Is your roof dragging the appearance of you house down? According to real estate professionals, good curb appeal can add as much as 10% to the value of the home. A clean roof will certainly look better, but there are also very practical reasons for keeping it clean.
Dirt absorbs moisture so a dirty roof can quickly become a damp environment where moss and lichen thrive. When moss and lichen builds up, it can interrupt the proper drainage of rainwater. The problem is worse on a tiled roof than on a metal roof because tiles have a rougher surface which makes it easier for spores to take hold. When growth is left unabated this can lead to cracking and weakening of the roof tiles themselves. On a metal roof, moss and lichen can still develop, particularly in shaded areas, and eventually this can speed the process of corrosion. Damage can lead to further maintenance issues, leaks, structural problems, and loss of energy efficiency inside the home.
If you are you tempted to hire a high pressure sprayer and tackle the job yourself, be very cautious. Not only could you put your safety at risk, but you could cause damage your roof if the pressure is too high. If the pressure is too low, it’s not enough to remove mould and other material that clings to the roof. Even at optimal water pressure, it’s a slow process.
Rite Price Roofing has the equipment and the expertise to do the job without any risk to your personal safety. The impact on your pocket will be far better than the potential impact of a fall from a slippery, wet roof!
While we are all for DIY and responsible home maintenance, we strongly urge home owners to leave the specialized and dangerous jobs such as roof cleaning to us! Unfortunately, we hear too many stories about people injured due to a fall. You could be left with chronic pain and large medical bills. Our roofing experts are trained in roof safety and the required safety equipment.
A clean roof is a Rite Price Roof.
Rite Price Roofing is a one stop shop for all your roofing needs. We pride ourselves on being the best in the business, employing industry experts that have over 25 years of experience with all aspects of roofing, carports, verandahs, patios and guttering.
Established by Andrew and Alison Knowles, Rite Price Roofing is an Adelaide based division of the well-established Rite Price Heating and Cooling Group which has a long and proud history of providing great customer service and satisfaction to our many South Australian customers.
When you choose Rite Price Roofing, you are choosing a fantastic South Australian success story. You can rest assured you are buying from a local family business and supporting our local industry.
Other roofing services include roof repairs, roof restoration and roof replacement to both tiled and metal roofs. We also carry out gutter cleaning, gutter repairs, gutter guard fitting and full gutter replacement.
A roof clean should not be done by halves.
Some homeowners want to have only one side of their roof cleaned, where the dirt and mould is most visible. While it is true that the side of the house that gets the most shade moisture and shade may be most affected, you still need to clean the whole roof. The reason for this is that air born lichen lands all over your roof; you just don’t see the effect of the hungry and destructive spores on all sides of the roof as they breed in the most favourable conditions.
If only one side of the roof is treated, the unseen spores living on the other side of the roof will quickly migrate to the cleaned side and the cycle will start all over again. This will end up costing you more money in the long run by having to prematurely clean the roof again. The cost of treating the entire roof is not much more than treating only half of the roof. The reason for this is that part of the cost is the time to travel to and from the job site and the time to set up and clean up. It does not take that much additional time to treat the other side of the roof.
Roof treatments that surpass clean.
Where mould has a really strong foothold, you may need a mould killing solution to be applied to the roof before cleaning.
At Rite Price we partner with another South Australian company, Acryloc, to deliver superior treatments and coatings. Acryloc have been making and selling water based coatings for almost 25 years and are as committed to providing superior customer service and value for money as we are.
We are big fans of their Mould Rid product, a food-grade biocide, which kills residual moss and lichen spores and inhibits re-growth. After cleaning your roof, Rite Price can follow up with a coat of anti-mould spray that will prevent mould from forming in the future, and keep your roof looking good longer.
We can repair your tiled roof, fixing broken terracotta or concrete tiles, removing mould, chips and cracks and restoring it to its former glory. We can also give your metal roof a facelift, pressure cleaning it with water jets to ensure a smooth, sleek finish and great street appeal. We can replace a tired, old roof and help you with all your guttering needs to ensure they are in tip top condition all year around and able to cope with the ravages of our South Australian climate.
We also are the experts when it comes to carports, patios and verandahs and look forward to helping you with all your design and construction requirements.
Roofs get dirty, this is due to a number of factors, the obvious factors are dirt and dust circulating in the air and pollution. Some of the not-so-obvious factors that contribute to roofs getting dirty are fallout from jumbo jets (ask anyone who lives under a flight path how much more often they have to wash their cars), and the most common is mould and lichen growth.
What most often appears to be dirt on a roof is, in fact, largely mould and lichen growth. This is especially the case with tiled roofs. Both concrete tiles, and terra-cotta tiles are a haven for the growth of unsightly mould. This is because, compared with a metal roof, they have a rougher surface.
Concrete and terra-cotta tiles have many pits and little craters on their surface where fungus spores get a foothold, and then grow. This is not to suggest that metal roofs don’t attract mould growth. They can, particularly shaded sections of a metal roof are also likely to be covered with at least some fungus.
The Solution
Depending on the type of roof you have, and its age, it may be okay to have your roof cleaned. Roof cleaning services could involve simply a high pressure water blast or where fungus spores have a really strong foothold, you may need a mould killing solution to be applied to the roof beforehand.
