Just had a call from a travelling salesman regarding cleaning my roof and
"proofing" it. Is this a scam or something worth doing? My roof is
approximately 17 years old with thick concrete tiles, but there is a lot of
moss etc.

clueless2 wrote:

Just had a call from a travelling salesman regarding cleaning my roof and
"proofing" it. Is this a scam or something worth doing? My roof is
approximately 17 years old with thick concrete tiles, but there is a lot of
moss etc.

A few folks round here have gone for said treatment. If you are a fan of
stone cladding then it might be for you ;-)

Can't speak for your particular saleman, but it is not usually a scam as
such, they seem to do what they claim (with regard cleaning anyway...
the "proofing" aspect may be more questionable unless he was talking
about sale proofing!).

The end result is a very bright roof painted a colour that may or may
not be similar to how it looked when the place was built. It looses all
its patina and weathering, and looks out of place I think. Especially
bad when done to just half of a semi. Also reveals all the tiles that
have been replaced with ones of the wrong colour that had just finally
managed to blend in ;-)

If in doubt, wait a few weeks, there is sure to be someone willing to
have a punt so you can see the result.



--
Cheers,

John.

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It was somewhere outside Barstow when "clueless2" no.spam wrote:

Just had a call from a travelling salesman regarding cleaning my roof and
"proofing" it. Is this a scam or something worth doing?

That depends on you, your attitude towards Lego, and whether you ever
wanted to live in a house that looked like it was made from it.

Of all the ways that roofs fail, having the tiles themselves start to
crumble isn't the biggest risk around.

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
It was somewhere outside Barstow when "clueless2" no.spam wrote:

Just had a call from a travelling salesman regarding cleaning my roof and
"proofing" it. Is this a scam or something worth doing?

That depends on you, your attitude towards Lego, and whether you ever
wanted to live in a house that looked like it was made from it.

Of all the ways that roofs fail, having the tiles themselves start to
crumble isn't the biggest risk around.

I recently declined several suggestions that I re-roofed my 150 year old
Victorian terraced with concrete tiles on new rafters for vast amounts of
dosh.

One told me that it would affect the saleability of my house if I didn't
cure the sagging.

The sagging is gentle and even and only on the south facing half of the
centre valley roof. Judging by the behaviour of the 4x2s I've just used for
the upstairs ceilings, new timbers might well settle into the same profile
before too long ....

I invested my money in loads of lovely new leadwork :-)

clueless2 wrote:
Just had a call from a travelling salesman regarding cleaning my roof
and
"proofing" it. Is this a scam or something worth doing? My roof is
approximately 17 years old with thick concrete tiles, but there is a
lot of
moss etc.

What problem are you trying to solve? I cant think of any reason to do
it myself. Can you?

NT

clueless2 laid this down on his screen :
Just had a call from a travelling salesman regarding cleaning my roof and
"proofing" it. Is this a scam or something worth doing? My roof is
approximately 17 years old with thick concrete tiles, but there is a lot of
moss etc.

Moss adds character and softens the lines, I have never heard of it
actually doing any harm. Is the roof porous, does it actually need any
'proofing'?

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.org

Moss adds character and softens the lines, I have never heard of it
actually doing any harm. Is the roof porous, does it actually need any
'proofing'?

Moss falls down and clogs my gutters. Death to it.

Hi

They claim that moss & algae 'damages' your roof - not sure how. The
idea is that they pressure wash your roof to remove all the crud and
then treat it with a sealer. The sealer stops the surface of the tiles
crumbling apparently.

Most of the companies doing this seem to be ex double glazing or other
spurious home improvement companies.

Alledgedly in improves the value of your house?

Not convinced!

Dave

In message ,
clueless2 writes
Just had a call from a travelling salesman regarding cleaning my roof and
"proofing" it. Is this a scam or something worth doing? My roof is
approximately 17 years old with thick concrete tiles, but there is a lot of
moss etc.

I bet he suddenly discovers that you have some missing tiles and your
guttering needs replacing

.... and he just happens to have a friend that can do these things

--
geoff

"Magician" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi

They claim that moss & algae 'damages' your roof - not sure how. The
idea is that they pressure wash your roof to remove all the crud and
then treat it with a sealer. The sealer stops the surface of the tiles
crumbling apparently.

Most of the companies doing this seem to be ex double glazing or other
spurious home improvement companies.

Alledgedly in improves the value of your house?

Not convinced!

Dave

MOSS GROWING ON ROOF

The reason moss grows on a roof. There are numerous reason. Concrete
tiles, Hand made clay tiles and Low pitch slopes. The main reason is debris
trapped in between the joints of the roof covering.
Concrete Tiles combined with a low pitch slope under 30 degs. After about 15
to twenty years the cement starts to disintegrate releasing the sand and
gravel which fills the side over locking and with the leaf and other debris
is a good composted for moss to grow. If you don't believe me and you have
concrete tiles on your roof, how many times have you clean the gravel out of
the gutter. Another problem with concrete tiles is effluent, this can be
identified by white streaks running down the fascia board back of the
rainwater guttering.

HAND MADE TILES
Roof pitch doesn't matter here, but the surrounding area does, like trees
and compass position. Most hand made tiles are not identical in shape, some
are rounder and some have a slight twist and some have curved sides, so they
don't lay flat or fit tight together like machine made tiles. Hand made
soak up quite a lot of water and again is an ideal propagation for moss.

There are moss killers for treating lawns, but think about it before you go
spraying chemicals on a roof. It all runs into the rainwater guttering and
straight into the water course system. Copper wire is another idea, lay
stands a copper over the roof , this also kills moss..

To eradicate the problem short term you can scrap all the moss off and lift
every tile and clean all the loose debris from in between the joints. Jet
washing can be used but not 100% cure. If you do jet wash don't point the
jet up the roof or you will flood the roof space out and probably lift the
tiles.
Coating is not recommended, if you don't fill in all the slightest of holes
water gets in and cant run away gradually works its way into the roof under
the tiles and you have a leak and it will take some rectifying. The only
100% cure is to change the tiles for new.

Algae doesn't grow on roofs. Lichen does and this is part of an ageing
process, usually caused by bird dropping, notably around chimneys with TV
aerials and on the verge end ridge.


Keith, Slater & Tiler 50 years plus

"rrh" wrote in message
...
Moss adds character and softens the lines, I have never heard of it
actually doing any harm. Is the roof porous, does it actually need any
'proofing'?

Moss falls down and clogs my gutters. Death to it.

"Magician" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi

They claim that moss & algae 'damages' your roof - not sure how. The
idea is that they pressure wash your roof to remove all the crud and
then treat it with a sealer. The sealer stops the surface of the tiles
crumbling apparently.

Most of the companies doing this seem to be ex double glazing or other
spurious home improvement companies.

Alledgedly in improves the value of your house?

Not convinced!

Dave

MOSS GROWING ON ROOF

The reason moss grows on a roof. There are numerous reason. Concrete
tiles, Hand made clay tiles and Low pitch slopes. The main reason is debris
trapped in between the joints of the roof covering.
Concrete Tiles combined with a low pitch slope under 30 degs. After about 15
to twenty years the cement starts to disintegrate releasing the sand and
gravel which fills the side over locking and with the leaf and other debris
is a good composted for moss to grow. If you don't believe me and you have
concrete tiles on your roof, how many times have you clean the gravel out of
the gutter. Another problem with concrete tiles is effluent, this can be
identified by white streaks running down the fascia board back of the
rainwater guttering.

HAND MADE TILES
Roof pitch doesn't matter here, but the surrounding area does, like trees
and compass position. Most hand made tiles are not identical in shape, some
are rounder and some have a slight twist and some have curved sides, so they
don't lay flat or fit tight together like machine made tiles. Hand made
soak up quite a lot of water and again is an ideal propagation for moss.

There are moss killers for treating lawns, but think about it before you go
spraying chemicals on a roof. It all runs into the rainwater guttering and
straight into the water course system. Copper wire is another idea, lay
stands a copper over the roof , this also kills moss..

To eradicate the problem short term you can scrap all the moss off and lift
every tile and clean all the loose debris from in between the joints. Jet
washing can be used but not 100% cure. If you do jet wash don't point the
jet up the roof or you will flood the roof space out and probably lift the
tiles.
Coating is not recommended, if you don't fill in all the slightest of holes
water gets in and cant run away gradually works its way into the roof under
the tiles and you have a leak and it will take some rectifying. The only
100% cure is to change the tiles for new.

Algae doesn't grow on roofs. Lichen does and this is part of an ageing
process, usually caused by bird dropping, notably around chimneys with TV
aerials and on the verge end ridge.


Keith, Slater & Tiler 50 years plus