Algae on roofs can be a very annoying. It’s not as if you walk on the roof daily, to rid of the pesky organisms. Algae can appear on all types of roofs, with it usually appearing due to high levels of humidity.

Algae isn’t actually harmful to roof materials as they don’t develop roots, but of course they’re not visually appealing so would need removing. Green algae is much easier to remove compared to black algae, but the job isn’t impossible. Using non-toxic oxygen bleach is perfect to help get rid of algae. Be careful not to use chlorine bleach as it can cause a load of problems to your roof (depending on material).

Skylights have become very popular things to have in homes these days. Skylights are popular openings that can be added to the roof of a building and then used to let in plenty of light.

These are simple products that a company that specialises in such products can easily install onto any home or commercial property. There are some rather good reasons why people should take a look at what’s around with this product.

They Allow Natural Light

Traditional lights tend to be rather tough for some to handle. They often go into just one direction. In most cases the lights that are left in through traditional windows will be a challenge.

The lights that come in through the window will be rather ideal. This is a fine setup that is rather easy to use and will feature a fine design that lets light into the middle of a room among other spots. This type of opening can help to allow the light to come in as needed and may work well in spots where light cannot seem to get into a space well enough. Read more →

If you’re confident enough in fixing minor roof leaks without the help of a professional, then have a look at this post as we aim to advise you on how to fix shingles.

Before you start working on your roof, make sure you choose a day where it’s dry as it’s much safer. When checking for damage on the roof, look at the roofing above the leak.

If you find a damaged/curled shingle, then you will have to straighten it out. When reattaching the shingles, make sure to use a good amount of asphalt roof cement. If you find that the shingle lifts off the roof easily or crumbles, then it needs to be replaced.

Rooflights may be defined as translucent or clear structures designed to be used on low or flat pitched roofs, in order to allow the natural light into a building while also maintaining the integrity-of the building-envelope. A wide variety of roof light systems are available in the market place, offering a wide-range of characteristics suiting different building types.

Types of roof light available

There are many designs available today. They can be categorised under their materials-of manufacture:

Glass offers the rooflight-specifier a great wide range of different options in regards to performance, aesthetics and function. Glass is usually preferred for domestic, commercial & retail applications, where the aesthetics, high performance & long working-life are major considerations. Glass manufacturers develop products which satisfy some of the most demanding-requirements, from all types of sophisticated active-solar control, to self cleaning properties & high impact-resistance. Glass has great fire properties, great impact performance, high light transmission & provides a mark against which optical clarity-of all the other glazing-media is commonly compared. It’s widely acknowledged-as having a really long life expectancy without discolouration from U-V degradation, & the laminated versions offer good levels of reduction in UV-transmittance. Glass can be curved to be used in barrel vault-rooflights & supplied with coatings, interlayers & surface treatments so as to provide textured or coloured surfaces in order to achieve diffused or obscure glazing, solar-control & total U.V protection to the areas that are beneath the glazing.

Modern thermoplastics such as Polycarbonate, have been well developed to give excellent performance in roof-lighting-applications. Polycarbonate is a versatile-material used extensively as roof light-glazing. It has 3 sheet forms: Solid, flat, cold-bent or formed, Profiled and Multi-wall.

The main properties of polycarbonate include; exceptional impact resistance, a high level of light transmission, a good workability and a good fire rating. They are all commonly available in tinted and clear options, with the clear & most tints providing direct-light, while the clear patterned & opal tint providing diffused-light & give a soft quality-to the light. Coextruded UV-protection eliminates about 99% of UV-radiation, thus protecting materials & people beneath. Each of these forms also has its’ very own particular characteristics & properties.

Solid polycarbonate provides good optical clarity & superb workability. It may be cold-curved on site & is suitable for-use with a number of glazing-bar systems. Polycarbonate rooflights can be formed into 3D-shapes, making it an ideal choice for pyramids, domes and barrel vaults.

Profiled polycarbonate will match profiled roof-cladding & will allow the sky to be seen easily through the corrugated material. This feature is quite popular with most designers. It also has a good profile accuracy & is available in growing profile range. Both extrusion & vacuum forming techniques enable a wide variety of profiles be produced.

Multiwall polycarbonate is basically an insulating glazing-material. Thicker sheets which have more walls obtain the highest thermal-performance, typically 1.6-W/m-2K for a 25-mm 5 wall sheet. The structured polycarbonate is usually used in many domestic & various commercial conservatories. Just like the solid polycarbonate, it can be cold-curved on site, though to a lesser degree. It’s also used in numerous glazing bar systems, & has a really high strength-to-weight ratio which makes it ideal for creation-of glazing features..

A continuation of our past a few days back;

Before you start paining a tiled roof, you need to make sure they’re in condition. So for example, ridge capping may need to be fixed and re-pointed before they are painted.

If you’re planning on using an airless spray gun to paint the roof, then check the weather and make sure it’s not windy. Also if the forecast predicts hot weather, then get up there early and complete the job.

If you’re painting on cement-tiled or shingle roofs then use a water-based roofing paint. If you’re painting on iron roofs, then an oil-based paint is best suited.

Last tip: When painting the roof, paint in a way which means you’re able to get back down from the roof without having to walk over your work!