Cleaning the tiles on a roof

[dellzeqq]

I've got tiles on my roof (which is, to be fair, 74 years old) that are starting to crumble. My next door neighbour but two had his tiles removed, and the roof re-tiled. The design life of concrete tiles is (last I looked) 60 years.

It is a question of degree. You're much better off just leaving them be, and hoping they last you out. They probably will.

 

[dellzeqq]

oh - and Rogue Traders told us that there was no such thing as rising damp. Which is great, because I can forget about dpc's....

 

[Speicher]

Thank you for all your comments.

The tiles IIRC are clay. Because the "cleaned" tiles are now a very differnt colour to the houses next door, I assumed that the cleaning process had removed a layer of clay, not just dirt.

Yes, Dellzegg. This house was built in approx 1970, and I am now the wrong side of fifty, er um .... makes note to budget for re-roofing in 2030. Extrapolates for global warming, more rain, less birds.

 

[dellzeqq]

Exactly. My beloved will probably be around until about 2030, and, if I thought the tiles were going to give way before then I'd have them changed. I don't.

You can spray your roof with yoghourt to encourage lichen. That adds a nice touch.

 

[colly]

Exactly.

You can spray your roof with yoghourt to encourage lichen. That adds a nice touch.

That will be £1000 to you mate, cash only, used notes, 'no what I mean ???

 

[mr_cellophane]

I have concrete "tiles". When i had an extension built, the builder said the the new tiles were identical to the existing ones, but would take a number of years to weather-in before they matched. No suggestion from him to "clean" the exising ones to match the new ones.

 

[dellzeqq]

some slates are a lot better than others. Welsh slates 12mm thick will last you out, and then some. There are others that should be considered temporary......and there are some slates that are produced by what is getting on for slave labour. I hope none of you have Chinese slate floor tiles in your kitchen..........

 

[Speicher]

Maggot, I think that is the case with the lady three doors up. I have contacted Trading Standards. I did wonder why the salesman was so keen to grab his leaflet off me when he realised I would not be a customer.

Normally in the surrounding houses, if someone needs work done, they would ask for recommendations from others. This usually works well.

 

[Over The Hill]

Lots of people seem to like useless jobs on their house. I have seen cleaned roof tiles (but prefer old ones with moss on). Also if you look around you see one house that has been re-pointed and the one next door that has not and is perfectly OK.

I have had builders knocking on my door offeing to re point my house that is 140 years old. They poke at the mortar and some comes out (as it does) and they try to make out that the old stuff is in a bad state when it is how it always has been. I guess they catch some people with more money than sense or the old or vulnerable.
I ask them to come back in 50 years when it should be showing some wear.

I am not sure if it is a con if they are actually quoting for a job and then doing it. I think it is hard enough to get people to have a genuine job or service done so cant see how they get many takers for made up jobs.

 

[Piemaster]

This was the subject of a TV program awhile back (Rogue Traders? - a sting type operation anyway). After attacking the roof to remove the deposits, the mess in the loft was unbelievable. The cowboys had pressure washed upwards, under the tiles, blasting through the underfelt and covering the interior of the loft with water and whatever was on the roof.
As posted above the expert said the tiles don't need any cleaning, but for cosmetic purposes a sweep with a broom would be sufficient.

 

[goo_mason]

This was the subject of a TV program awhile back (Rogue Traders? - a sting type operation anyway). After attacking the roof to remove the deposits, the mess in the loft was unbelievable. The cowboys had pressure washed upwards, under the tiles, blasting through the underfelt and covering the interior of the loft with water and whatever was on the roof.
As posted above the expert said the tiles don't need any cleaning, but for cosmetic purposes a sweep with a broom would be sufficient.

Me and my memory - that's where I saw it, NOT Watchdog....

 

[dellzeqq]

at the risk of being completely boring (Cycle Chatters nationwide fall in to deep coma as Dellzeqq warms to his favourite subject) one of the dumbest things you can do is to jetwash clayware drains. Even uPVC drains can't stand up to jetwashing at full strength. What starts as a blockage, perfectly capable of being cleared by hickory rods, becomes a drain with a roughened up interior which catches every other piece of pooh. Cue jetwash addiction. Local Authorities are really good at this one - they have jetwash contractors who are paid by the call-out. Why use the thing at half pressure when a quick burst at machine gun intensity will get the job done and give you a job for life?

You can all wake up now. Sorry.

 

[Arch]

You are way at odds with the expert on BBC's Rogue Traders. This was a bogus selling line by one of the rogue traders they investigated. The RT expert categorically said that tiles do not absorb moisture and consequently freezing temperatures are of no concern whether or not the tiles are covered in moss, algae or (ahem), droppings.

Er, I saw that show, As I remember it, the expert said that tiles (as with brick and concrete) DO absorb water, but it doesn't matter, because it's not so much as to matter.

I seem to remember they said that the franchise and the cleaning process weren't inherently bad, but that some franchisees were using misleading and high pressure sales tactics - claiming people would need new roofs if it wasn't done.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Thanks Arch. My memory cell is due its annual service. In retrospect I remember him saying that the small amount of water absorbed was insufficient to cause problems with freezing water. Ye gods, if it did cause problems, the government would tax replacement roofs at 50% and be guranteed pots of dough for repairing roa.........I mean squandering on more useless databases.

 

[longers]

You can spray your roof with yoghourt to encourage lichen. That adds a nice touch.

If it's not too windy at the weekend I'll be on my mums roof doing that.