The roof is the most integral component of a home. The roof obviously protects the home from all the elements of nature.
If you have an existing home and you would like to know what to look for in need of repair or you have recently purchased or about to purchase a new or existing home.
What homeowners need to know about the roof of their home they have purchased or are about to purchase.
Well, by law there has to be a building report by a licensed building reporter, however roof problems are not always picked up on these reports. So needless to say the new homeowner needs to have an understanding of what problems may occur to the roof of homes. If it is not raining at the time of inspection some problems may not be evident.
We should start with the guttering – with the movement of a home, with expansion and contraction and the weight of the roof covering – especially for roof tiles at about 10-15 ton on average. Over time there will be slumps over windows etc, this may cause overflows into the eaves and the home so the guttering may need to be removed and realigned or replaced depending on the condition and correct fall to the downpipes should be achieved.
The best way to see whether guttering should be realigned to fall to downpipes is to stand back about 10-15 metres looking at the guttering and it will be easy to see whether the guttering is falling to or away from the downpipes. You may need to realign or replace the guttering.
Another thing to look for if the home is less than 20 years old, look at each corner of the guttering where the angles are to see if any or all leak. It is quite easy to see a leaking join – you will see a mossy water stain, it is quite evident looking at the joins from underneath.
The reason I say this, in the last 20 years it has been the norm for most roofing companies to use pressed angles, which only allow up to 15mil cover between angle and gutter. To me this is not enough to make a good join and these angles are notorious for leaking.
What homeowners should look for with tiled roofs – it is generally easy to see from the ground that the ridgecapping is laminating and may need rebed and pointing, however you may need to look on the roof to better see if the ridgecapping and or gable ends need to be rebed and pointed and for any flashings that may need repair. The cost for replacement of broken tiles and rebed and pointing is usually around $3,000. You could ask to see if you could get this amount off the purchase price or ask for this work to be done before you purchase.
With a corrugated metal roof if it is colorbond you will generally find it has been screw fixed but if it is an older home it may be nail fixed as nails loosen during high winds over time, in this case you would need to remove the nails and replace with screws, for the metal roof to be wind proof in extreme conditions.
The other thing to look at with a metal roof is protusion and perimeter flashings, these things need to be checked before purchase as the cost of remediation may be expensive.
Flashings on both tile and metal roofing can be expensive to repair after the fact – you don’t want to get a surprise the first time it rains after you have purchased a new or existing home.
If the roof has more problems than this say if the roof tiles have become porous and are leaking or the metal roof has rusted areas that leak you may need a huge repair or you may need a new roof.
Whatever you need make sure your quotations are from reputable roofing companies that come highly recommended.
The roof is the most integral component of a home. The roof obviously protects the home from all the elements of nature.
If you have an existing home and you would like to know what to look for in need of repair or you have recently purchased or about to purchase a new or existing home.
What homeowners need to know about the roof of their home they have purchased or are about to purchase.
Well, by law there has to be a building report by a licensed building reporter, however roof problems are not always picked up on these reports. So needless to say the new homeowner needs to have an understanding of what problems may occur to the roof of homes. If it is not raining at the time of inspection some problems may not be evident.
We should start with the guttering – with the movement of a home, with expansion and contraction and the weight of the roof covering – especially for roof tiles at about 10-15 ton on average. Over time there will be slumps over windows etc, this may cause overflows into the eaves and the home so the guttering may need to be removed and realigned or replaced depending on the condition and correct fall to the downpipes should be achieved.
The best way to see whether guttering should be realigned to fall to downpipes is to stand back about 10-15 metres looking at the guttering and it will be easy to see whether the guttering is falling to or away from the downpipes. You may need to realign or replace the guttering.
Another thing to look for if the home is less than 20 years old, look at each corner of the guttering where the angles are to see if any or all leak. It is quite easy to see a leaking join – you will see a mossy water stain, it is quite evident looking at the joins from underneath.
The reason I say this, in the last 20 years it has been the norm for most roofing companies to use pressed angles, which only allow up to 15mil cover between angle and gutter. To me this is not enough to make a good join and these angles are notorious for leaking.
What homeowners should look for with tiled roofs – it is generally easy to see from the ground that the ridgecapping is laminating and may need rebed and pointing, however you may need to look on the roof to better see if the ridgecapping and or gable ends need to be rebed and pointed and for any flashings that may need repair. The cost for replacement of broken tiles and rebed and pointing is usually around $3,000. You could ask to see if you could get this amount off the purchase price or ask for this work to be done before you purchase.
With a corrugated metal roof if it is colorbond you will generally find it has been screw fixed but if it is an older home it may be nail fixed as nails loosen during high winds over time, in this case you would need to remove the nails and replace with screws, for the metal roof to be wind proof in extreme conditions.
The other thing to look at with a metal roof is protusion and perimeter flashings, these things need to be checked before purchase as the cost of remediation may be expensive.
Flashings on both tile and metal roofing can be expensive to repair after the fact – you don’t want to get a surprise the first time it rains after you have purchased a new or existing home.
If the roof has more problems than this say if the roof tiles have become porous and are leaking or the metal roof has rusted areas that leak you may need a huge repair or you may need a new roof.
Whatever you need make sure your quotations are from reputable roofing companies that come highly recommended.