costs per rated power are the goal, or in other words, pay as little as possible for a certain amount of electricity, then worth to investigate if thin-film solar panels could, in fact, be a better choice than mono- or polycrystalline solar panels.

How to Fix roof Gutter Slopes

A gutter that does not drain properly may need an adjustment. After installation, gutter hangers and screws can fall out, leaving the gutter sagging. A gutter that sags and dips will not have the proper slope needed to allow water to travel into the downspout to be expelled. Standing water in a gutter system is unsanitary and unsafe. Stagnant water breeds mosquitoes and can cause rust in steel gutter systems, and improperly sloped gutters can cause clogs.

Here are steps to fix roof gutter slopes.

1. Inspect the gutter from the ground and from a ladder for signs of sagging, standing water and leaks.
2. Measure the distance between the bottom of the fascia board and the bottom of the gutter on the section of gutter farthest from the downspout.
3. Move the ladder 10 feet down the run of gutter. Mark the fascia board1/4 inch below the first measurement. Reposition the gutter with new hangers and screws, so that the gutter is sloped to rest on the mark made on the fascia board.
4. Continue down the run of gutter making sure that every 10 feet end 1/4 inch lower than the previous section. Replace any missing screws and hangers.
5. Test the gutter with a garden hose to ensure that the water travels freely through the gutter into the downspout.

Roof Gutter

Preventing gutters from trapping stagnant pools of water, it is required to be pitched toward the downspouts for proper flow. That means an incline of ¼-inch of slope for every 10 feet of gutter. In this matter, important to set at the correct incline, and the gutters should drain completely. Here are some of the things to do for prevention measures.

Check the pitch of the gutters

Get up on a ladder and look down the run of the gutter. Long runs of gutters are deliberately high in the middle so water flows toward downspouts at each end. Look for any peaks or valleys along the way. If these are slight, correct the problem by bending a few hangers up or down. If the problem is more serious, reset your gutter.

Calculate the drop

Take these simple steps to work out the amount of incline—or “drop”—needed by firstly measure the length of the run of your gutter. Then divide the length by 10 and multiply the result by .25 to get the amount of drop from one end of the gutter toward the downspout. For example, a run of 38 feet should have a drop of about 1 inch (38 ÷ 10 = 3.8 x .25 = .95).

Reset the gutter

This can be done by marking the fascia and straighten the gutter. In marking the fascia, the downspout end of the gutter, measure down from the top of the fascia and mark the correct amount of drop. Remove a hanger or two and refasten them so the top of the gutter lines up with the mark.

Whereas in term of straightening the gutter, before adjusting the rest of the gutter, stretch a string taut above it as a guide for straightness. Reposition the hangers or add additional ones for any serious sags. Sight down the gutter to check your work.

How Much Does Slate Roof Repair Cost

Slate roofs are popular not only for their historic significance and distinguished look, but also for long-lasting 100+ years of life, on average. Thus it can be summaries that a slate roof is among the best roofs to have. In addition to that, it is expensive to install compared to other roofs. The square footage of a house is usually equivalent to the roof’s square footage. One hard or soft slate for each square foot of the house times $1,500 will be the total cost of a new slate roof. It is way more expensive compared than asphalt shingles which have a total cost around $200 per square.

In term of repairing a slate roof, the cost can vary. Small repairs or replacing a single cracked shingle may cost as little as a few hundred dollars. On the other hand, more involved cleaning and restoration may cost several thousand dollars. Among the most common slate roof repairs, two are the most common according to professionals, namely replacing individual slates and replacing the flashing and fastenings.

Slate Roof Repair

Replacing Individual Slates

By far the most common and least expensive repairs for a slate roof, replacing individual slates that have broken or cracked is asignificant maintenance point. In general and in many cases, roofs with one or two cracked or fallen tiles don’t leak, and failure to attend these issues in a timely manner can bring to more expensive and expansive repairs.

Most slaters liken the failure to replace one or two broken slates until more need fixing to wait to have a cavity filled until more teeth decay. Thus, it is recommended to repair as soon as possible. In this case, have a roofer experienced with slate installation and maintenance perform periodic checks on the structural health of the roof to catch small problems before they worsen.

The charge to replace or repair a slate tile variesdepending on the type of roof on a home and the extent of the damage to the individual tiles and roofing area. The costs can be as little as $40–$50 per slate or as high as $200. This rate includes labor and other factors such as sealing and replacing or repairing neighboring fastenings affecting the final price as well.

Replacing Worn Flashings and Fastening

Another common repair is replacing or repairing the flashings and fastenings surrounding the slate roof. Flashings are made of some type of malleable metal, such as lead-coated copper, terne-coated (a combination of a tin and lead alloy) sheet iron, lead sheet, copper and galvanized steel. These materials are all used to seal up the penetrations throughout the roof, including chimneys and vents.

Flashings

These materials don’t last almost as long as the slate itself. It generally requires replacement several times during the life of the roof. In fact, flashings may need replacement as often as every 15–20 years or as infrequently as every 70, depending on the material used. The costs to replace flashings, ranges from as little as $600 up to $20,000 or more, depending on the size of the roof and the materials used for the new flashing.

Fastenings

Fastenings are the components used to secure slate tiles onto a roof. They are usually nails, though there is a French method that uses hooks instead. Fastenings are usually made of the following materials, namely steel, galvanized steel, copper, and wire.

Generally doesn’t require fastener replacement if the fastening is professionally installed and well-maintained slate roof.It is worth to note that excess moisture may lead to a more rapid deterioration of these materials and necessitate their replacement at some point. It can lead to rapid roof deterioration and complete slate loss, if fail to recognize this problem and fix.

How to Clean Your Own Roof Gutter

Gutters are the metal channels attached to the roof edges. It is used to draw water down and away from the house and its foundation. Most gutters consist of gutter sections, drop outlets and downspouts. Gutters can be constructed of aluminum, galvanized steel, vinyl, wood or copper.

Keeping roof gutter clean is very important. Firstly, clogged up gutters can be appealing to a number of critters as a nesting site, from birds to mosquitoes, because this can be a bed of damp leaves can be alluring for them. Secondly, faschia can be broken when the gutter is clogged.  The fascia is a board that runs right behind the gutter. Overflowing water can damage fascia, which is an important component of the gutter system. Thirdly, clogged gutters are holding too much weight, and can result in damage to the brackets.

Clean Your Own Roof Gutter

Generally, cleaning roof gutter is fairly easy and simple. This type of work can be classified as a do-it-yourself project. Herewith are the steps to clean roof gutter with own resources.

Step 1. Locating the ladder toward the specific gutter, climbing a ladder and clean the goop out of the gutters. Generally, the decomposed leaves make great mulch or compost. In this step, pay specific attention to the downspout. If leaves and debris are clogging it, water won’t drain properly, and along with mildew and mud, this will lead to sagging gutters situation.

Step 2. Checking all the spikes that are supposed to go through the gutter, through the fascia board and into the rafter behind it. At most homes, these spikes miss the rafters completely, usually because the spike has just worked its way out of the hole over the years.

Step 3. Looking at are the sources of any leaks, including holes in the gutters and cracked caulking in the seams. This includes using an old chisel to scrape the old caulking out and dry the area thoroughly. Then, it follows by using new bead silicon sealing to keep water from getting down behind the gutters and rotting the boards.

Step 4. Checking out the rivets on the downspout. Regularly, they’ll be loose or will have dropped out completely; and all that is needed is a rivet gun to secure them again.

In doing the work, it’s a good idea to invest in new gutter spikes so the gutters are securely fastened once again. In addition to that, if the gutters are rusting means they are very old. So in this sense, it is advisable to change it to aluminum and vinyl gutters and this material don’t rust.

So to maintain the gutter, it is important to think how often the gutters need to be cleaned. The answer is based on how often leaves in the area fall and the types of leaves. It should be a to-do list about every four months, depending on the tree climate on the surrounding areas.

Another thing that is also vital is the gutter maintenance, is checking the gutter regularly. The recommended time having gutters maintained in the spring and fall. In addition to that, have a professional clean the downspouts as well. The reason is that a clogged downspout makes it hard for the rain to go down and that causes them to back up and overflow the gutter, which can cause damage to the house.