Things to do prior to Installing solar roof panels

Before You Install Solar PanelsIf you are intending to setup solar roof panels there is a multitude of things that you need to consider.

Do you get enough Sun?

This is the simplest and yet most often overlooked question. You need to fully assess whether your homes roof gets enough sun so that you know your purchase of solar roof panels will be worthwhile. As well as assessing if you get enough sun you need to identify what part of your roof gets the most sun during the different times and seasons of the year. Identify where the best areas will be and talk to a professional roofer such as the guys from Roof Restoration South Adelaide to see if it is possible to fit solar panels to the parts of your roof that have the greatest amount of sun.

What condition is my roof in?

Think of your homes roof in terms of the length of time it’s likely to last, too. You are likely to be looking into brand new solar panels along with their warranties. Well, the last thing you want is to install those panels then must do a lot of roof work many years later. Understandably, it could be easier for you to get the roof work done first. Ensure that roof of yours is still in good enough before you even consider installing panels. Cary out any major repairs prior to installation and see a roofing professional to get an inspection of your roof.

Is there any chance of my panels getting damaged?

One of the things that can happen to solar panels is that they can be damaged by strong winds, hail storms or even falling branches. When considering where and how to install your panels you should look at what direction the strongest winds and storms come from for your location as well as potentially remove any large overhanging branches.

How do I install my solar panels?

This is an entirely personal preference and has many variables. Some of the things to consider when choosing between a professional company or a DIY project is what type of solar panels that you have and what type of access you have to your roof. Some panels are simply too large or have a complex installation procedure for you to do the installation yourself.

If you have a steep pitch roof or a double story roof it is highly recommended that you engage a professional company to do the installation for you.

Common Slate Roofing Installation Mistakes

I love slate roofs but it is one thing that people can screwup on. Slate roof installation or renovation isn’t your average DIY job. You need to have the right skills, knowledge and tools to do it properly, in order to make sure the roof is going to be durable and waterproof. Here are the four most common mistakes people do when installing or renovating their roofing.

1. Poor Flashing Installation

Flashing needs replacements more frequently than the roof itself. In order to reach it, you need to remove the individual slate tiles, install the new flashing, and put the tiles back in their right positions. When the slate isn’t properly installed, it may lead to broken slate tiles. The consequence will be a leaking roof.

2. Cracked Slate Tiles

Some slate tiles and more vulnerable than others. Eventually, they are all prone to breaking. This is why you have to avoid walking on your slate roof during installation or maintenance and repair works.
A damage to a slate roof may not be obvious right off the bat, but will cause a lot of hassle a few years later, when your roof is going to suffer water damage.
Prevent such situations by using scaffolding and hook ladders to get to the roof.
If walking on the roof is a must, the professional slate tradesperson will know the correct way to do it without affecting the slates.

3. Motley Or Stained Roof Colour

Your slate roof tiles may have slight differences in colour from one pallet to the other, even though, in theory, they should be similar. This happens quite often in case of low quality suppliers.
Homeowners who lack experience can’t notice such issues. On the contrary, a slate roof specialist will know how to blend the tiles in a way that’s esthetically appealing even when such colour differences exist.
There are some slate types that develop rust-like stains over time. This is something you should discuss with your slate roofing specialist before buying them.
It would be a shame to have to replace your roof at some point in time only because you don’t like its colour anymore.

4. Wrong Headlap Positioning

Headlap is a technical term describing how the head of the slate tile is overlapped by the adjacent courses of slate tiles.
When the headlap is correct, water can’t enter your house. The standard headlap is three inches, but this value may vary with the roof pitch and the

specific climate conditions in your area. This is why you need help from a professional slate tradesperson in order to avoid water damage and leaking roofing.

This is a slate roof done properly by Gerard at slateroofingsydney.com.au

Roof Restorations in Geelong

Roof Restoration Geelong At Home in the CoveThis blog post is not really related to my renovations and my super duper investment property. But it sort of is. This article is about the guys from Roof Restoration Geelong and how to provide a proper professional service.

Firstly, yes, another plug for a local business (maybe I should have my site themed around local business reviews), but I feel that small local business have it tough (I know, I used to own one and now have another) and need as much help as they can. So if someone in Geelong reads this article and finds it appropriate to give the guys a call at Roof Restoration Geelong, then my goal has been kicked.

Having just had my roof restored, I’m also somewhat of an authority on roof restorations and related work (hahaha just kidding – I’m no authority at all).

I honestly think that the roof is one of the most important component to a building. When you think about it, yeah I know – whoever thinks about roofs right, but going back in history, the one component of any habitable place or structure was a roof. For example, a cave, a hut, a gazebo, etc., etc. So there’s no need to build a case about how important a roof is, but when I think about things I need to do around the house, roof maintenance never comes to mind. That’s just me. And my mates – we never talk “roofs” while we’re having a beer. I guess roofers and their mates do.

So my point is sometimes your roof is worth thinking about and some maintenance is in order. Like anything, and this is the crazy part, a roof neglected and left not looked after for years and years will result in a hefty project at some point. And with hefty projects comes hefty price tags.

A Geelong local roofing company called Roof Restoration Geelong pointed out some of these tips and more whilst on a job at my mate’s place, funnily enough, in Geelong. I recently caught up with my mate for a few beers and his experience with this company came up in conversation (hahaha turns out we do need to talk more about roofs when having a beer with mates!) and he had nothing for praise for them. Being a small business, I then asked my mate to send me an email with some of the finer details so I could chuck up a blog post about them. Little did I know he would send me an essay, but I’ll condense it here for the benefit of the casual reader.

My mate has a decent size house in Geelong so consequently the roof is quite large. As with most buildings in Geelong, the place is getting a bit aged and the roof especially is dated. The roof is a tiled roof and the there are some broken/cracked tiles, along with some ridge capping that needs re-doing but it’s mostly the look of the roof my mate wasn’t happy about.

In come Roof Restoration Geelong and Simon. First thing he did was took time to listen to the concerns my mate had and take notes (very unusual I know). He seemed intent on knowing exactly what the issues were that my mate thought and what other things he would like addressed. Following the discussion, Simon was up on the roof in a flash and checking out things that I’m sure are best left for the professionals.

Following the inspection was another discussion about findings. Thankfully for my mate it wasn’t going to be too bad for him. A day or two later and he received an email with a quote attached. Easy as!

The rest is history. The quote was accepted, and the job done as planned and exactly to the quote. No hidden surprises and the guys finished off by cleaning everything up behind them.

Shout out to a very professional outfit, thank you Roof Restoration Geelong. Other roofing services that they provide include;

  • Gutter repairs, replacements and installations
  • Roof repairs
  • New roofs and roof replacements
  • Roof cleaning
  • Roof painting
  • Roof restorations.

Roof Restoration Newcastle

Roof RestorationJust a quick recap on my last (and first/introductory) post; I had bought this yew bewt investment property with some faults that I was totally confident in being able to repair and renovate myself, saving heaps of bucks and in the end once rented out this place would give a decent return.

Not so. First issues were that I couldn’t decide on where to begin repairing and renovating. However, once I got passed my indecision and procrastination, I started looking at the roof. Figuring that the roof is probably one of the most important parts of a building, it made sense to get that sorted first. I was faced with broken tiles, dislodged tiles, dirty and moss ridden tiles – and it just totally looked terrible.

So I grab the ladder, get up on the roof and conquer my fear of heights. Once on the roof I was okay. The height was the least of my problems. I was facing what looked to me like a roof hit by a meteorite, an atom bomb, and a teenage boy with a hatred against roofs.

Yep, as always, things were worse than they first appeared. My first thought was that this roof could not be water tight so I climbed back down the ladder to go inside and check ceilings and walls for water damage. How did I not notice this when I initially inspected the house – yep, water has been pooling on the ceiling, there’s water marks throughout and then my heart sank. Water damage in the roof. Nothing worse. Perhaps time to call in the professionals.

So as you do in these situations, I’ve turned to a mate and asked him if he knew of any decent roofing companies. Straight up, he recommended Roof Restoration Newcastle.

Not ever heard of them before but if it’s a mate’s recommendation you’ve got to run with that.

I called them up, and wow. The owner, Dave Beach, answered the phone and was both sympathetic and professional in his advice. Not once did I get the feeling he was trying to take me for a ride, he never tried to tell me that my problems are going to warrant a re-roof and potentially a rebuild of the whole house as some of these guys try to get you into.

So booked an inspection with Dave, and yet again, blown away as he turned up as expected, on time – another rarity for tradies. Dave took no time to get up on the roof, carried out his analysis and then he got inside the roof to further check out what was happening.

During this time I start getting a bit nervous, particularly because he is taking so long. The longer he takes the more problems I have right? Nah… I learnt that this is just him being very thorough and working on providing me the most accurate report he can. Given that I might not even engage his company, this is an impressive gesture.

After the inspection, he spent time with me discussing his findings. And I wasn’t too surprised. Apart from technical issues that I would never have known about, he didn’t present too much to me that I wasn’t aware of. So, hey, in my mind this guy’s a winner – he’s not trying to sell me a new roof, house and block of land to go with it.

So after his report and quote, which I was quite happy with, I did some research into his company. His website, aptly named Roof Restoration Newcastle, provides useful information about the services Dave provides, and the areas they cover.

Just in case you need some roof work, here’s a list of their services and you’ll find a link to their website somewhere in this post;

  • roof restorations
  • roof cleaning and roof painting
  • roof repairs
  • roof replacements
  • new roofs and re-roofs
  • gutter installations
  • gutter replacements.

They also will carry work out on all types of roofs including metal roofs, tiled roofs, and colorbond roofs.

Areas serviced include Newcastle, Port Macquarie, and the Hunter Valley.

After being suitably impressed by the professionalism and price, I decided to engage Dave Beach and his team from Roof Restoration Newcastle to carry out the necessary repairs to my roof. Dave assured me his work would be guaranteed and also backed by a 10 year limited warranty.

A short period later and they were into it. Now I can’t explain the details of the work they did, mostly because I don’t know as clearly I’m no roofing expert, however the inspection of the work completed that Dave took me through was more than impressive.

The guys got the work done in an impressive amount of time, which obviously helps me because that’s one more thing off my list of projects that need to be done to my new found investment. Equally impressive was the lack of “hidden surprises” – the bill came to the amount which was quoted. And what’s more, the guys even cleaned up after themselves.

So all in all, I was highly impressed with my mates recommendation and the professionalism of this company.

First step into fixing my poor investment home has been a success, thanks for the help from Dave Beach and his team.

For those interested and/or needing some roof work done, here’s the link to their website – Roof Restoration Newcastle.

G.