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How To Clean Roof Lights

If you have existing roof lights or perhaps you’re about to have them installed, it’s important to know just how to have them cleaned, even if you wouldn’t be doing it yourself. Generally, glass roof lights fitted in flat roof applications are more likely to be a major victim of staining and discolouration by several elements like rainwater, bird droppings, vehicle exhaust pollutants as well as tree sap. Therefore, just like any other parts of your home, periodic inspection of the units as well as regular cleaning is highly advised to help maintain their top performance for a lengthy period of time.

Firstly, when installing the roof lights, it’ll be helpful if its fitted at the right pitch so as to help keep the exterior clean as it enables the elements such as rainwater to run off the surface naturally. Cleaning roof lights involves working at height which can be very dangerous. Therefore, if you lack the skill and confidence to pull this off, it’s advisable to hire the services of a professional who can guarantee the best results for help. In this article, we aim to give you a good insight into how the roof light cleaning process works. Let’s have a look!

Rooflight Interior Cleaning

✓ Spread plastic under the roof light to catch dirt and spills

✓ Dust to wipe clear all loose dirt and cobwebs.

✓ Use a squeegee with a warm soapy water or any other glass cleaning product to clean the glass ( steer clear of any harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaners)

✓ Dry the roof light with a soft and lint-free cloth.

Rooflight Exterior Cleaning

✓ Access the roof safely with a specialist ladder

✓ Put mild detergent into a bucket and carry up to the roof before filling with warm water from a hosepipe

✓ Use the soapy water and a non-abrasive cloth or squeegee to clean the roof light, its surroundings as well as fixings.

It depends on the material you use, but if your flat roof is installed correctly it should last for at least 10 years, and at least 20 if a material other than felt is used. Always question a roofing company when they quote to find out what materials they use and what guarantee's they offer.

How Often Do Flat Roofs Need Replacing?

When a flat roof needs to be replaced is determined by a number of factors which includes the roof’s exposure to the weather, the condition and age of the roofing materials as well as the construction of the roof. However, with proper maintenance and regular inspection, they should be used for nothing less than 50 years. There are some commonly used types of flat roofs which includes Felt flat roof as well as a GRP flat roof.

Felt Flat Roof

The lifespan of a felt flat roof also varies depending on the quality and grade of the felt roof incorporated. This can make the roof last within the range of 2 to 20 years. More often than not, felt flat roofs are usually installed in such a way to keep the costs down which implies the grades of felts that are mostly used are the economical ones implying a very short lifespan.

In the event whereby a premium grade of felt is incorporated in constructing a roof by professional contractors, will be guaranteed by the manufacturer to last between 10 to 20 years.

One of the major causes of a short lifespan in felts is leaks which should be regularly inspected and repaired once identified. If not, the roof will gradually deteriorate and become a lot weaker due to the action of the sun. However, when a felt roof starts to leak, it’s usually a sign that’s approaching the end of its lifespan and a replacement should be taken into account.

GRP Flat Roof

The GRP flat roof or fibreglass flat roof usually comes with a manufacturer’s guarantee of 20 years and is expected to have a lifespan of a minimum of an additional 10 years.

Unlike felt roofs, they’re more resistant to leaks. However, they should also be regularly inspected for leaks which are caused mostly as a result of installation error rather than the GRP roofing approaching the end of its useful life. If the GRP roof repair does not totally resolve the leak, you should start considering a replacement.

It can be a huge headache, but cleaning of gutters is a task that needs to be done and even more so when it’s a stained white gutter. Nobody want to do it, but everybody has to. If you happen to lack the required confidence to pull this off as it has to do with working at heights, then we’d strongly recommend that you get in touch with a reliable professional who can guarantee the best results for help and also save you some time and money from potential costly errors. In this post, we’re going to show you some of effective way in which you can tackle stained white gutters effectively.

Firstly, you’ll have to take out the ladder with a pair of rubber gloves. Simply position the ladder safely, climb up the roof and start removing the leaves and other debris clogging up the gutters. You can also make use of a garden trowel to remove the very thick debris. Once done, spray the gutter using a garden hose to flush out the dirt as this will make the stains visible. Then prior to cleaning, ensure to cover the plants or landscape underneath with tarp or plastic sheet since the cleaning solution may negatively impact the vegetation.

Start to clean by spraying an all-purpose cleaner on the stains and srub them off using a scrub brush. You can also try a mixture of 1/4 of water with 1 cup of bleach and 1 teaspoon of dish soap. Dip your scrub brush in this solution to scrub off the stains. The bleach mixture is guaranteed to eliminate any mold or mildew that growing on your gutters with ease.

Strong winds can cause extensive damage to unprotected rooftops and in fact tiles act as very suitable protection. The extra weight they provide is great at countering high wind loads and if anything is damaged during severe weather, replacing tiles is straight forward for professional roofers.When you compare this to lightweight materials there’s a significant difference. If you wish to have extra protection, experts recommended having sarking fitted.

As long as you can access them safely, it’s fairly easy to clean soffits and fascias. Using a sponge and warm water to scrub them is a good way to get off most types of dirt. You might want to add detergent or bleach to the water to make it more effective.

Once you’ve scrubbed your soffits and fascias, rinse them with clean water to make sure you’ve got all of the dirt and detergent off.

The task of installing a tile roof can be quite a difficult one. Such a project takes a great deal of preparation, well before the actual tile installation is done. It does not matter if you are putting new ones or replacing your old tiles, understanding the proper technique and steps become crucial.

Remove old roofing (if applicable).

This is, on its own, a major job that can take days and require special tools. It takes some time, but be prepared to do it right.

Install battens (if applicable).

Battens may be needed to hold the tiles in place if the roof is having a steep slope. Usually made of metal or wood, battens are generally 1 inch thick and run horizontally along the roof.

You can find several varieties of tiles that has a hook or a lip allowing it to hang on the available battens. Apart from this, you can find several clips in the market which help to attach the tiles on to the batten.

Determining the spacing for battens can be done easily using two tiles. To prevent interlocking, a three inch overlap is required at the minimum, and a smaller amount of overhang should be left over the eaves. Keep this in mind when you determine the locations of the battens.

After you have determined the distance between the first two battens, measure the distance and set battens using that spacing up, making sure to double-check measurements as you go along.

• Install the tiles.

• You will need to begin with one side first, and then continue to move along the length of the roof.

• Cut tiles to fit tight spots.

• Tiles have to be cut precisely to overcome any obstacle like the chimney.

• Install the ridge tiles.

After completing the broad surfaces of the roof, special ridge tiles are required to cap the top.