Construction Space: Let’s Talk About Building And Contractors

Posted on: 30 April 2019

If you have just had a metal roof fitted by a roofer, you might find the following advice to be useful.

Remove bird droppings regularly during bouts of dry weather

It is an unfortunate fact of life that most roofs will occasionally end up covered in bird droppings. This is more likely to occur if your home is located in a rural area or is surrounded by lots of trees.

This is an issue that you can safely ignore during times of the year when it rains fairly regularly, as these droppings will be rinsed away by the rainfall. However, during periods of dry weather, when there is no rain to handle this task for you, it is important to remove bird droppings from your roof as soon as you spot them.

The reason for this is as follows; the droppings that birds produce are very acidic. As such, if they are left on a metal roof for a long period of time, they could potentially cause it to corrode.

This corrosion could lead to the metal roofing materials thinning out to the point where holes form. If this happens, you will then have to get these holes sealed up by a roofer, which could be time-consuming and may be quite expensive (if the holes in question are very large).

You can remove the droppings using your garden hose or a pressure washer. If there are stubborn, dried-on droppings, do not be tempted to climb up to the roof and scrub them off with an abrasive cloth, as this could damage the protective paint that shields your metal roof from the elements. Instead, simply use a slightly higher pressure setting on your hose or pressure washer.

Get your roof's panels inspected by a roofer after any incidents that could have damaged this structure

Metal roofs are very robust and will usually remain standing long after those made from other materials have deteriorated.

However, it is possible for them to sustain damage if, for example, they are repeatedly hit by large hailstones during a hailstorm, exposed to very dramatic fluctuations in temperature, or infested by certain types of pest. (Possums, for example, can leave behind large scratches on a metal roof if they gain access to it).

If or when this happens, it is essential to have the roof inspected by a roofer. The reason for this is as follows; the scratches, roof panel distortion and dents caused by the aforementioned issues may not be visible when you stand on the ground outside your home.

This type of damage is only likely to be spotted by a metal roofing professional with a trained eye and the type of access equipment that enables them to get a close look at the roofing materials.

As such, if you don't get the roof checked out by a roofer after these types of incidents, the damage caused by them may remain unnoticed until it worsens to the point where it causes irreparable damage to this structure.

For example, scratches inflicted on the roof by possums may remove the protective epoxy coating and, therefore, allow moisture to drip onto the metal and cause it to corrode and crumble.