Roof maintenance and roof repair

Tips on roof maintenance and roof repair

When it rains outside you’d like to be dry and warm inside your home. Having a well maintained roof, without leaks, will help you achieve this :-). Below a few tips on how to maintain your tiled roof.

 

Cracked roof tiles

One of the most common causes of a leaky roof is a faulty tile. Old roof tiles may have small cracks in them which are only visible when you look at them closely.  You might have a few spare tiles lying around and replace the tiles yourself, but if you lack the time or working on a roof is not your thing, don’t hesitate to give us a call. Banks Building can source and replace tiles on your roof. 

 

Roofing cement or mortar

Roofing cement or mortar is the material which holds the tiles which sit on the top edges of your roof (the ridge and hip) securely in their place. With our windy climate it is important that the roofing mortar is well maintained; you don’t want tiles blown off the roof during a good storm. The mortar sits on the most exposed part of a tiled roof, and therefor it is subjected to the worst of our weather. You should regularly check the roofing cement or mortar for cracks and leaks.

Small cracks in the mortar are fairly easy to repair, using mortar. This process is called re-mortar and repointing tiles. Not only will your roof look much better, the repair will also make your tile roof more secure and watertight. The cement can be coloured to match the colour of your tiles. There is a great product called Flexipoint, a trowelable, custom coloured, permanently flexible adhesive which is suitable for this job. However, since the repair involves climbing around on your roof you might want to leave this one to the professionals. If the mortar is too far gone, the roof mortar should be completely removed, re-bedded and repaired. 

 

Roof maintenance

A damaged roof not only affects the look of your property, but can cause major problems further down the track. The damage from water leaks or rot caused by leaks, can end up costing thousands of dollars in the future. Banks Building can look after all your roof repair and maintenance needs: 

• repair or replace broken & damaged tiles; 
• re-mortar & repoint hips & ridge tiles; 
• repaint your roof

Be careful when you climb into your roof space to check tiles. 

Cheers, Andre

Help, my roof is leaking!

Help, my roof is leaking!

On average Auckland receives 1240mm of rain each year and Auckland weather can turn from brilliant sunshine to showers within minutes. Inside your home you’d like to stay warm and dry, but what do you do if you suddenly find that your house is leaking? The torrential rainfall of the last few days brought in a flood of calls about leaky roofs and windows. 

A leaking house can be quite a frightening thing. The main problem with water leaks is that you rarely know of the damage until it’s too late and timber has started to rot. So, what can you do if you find that you have a leaky roof? Well, the first thing to do is to get as many buckets and bowls as possible to catch the falling water. It’s likely that there more water than you can see, and the occasional small drop might well turn into a huge puddle. 

The second thing to do is to try and get in touch with someone who can help you fix the leak problem. You might want to call Banks Building Maintenance. Try to get water leaks repaired as soon as problems become apparent. This will help prevent further damage, and help minimise additional repair costs as a result.

It is important that the source of any leak is identified and dealt with. This may take several attempts, even when you have an expert from Banks BuildingMaintenance look at it, as it is not always immediately clear where the source of the leak is located. Water travels in funny ways, and a small damp area of carpet on one side of the room might initially be the only visible sign of what later turns out to be a major problem in another part of the house.

If the leak is an isolated loose flashing, a small leak in the roof, or a broken gutter, then this can easily be fixed.  However, if the leak is due to an issue that is repeated around the house, such as a lack of window flashings, or is caused by lack of regular roof maintenance, storm damage or general wear and tear then the problem is likely to be much wider. If the problem has been happening over some time we might need to remove and replace all the timber and other materials affected by mould and rot. 

When you are looking at getting a roofing company to price your roof repair or roof restauration, please make sure you get references and testimonials. The same of course goes for any other leak repairs. And make sure that one of your quotes comes from us here at Banks Building Maintenance :)

Cheers, Andre