Category: roof repair

In a few months, Queensland’s severe weather season begins. From October to April, heat, hail, wind, rain and thunderstorms will put your roof to the test. This fact makes now a good time for roof maintenance and repair. Even if your roof only has some minor issues such as a missing tile or a missing screw on a tin roof, by the time the severe weather arrives, the results could be disastrous.

Before the worst of Queensland’s weather arrives next spring, get to know how the different types of weather can affect your roof. This will help you to prepare and make any necessary repairs or adjustments.

Heat

From spring onward, Queensland will gradually become hotter. This heat and UV light can damage a roof in several ways.

Cracked and brittle tiles

Tiles have a protective layer of mineral granules that keep UV light from damaging them. But when older tiles lose their granule layer, UV light can cause them to dry out and become brittle. Cracked and brittle tiles won’t protect your home from rain and wind.

Expansion and contraction of roofing materials

Thermal expansion occurs when temperatures change quickly from hot to cold. Thermal expansion causes roofing materials like wooden trusses, metal, plastic and even concrete to expand and contract. This can crack and buckle a roof, whether that roof is tile or metal.

Condensation, mould and wood rot

High humidity can trap condensation within your roof cavity. This is especially true if your roof has poor ventilation. Poor ventilation sometimes occurs due to holes in the roofing material. Trapped condensation leads to mould and wood rot, which can steadily damage your roof.

Rain

Rain can do a lot of damage if a roof has any unnoticed chinks in its armour.

Leaks

Just one tiny hole or crack in your roof can lead to a roof leak. A roof leak might occur because of loose flashing, a cracked tile or enlarged fastener holes.

Blocked gutters

If you don’t clean debris out of your gutters, blockages can occur during rainfall. Blocked gutters cause pooling on roofs during rainfall. And if water pools on your roof, the weight could damage your roof and cause a leak.

Hail

Queensland’s severe thunderstorms sometimes bring golf ball–sized hailstones with them. Hailstones can do severe damage to a roof.

Cracks and granule loss

Hailstones can crack tiles. Hailstones can also lead to the loss of the granule layer that protects tiles from the sun.

Dents

Even metal roofs aren’t safe from hailstones. Hailstones can dent metal roofs. Those dents then trap water, which can lead to rusting and eventually, leaks.

Wind

Wind is most damaging when a roof is in a state of disrepair.

Dislodged tiles

Severe winds can easily move a tile that has cracked due to UV rays. And just one moved tile can cause the neighbouring tiles to move away too, leaving your roof exposed to the elements.

Loose or dislodged guttering

If your gutters are old and loose, strong winds may rip them away from your roof. Wind can even bend gutters and downspouts, which increases the risk of blockages.

Damage from nearby tree limbs

Nearby trees are dangerous to your roof in windy weather. Tree branches can do a lot of damage to a roof, damage that will expose your roof to every type of weather. Avoid this by keeping nearby trees trimmed.

Although severe weather can strike without warning, if your roof is in excellent condition, you need not worry. A well-maintained roof will hold off all types of severe weather for many years.

If you wish to prepare your roof for the spring and summer weather, call Homestyle Roof Painters today. With our professional assistance, your roof will be ready for whatever the severe weather season throws at it. We can repair or restore your roof—whatever is necessary to ensure your roof is in excellent condition.

Your home’s roof is the first line of defence against harsh weather and harmful elements. Besides enhancing the appeal of your home, a good roof can significantly increase the property’s value. If your property has a worn-out roof, you could be in a dilemma over whether to restore or replace the roof. 

Roof restoration returns the roof to its original condition without replacing it. It involves replacing damaged tiles, repairing leaks, flashing, gutter installation, and repainting the roof. Typically, a roof restoration is cheaper than replacing the roof. See five compelling reasons why you should consider roof restoration work. 

1. Roof restoration saves you money on energy

There is a close relationship between a damaged roof and your home’s energy expenditure. A leaking roof lets cold or warm air into the house, thus reducing the efficiency of your heating, venting and air-conditioning systems. On the other hand, a leaking gutter will wet the walls. In this case, it will take longer to warm the house. Besides, leaks cause humid conditions that damage the insulation. Roof restoration works are a sure way to improve the energy efficiency of your house and reduce your energy bills. 

2. Roof restoration improves the safety of your home

A damaged or old roof could potentially make your home unsafe. What starts as minor damage on the roof could turn into a roofing catastrophe if you do not undertake restoration when necessary. For instance, a weak roof could be more susceptible to getting blown off in a storm, leaving you, your loved ones, and your property exposed to the elements. Restoring your roof is a sure way to curb this hazard. 

A leaking roof can invite termites to your attic. Once this happens, the pests may begin to eat wooden fixtures such as trusses. In the long run, the roof weakens and could collapse, which could endanger anyone living in your home. 

3. Roof restoration increases the value of your house

The appearance and aesthetics of your house can significantly affect its market value. A good roof can make the house appealing to potential buyers. Therefore, you are more likely to sell the house within a short period and for top dollar. 

Before purchasing property, buyers conduct a pre-purchase inspection to determine the condition of the house. The roof is an area of concern since a worn-out roof could affect the house’s structural integrity. A well-kept roof will increase your negotiating power when selling the property. Besides, it will ease the selling process since you do not have to deal with expensive renovations as you try to close the deal.

4. Roof restoration is easier than roof replacement

Replacing your roof could be an expensive and inconvenient affair. You may have to move out of your home as you replace the roof. If you opt to change the original type or design of the roof, you will have to replace the trusses and other support structures to ensure the house can support the additional weight. You can avoid these hassles if you opt for roof restoration. 

5. Roof restoration preserves your warranty

Your roof begins to degrade when exposed to weather such as wind, rainwater, and hailstones. As a result, the durability of your roof decreases over time. Regular roof restoration helps you fix structural damages that can hurt the durability of your roof. If your roof has a warranty, the manufacturer may stipulate that you conduct restoration and repair works to keep the roof in excellent condition. Otherwise, the warranty may become void. 

Roof restoration work is a long-term strategy to keep your home appealing and valuable. Unlike other home improvement projects, roof restoration should be left to the experts. At Homestyle Roof Painters, we make your roof restoration simple courtesy of our top-notch workmanship. Contact us today and let us give you the best service that will leave you satisfied.

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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Colourbond tin and concrete tile roofs are extremely durable. They are also well suited to the unique challenges from the warm Australian climate. For instance, tin and tile roofs can withstand fire, severe weather and pests with few problems. However, despite their durability, they can spring a leak if you don’t maintain them or at least monitor them regularly.

Has your Colourbond tin or concrete tile roof started to leak? Then one of the following four problems could be to blame.

1. One or More Tiles Are Broken

Both concrete and clay tiles have long lifespans, with concrete tiles lasting about 50 years and clay tiles lasting at least 100 years. However, just one broken tile can compromise an entire roof. For instance, instead of rainwater hitting the tiles and draining into the gutters, it will gush past the broken tile and onto the sarking or felt.

Tile breakages can occur due to debris falling onto your roof during storms or because someone didn’t take care while walking on your roof. Generally, asphalt-based sarking is waterproof and so guides rainwater into your gutters during severe storms. However, constant exposure to rainwater causes the underlay to rot and eventually crack. This is when leaks happen.

In this instance, you should replace the broken tile(s). However, ensure that you examine the sarking for water damage before you do so.

2. Screws Are Missing or Perished On Tin Roofs

Roofing screws are responsible for the majority of leaks on metal roofs. Metal roofing screws seal water out by compressing a rubber washer at the base of the screw head. When the screw is driven into the metal roofing panel the rubber washer forms a ‘gasket’ between the roofing panel and the screw head. It sounds simple enough but several things can go wrong like under driving screws, over driving screws, driving screws at the wrong angle and screws that missed the framing member.

Even if the screws were installed correctly with the right amount of torque it doesn’t mean that the rubber washer is safe. Hot summers are unkind to the rubber washers. They degrade and lose their seal and it can be very difficult to distinguish which screw is leaking and which is not.

3. The Sarking Is Compromised

Your roof’s sarking probably won’t last as long as Colourbond tin or concrete tiles will. This is especially true in areas of Australia, such as Sydney and Brisbane, which sometimes experience severe rain and hailstorms from early spring to summer. Over time, the sarking will deteriorate until it can no longer keep rainwater out.

Unfortunately, the water will then soak into your roof. Unless you hire a company to repair or replace your roof’s sarking as soon as possible, the damage could extend to your ceilings and walls.

4. The Valleys or Gutters Are Blocked

The combination of trees and wind is a roof’s worst enemy with water damage. For instance, during windy days, leaves and twigs from nearby trees may end up clogging the valleys or gutters of your roof. Add rain to this equation, and you have a high risk of a leak occurring somewhere on your roof.

On an unobstructed roof, rainwater runs down the valleys and into your gutters and poses little threat to your roof. However, if debris clogs those valleys, rainwater will have nowhere to go and so will pool on your roof until it finds another outlet. Unfortunately, even a minute gap in your roof flashing or sarking, something that would not normally be an issue, could cause a leak.

The same applies to your gutters. If leaves and twigs clog your gutters, pooling rainwater could end up soaking into your roof and causing a leak. If tree debris has blocked your roof’s valleys and gutters, hire a roofing company to clear them and carry out any necessary repairs or additions before the next storm hits.

5. The Weather Has Been Especially Severe

Even the most well-designed roofs can suffer in severe storms. This usually happens because strong winds force rainwater under your roof’s tiles and onto the sarking. If a powerful storm rages for hours and forces rainwater to saturate your roof’s sarking, eventually that water may find its way into your roof’s sarking.

In this case, repairs might not be necessary. However, a roofing company can make some changes or additions to your roof’s flashing or sarking to ensure that severe storms don’t cause leaks in future.

Has your roof sprung a leak recently? Then act quickly if you want to minimize the damage to your home’s structure, while ensuring that moisture problems don’t harm the health of your home’s occupants.