subject: Roof Coating, is there any benefit? [print this page] Roof Coating, is there any benefit? Roof Coating, is there any benefit?
Up until 3 years ago, unless you lived in one of the more hotter climates around the world, roof painting would not even have registered on your radar, the simple reason for this is that the colder temperature countries did not really need it.
The climates gained from roof coating for the simple reason the coating material contained properties that actually reflected the suns rays, thus lowering the amount of time the air conditioner had to be at work, which reduced the running costs eg electric.
The more cooler parts of the globe are now taking advantage of the current advances in the roof coating materials manufacture, this has now developed to a point where, once the existing roof algae etc has been expunged and an anti fungal wash has been applied a thermo roof coating can be applied, this in effect has the adverse action to the hotter cities roof coating and keeps the heat from escaping from the loft space within the house.
What is the worth other than a slight reduction in your fuel bills?
To be perfectly fair and square with you the reduction in your fuel bills is insignificant, not something that you would say "ok, pack your bags, we've saved some money on the heating this month, we're going on a trip", not at all, however with regard to the condition to your roof, the fact that you no longer have algae etc. it makes this beneficial, especially if you are trying to sell the property.
Another issue is that a very weathered roof tile is a lot more porous than normal, this means that it retains more water than ever, more water in turns means more damp, more damp means more lichen.
Lichen, if you did not already know is like a sponge for water and in the harsh winters it freezes, when water laden algae freezes it expands and because it is deep in the pores of your roof tiles it bascially breaks down your roof tiles, this is what causes chipped or cracked tiles and in some cases it breaks them completely, it is not a rogue fire work or a rather heavy crow that landed upon your roof.
Coming back to the appearance of your residence, yes it is a massive contributing factor as to whether or not people will want to purchase it, for example, 2 carbon copy houses on the same street, both similar price with the exact same features apart from one has had the roof tiles cleaned and coated, which one now has the better chance of selling, the reason I bring up this is because roof coating if carried out professionally has the same appearance as having a new roof.
These are the following steps to making sure you get the right work for the right price.
First of all Yahoo or use one of the other search engines "roof coating" this should be in your local area, get a varied amount of of quotes, you should be able to do this over the telephone, do not get caught in the trap of "we need to come and see the property", all you have to do is give them an approx square yard measurement and explain to them that it is an approx quote that you want at the moment and you will not hold them to it (within reason).
Once you have the quotes (forget those that would not commit over the phone) you must take a low, a medium and a high figure, this is the point that you invite them round.
This is where it gets interesting, you see there are a number of tactics out there to get your business:
1) Start high and discount, for example: starting price 4,800 (salesman talking) "if you are interested I'm sure if you allowed me to call my sales manager I think we could drop it in price, your house is in a good position and if we could have an advertising board outside for a week or 2 we would probably get some interest.
You would probably get as much as 30% off of the price, which in your eyes is a good deal, wrong! No company in their right mind would discount something by 30% just by making a phone call or putting a board outside. (ask these people to leave, even with the discount they are offering it is still way above what it should be.
2) Ask them for references ie. the names and addresses of people they have already completed the work on, do not be fobbed off with just an address, some companies take credit for other peoples work.
3) Ask them if they will be doing the work themselves, sometimes all you get is a sales company who will farm out the work to other companies, these companies will take around 50% of the price of the job just for passing it on to others.
Once you have all the information you are well informed to make a decision as to who to go with, whoever you choose you should never have to pay more that 25.00 per square metre.
