Category: Blog

Many homeowners don’t have their roof cleaned regularly. A clean roof doesn’t just look good cosmetically. It also helps you maintain your home more effectively. Cleaning your roof at certain times is beneficial. When is this a good idea?

1. You can’t see your roofing materials

General dust and dirt on a roof don’t pose much of a problem. They might not look good aesthetically, but they aren’t usually a permanent problem. Rain often washes things like light dust, dirt and fallen leaves off your roof periodically, giving you an automatic clean.

However, you shouldn’t ignore anything that settles on your roof more permanently. Growths such as moss, mould and lichen are a potential problem. Engrained dirt that doesn’t wash away after even heavy rainfall is there to stay unless you do something about it.

Any growth or engrained dirt on a roof can damage tiles and other roofing materials. They can trap and hold moisture on the surface. If your materials aren’t sound, then the damage could spread to your internal timbers or cause leaks.

If you can’t see your roofing materials because something has covered them, then you can’t know how sound they are. You could have problems under the surface coatings. Plus, these coatings will also shorten the lifespan of your roof.

Now is a good time to have the roof cleaned. You can check on its condition and fix any problems to restore it to a more robust state.

2. You’re moving

If you’re moving out of your home, then the condition of your roof matters. If your roof is dirty, covered in moss, or showing stripes of black mould, then it isn’t a selling point.

You lose some cosmetic curb appeal, and people who are interested in buying your home might be put off by the state of the roof. They might worry that it has underlying problems that they’ll have to pay for after they move in.

If you have your roof cleaned, then in the best case scenario, it makes the property look more attractive. If you do discover any problems, you can fix them or warn buyers about them. The more people know about a property, the more confident they are about making an offer.

Bear in mind, that a clean is also a good idea if you’re moving to a property with a dirty or overgrown roof. You’ll spruce up your new home and find out if the roof has any problems you should deal with.

3. You suspect you have a problem

If your roof is clean, then you can spot problems more easily. You get a clear view of cracks in tiles, missing tiles and broken flashing.

Early signs of damage aren’t easy to see if your roof is dirty or has a lot of growth on it. However, you might get other hints that all is not well.

For example, say your gutters are clogging up or overflowing more regularly than usual. If you have a mossy roof, then pieces of moss might be falling into them and causing blockages.

Or, if a tile has lifted under the moss, you might not be able to see that it is out of line. The tile might be pushing too much water into one area of your guttering rather than guiding it down the roof more evenly. You might also start to see stains on internal ceilings if the tile lets water in.

If you have your roof cleaned, then you can identify early problems and fix them. To find out more, contact Homestyle Roof Painters. As well as roof cleaning, we also offer a full range of roof painting, repair and restoration services.

With the hot and wet summer weather of the east coast of Australia approaching, your roof and gutters are about to face some new challenges. Gutters may not be as expansive as a roof, but their importance cannot be understated. Clean gutters keep a roof dry and free of dirt, pests and blockages. Are your gutters ready for the coming summer weather?

Here are seven reasons to have a professional clean your gutters this coming summer.

1. Heavy rain

During the summer, the east coast experiences heavy rainfall, with some often-spectacular storms. If your gutters are clogged, they could overflow, leading to multiple costly problems for your roof and home. A gutter cleaning will ensure that your gutters don’t remain cluttered after heavy storms, which will save you money and increase the lifespan of your gutters.

2. Roof deterioration

Metal roofs and asphalt shingle roofs alike will degrade if water pools on your roof due to blockages. During heavy rainfall, if water pools on your roof, the weight of the water alone could cause your roof to collapse. And even if your roof is currently strong enough to withstand the weight of pooling water, the materials holding your roof together will eventually degrade, leading to costly leaks.

3. Damaged siding

Blocked or faulty gutters won’t be able to contain large amounts of water. This can lead to costly damage if rainwater spills over the edge of your gutters and soaks into your home’s siding. The windows, doors and walls of your home could eventually begin to rot if rainwater soaks into them every time it rains.

4. Foundation issues

Gutters should channel rainwater away from your home during storms and heavy rain. But if your gutters are so blocked that they can’t contain incoming rainfall adequately, rainwater will seep into your home’s foundation. This is bad news because heavy rainfall can disrupt the soil under a foundation, leading to settling.

If the soil settles under your foundation, this could cause cracks in your walls and cause your windows and doors to warp.

5. Ruined landscaping

Spring is a good time to work on your landscaping. But your plants will suffer if rainwater spills onto them during heavy rainfall. If the ground becomes sodden around your landscaping, your plants will eventually die and all your hard work and investment will go to waste.

6. Grass and tree sprouts

Birds are responsible for dropping seeds wherever they go. Their droppings may also contain grass seeds. And nearby trees could drop seeds into your gutters. Spring and summer is growth time, and this means that all those seeds built up in your gutters could begin to sprout, blocking your gutters and attracting pests. Not only does this look scruffy, but your gutters will also leak during rainfall.

7. Feeding and breeding pests

If plants like grass and young trees clog your gutters during summer, they could very quickly become breeding grounds. Mosquitoes breed in standing water, and other insect pests like wasps and termites may take advantage of the biological soup growing in your gutters. If you don’t remove blockages from your gutters, they could soon attract all manner of pests to your home.

Birds and rodents too tend to feed and nest in clogged gutters. And if these pests damage your roof in the process, they could soon invade your home and leave you with an expensive repair bill.

Are your gutters ready for the rainy weather of the coming summer in Brisbane, Caboolture or the Sunshine Coast? With the help of Homestyle Roof Painters, you can ensure that the aforementioned problems don’t affect your gutters and home this summer. Call us today and we’ll ensure that your gutters are clean and ready for the summer rain. 

For most homeowners, spotting roof damage is difficult. In fact, roof damage often doesn’t reveal itself until the time is too late to prevent it from becoming a problem. A common issue is that you can’t always detect roof damage from outside your home. But while your roof might look okay from the outside, you won’t know for sure until you’ve checked for interior signs of roof damage.

If you suspect that your roof might have damage, check for the following seven interior signs of damage.

1. Light penetration into your roof space

Although this is an obvious sign of roof damage, you might not notice this unless you go up into your attic or roof space and turn off all the lights. If you see light passing through the roof, the underlay or the flashing is compromised. No matter how small a hole appears to be, that hole will still allow in a considerable amount of moisture on a rainy day.

2. Blistered or peeling paint

Once rainwater enters a property, it has to flow somewhere. Rainwater will flow down roof beams and into insulation, then onto ceilings and down into wall spaces. Over time, as the rainy days add up and begin to take their toll, the paint on your walls will begin to bubble and peel away. Conditions inside your wall space will become humid too, and this will further exacerbate the problem.

3. Mould and mildew

Inevitably, as conditions inside your home become favourable, mould and mildew can take root. Mildew is similar to mould—with one main difference. Unlike mould, which can penetrate whichever surface it inhabits, mildew usually remains as a flat, white to grey patch on a surface where moisture is present.

Mould is similar to mildew, but it is more harmful to your home in terms of the damage it can do to the structure. This is because mould can spread across and within a material such as wood or paper, breaking that material down as it spreads. If your roof leaks into a wall space, it could create the ideal conditions for mould to thrive.

4. Discoloured ceiling

Another obvious sign of a damaged roof is ceiling discolouration. Water leaks through a damaged roof and penetrates the insulation before leaking onto the ceiling. This then causes gradual discolouration to occur. If the ceiling of an upper room is discoloured, a hole in your roof could be to blame. That hole will begin to affect your insulation too.

5. Higher energy bills

In a properly insulated home, the energy bills will remain stable. But if your energy bills take a sudden leap, then your insulation could have failed. Sometimes, this is due to roof leaks. If a hole in your roof allows water to leak in during rainy days, it will damage your insulation material, which helps to keep your home cool. And cool air will escape your home through the roof.

As a result, your air conditioners will need to work harder to cool your home, thus leading to higher energy bills.

6. Electrical shorts

If your home has begun to experience unexplained electrical shorts, a roof leak could be to blame. When rainwater leaks through a roof, it usually heads downwards, and this route can take it past electrical wiring and into and around light fixtures and electrical equipment. This is dangerous to you and your household and requires urgent attention.

7. Rotting beams

Yet another risk to your health and an indication of a damaged roof is rotting beams in your roof space or attic. If one or more beams are rotting, this means that your roof probably suffered damage quite a while back. You need the help of a roofer to repair the damage and prevent your roof from collapsing in future.

Have you found one or more of the above signs within your home recently? Then you need a reliable and experienced roofer to carry out repairs. Call Homestyle Roof Painters today, and we’ll find and repair damaged areas of your roof quickly and efficiently.

A clean roof is a long-lasting roof. Keep your roof clean and free of debris throughout all seasons, and you can trust that it will repay your diligence tenfold. You can repaint and restore your roof. But if you don’t clean it often in between those times, you’ll end up losing time and money that could be better saved with regular cleaning.

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Are you thinking of painting, or repainting, your roof? Then you have a number of factors to consider before choosing a colour. Since your roof accounts for much of what people see when they look at your home, appearance is probably your number one priority.

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