Roof Cleaning

Posted on by Tim Carter

DEAR TIM: Roof cleaning needs to be done at my home. I have a newer asphalt shingle roof, but parts of it are getting covered with moss, lichens and algae. It is really distressing, as it makes my house look like it is being neglected. Is a pressure washer a great tool for cleaning roof shingles? Will it remove all of this growth? A neighbor told me a pressure washer will ruin my shingles. Are there other cleaning alternatives? Once the roof is clean, how do I prevent the stuff from coming back? Tom B., Whittier, NC

DEAR TOM: Welcome to the world of organic chemistry. I'll bet the north, northwest and possibly west-facing sections of your roof are the ones that look bad, while the remaining parts of the roof look like new. What's more, my guess is the parts of your roof that are the worst get shade from some large trees. I know this, because I have the exact same problem as you do. Parts of my roof look like the Amazon rain forest.

Wind broadcasts spores, they can drop from trees and birds can deliver them to a roof surface. The abundant water you get from periodic rainfall fuels the growth of the moss, lichens and algae. Since the north, northwest and west sections of your roof stay in the shade during the early part of each day, the dew that develops on the roof at night does not evaporate quickly. This morning  moisture quenches the thirst of the mini-vegetable garden up on your roof. The other sections of your roof dry too quickly and the moss, lichens and algae die of thirst.

Discover how Tim pressure washed his roof. Discover how Tim pressure washed his roof.

 

You can use a pressure washer to clean moss, lichens and algae from asphalt shingle roofs. But, you must be careful! PHOTO CREDIT: Brent Walker

You can use a pressure washer to clean moss, lichens and algae from asphalt shingle roofs. But, you must be careful! PHOTO CREDIT: Brent Walker

 

I have also heard urban legends about pressure washers causing permanent damage to asphalt roof shingles. I know for a fact that pressure washers can damage concrete, so it would seem likely they might harm shingles.

BEGIN AUTHOR UPDATE - November 2015:

This column was written in 2007. At that time all of the asphalt shingle companies and the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association said to NOT use a pressure washer to clean roofs. They still tell you NOT TO USE A PRESSURE WASHER as it can and will VOID the warranty.

The primary reason, in my opinion, is because they knew the shingles currently being made were not as good as the shingles I used on my home when it was built in 1986.

Secondly, I'm convinced they realize that not all homeowners and contractors would do the job correctly. They'd use the wrong tip on the pressure washer, hold the wand too close and or use too much pressure.

There's NO DOUBT that you can damage an asphalt shingle with a pressure washer, but the photos and VIDEO footage on this page is clear proof that you can use the tool to clean asphalt shingles that are MADE CORRECTLY so the ceramic granules are well adhered to the fiberglass mat.

I'm currently collecting data from hundreds / thousands of homeowners who are suffering PREMATURE shingle failure. I was one of them.

CLICK HERE if your home is suffering from premature shingle failure to take my survey.

Soon I'll be issuing a full report of my findings. You'll be stunned to discover the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association is refusing to cooperate with my investigation.

Tim Carter - Founder - AsktheBuilder.com

END AUTHOR UPDATE # # #

But since I know how to quickly and easily replace one or more roof shingles, I decided to do a test of my own.

What's more, I felt my roof would be a good one to test since it is now twenty-years old, and at the end of its useful life. If I damaged my roof, then no harm no foul as I'd be installing a new one.

I also decided to test some new shingles to see if the pressure washer blasted away many or all of the colored granules.

The roof-shingle-cleaning test started with a gasoline-powered pressure washer that develops 2,500 pounds per square inch of pressure while delivering 2.4 gallons of water per minute. I equipped the pressure washer spray wand with a 25-degree tip. This tip is used for general-purpose cleaning.

The results of the test were astonishing. I was able to remove all of the moss, lichens, algae and twenty years of dirt with the pressure washer.

No damage was done to the asphalt shingles whatsoever.

I started with the spray wand tip about twelve inches from the surface of the shingles and aimed the wand down the roof. I didn't get any noticeable cleaning results at this distance. But once I slowly lowered the wand to within 6 inches of the shingles, the organic growth started to disappear.

My suggestion to you is to carefully clean just one shingle and stop working. Inspect the shingle for damage.

Walk to another part of your roof where the shingles look great to see if the clean shingle looks just like the freshly-cleaned shingle. Rest assured you will readily spot damage. If you see small or large patches of solid black or fiberglass mesh, you are ruining your roof.

You can use a regular garden hose and a scrub brush to clean your roof. It will be an enormous amount of work to say the least. Always point the garden hose or pressure washer wand down the roof. Never point it up the roof, as water can be driven up under the shingles creating massive leaks inside your home.

Tim Carter shares an easy way to keep your roof shingles free from moss, algae and mildew. Click to watch the video. Tim Carter shares an easy way to keep your roof shingles free from moss, algae and mildew. Click to watch the video.

You can keep the roof looking like new once cleaned, by installing strips of copper at the top of the roof. You need about two to three inches of copper exposed along the ridge line. If your roofer had installed shingles that contained invisible copper-coated granules, you would not have to do any of this work. The slow release of copper on the roof surface prevents the growth of moss, lichens and algae.

Be extremely careful working on a roof with water. The water makes the moss, lichens and algae as slippery as if you had spread oil on the roof. Try to always work on a dry section of the roof. Work in ribbons that are maybe two-feet wide going from the ridge line down to the gutter line. The hoses also are dangerous slip hazards. Use fall-protection harnesses to ensure you will not get hurt if you slip.

When you get to within ten feet of the edge of the roof, stop working and let the freshly-cleaned roof dry. Once the roof is dry, then reverse the direction of cleaning so you are walking forward towards the end of the roof, not backwards and falling off!

Column 672

Cost Breakdown

Posted on by Tim Carter

In other words, a tract builder KNOWS he can get drywall hung and finished for so many cents per square foot.  So all he does is quickly calculate the board count - number of sheets which can then be translated into square feet - of the house.  Did you know that a quick way to get the board count of a typical home is to multiply the square footage of the finished floor space by 3.5?  Try it and see how close it comes to an actual take-off calculation!

The point is simply that many costs can be quickly calculated by large builders.  But what do small builders do?

The Sometimes Guess.....

Small builders often have to guess at numbers.  It can take 30 to 40 hours of time to develop a really accurate number for a custom-built home.  If you want a solid estimate, the builder needs to circulate the plan to the various subcontractors and material suppliers to get firm cost figures for the job.  This is often required because the smaller builder may not get the same price protection that larger builders get from their subs and suppliers.  Costs can go up and down depending upon whose truck/boat payment is due.

Small builders may not have the time in their schedule to get accurate numbers.  They may start to guess at what things cost.  This is not a good thing as surprises can happen as the job progresses.

This happened to me once. I once lost $6,000.00 on a job before I even started. In my haste to prepare a bid, I used a hand-held calculator. Without a tape from an adding machine or the accuracy of automatic addition provided for in a computer spreadsheet, I failed to add in the allowance figure for a large built-in bookcase. Ouch! The owner got the bookcase and I was $6,000.00 poorer.

Swings Both Ways

You could be poorer if you don't get accurate itemized bids.  Why?  An itemized bid allows you to see if all of the cost items for the house have been listed AND if a number has been associated with each task.  Multiple quotes allow you to see if the numbers for each item are fairly close.  A close spread means the individual numbers are probably accurate.  A huge difference in numbers means someone is guessing!

How Would You Like....

Imagine if you could get an itemized Checklist for your new home project that has well over 100 different cost categories, specific questions that the builder has to answer, and much more? Imagine if you could purchase a fancy Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that used colors to show you the high and low bid number for each and every line item? I have been selling these products and people love them! You can get price breakdowns from various new home construction books and pamphlets, but I have never yet seen one that has the detail mine provides.

The newest addition is the fancy spreadsheet. This is a high powered graphic tool that lets you quickly spot where each builder is high. But keep in mind that the high number in each line item COULD be the accurate price! If the busy builders guess low and the high number is accurate, you will find out when you ask HOW the high number in each line item was arrived at. See the benefit? You can quickly identify which cost areas to quiz each builder about.

Go to the Checklist section of my Online Store.

Column B416

Gypsum Fiber Underlayment

Posted on by Tim Carter

I can't begin to tell you how many pieces of wood underlayment I have installed over the years. It has to be in the thousands. I have it in my own home. You name it, I have used it: Masonite™, particle board, plywood, luan plywood, etc. Fortunately, I have only had problems on one occasion.

Bubbles

I'll never forget the first big house I built. It was an ultra custom contemporary home that had marble and tile floors. I used 3/8 inch plywood underlayment beneath the marble and tile. The tile was set in thinset - cement based product that bonds tile to wood or to concrete.

It took me two days to install the tile floor in the kitchen. The morning of the second day, I arrived to work and saw that an area of the tile had a hump in it that I didn't remember from the day before. Three or four tiles had popped up. I walked over and stepped on them and the area of the floor was spongy. The thinset bond between the tile and the plywood was broken and I lifted up the tiles to discover the plywood had bubbled up. The water from the thinset caused the plywood to swell creating this large bubble.

Using long drywall screws, I was able to get the plywood to flatten out. But I had learned my lesson. Water and wood underlayment products are a recipe for disaster.

Cement Board

Someone else had the same problem as I did. They decided to invent an underlayment that was bulletproof against water. All they did was modify time tested technology that tile setters had used for years. Any old tile setter will tell you that they installed their tile over wood floors but that they separated the tile from the wood with a layer of cement mortar. It was a very labor intensive job to pour and level the mortar.

The wise inventor simply decided to make cement underlayment in one half inch thick sheets! You simply nail these over newer wood flooring systems. The cement board is totally waterproof, but it is heavy, tough to cut and seams are hard to smooth. Also, pesky grit is produced as you install and work with it. This grit must be removed before you install flooring materials.

A Compromise

The cement board product was and is a fantastic product for certain applications. But there was still a need for an underlayment that was easy to work with and highly water resistant. This opportunity was filled with the new gypsum fiber underlayment.

Easy to Work

The gypsum fiber underlayment is so simple to work with. I have cut some of it with a standard razor knife. It snaps just as a regular piece of drywall snaps. There was virtually no dust when I scored and snapped it. Installing fasteners is a breeze. The product is virtually unaffected by water. If and when water does harm the underlayment, I am quite sure you might have more severe problems with the actual finished flooring, the wood sub-flooring system and/or adjacent walls. In other words, the fact that it is highly water resistant is probably all most of us need.

Availability

The gypsum fiber has great distribution. It also comes in different thicknesses and panel sizes. You should be able to find it at most home centers and large scale drywall distributors. Be sure that the panels come with literature that speaks to the water issue. You should be able to verify that the product is indeed water resistant.

I urge you to also obtain and READ a copy of the installation instructions. This is very important. Don't forget to do this.

Jigsaw Tips Video

Posted on by Tim Carter

Some time your project will require a curved cut in a piece of wood or metal. The traditional circular saw is not the best tool for a curved cut. A powered jigsaw is great for cutting these curves, or even straight cuts. But, they excel at curved cutting.

The new cordless jigsaws don't have that cord to get in the way. And they can be used anywhere on the project site.

Some jigsaws have a quick release lever to changing the saw blades. Simply flip the lever, pull out the old blade and slide in the replacement. Flip the lever back and you are ready to cut. Most have a blade guide roller that helps keep the blade running straight up and down.

This particular jigsaw has another lever that allows the blade to move back and forth as it goes up and down. Makes for a more aggressive cut.

Another cool feature of this jigsaw is the small fan that blows the dust away from the cutting area. This allows you to see your guide line as you are making the cuts.

The base table tilts on the jigsaw so you can make angled cuts through your material.

Cordless jigsaws are great tools for many projects around the house. Be sure to have one in your toolbox.

Water Heater Tips Video

Posted on by Tim Carter

If your water heater fails, there are some helpful tips for the replacement. Be sure you have just one control water shut-off valve on the cold water side. There should not be a valve on the hot water side.

Where the copper pipes attach to the top of the water heater, dielectric unions should be used. When you connect two dissimilar metals, such as copper and iron, in the presence of water, you can get electrolysis. This can cause corrosion of the pipes and eventually a leak. The dielectric union separate the two different metals with a rubber washer. A side benefit of these unions is you can disconnect the pipes quickly with the union's nut.

If you have a gas water heater, the vent pipe must be the proper size to vent the exhaust. If this vent pipe is too small, there will be a backup of the exhaust fumes.

Replace the pressure relief valve when replacing the water heater. Do not try to reuse the valve from the old water heater.

Follow these tips and you won't be in more "hot water" over your installation.

Ceramic Tile On Wood Floor Video

Posted on by Tim Carter

A slate tile will look great in the sunroom. There are couple of tips before installing the ceramic tile over a plywood floor. First, be sure the wood floor is firmly attached to the floor joints. This is a good time to get rid of those floor squeaks. Additional screws will help the wood floor from flexing. If the floor flexes, it will cause the ceramic tile to crack. Use 1-5/8" diameter drywall screws and using a screw gun, tighten the wood floor to the floor joints. If you have a plywood floor laying on another piece of wood, you can start screwing anywhere.

The adhesives used for installing ceramic tile have a lot of water in them. This water can filter down into the wood floor and cause it to warp or twist. Apply a coat of a water based urethane over the entire wood floor before applying the ceramic tile adhesives.

These tips will give you a squeak free and waterproof floor under the ceramic tile or slate tile.

Expansive Soil And Foundation Cracks Video

Posted on by Tim Carter

Expansive Soil And Foundation Cracks

This column was SO GOOD that I shared with the 31,000 subscribers who read my April 8, 2018 AsktheBuilder Newsletter.

When the soil starts to dry out, the clay soil will contract, creating large cracks in the ground. This can spell big problems for your foundation if you have a shallow foundation on a garage or room addition or if your house is built on a slab. These soil settlement cracks indicate that the soil is extremely dry. This can lead to the cracks in your foundation.

To cure this, the soil down about two feet needs to receive water. The water has to get down to the bottom soil quickly. Use an auger to drill holes 2 feet on center and 2 feet from the house all around the house. This will allow rain or garden hose water to travel down into the soil without getting side tracked by the grass and flowers.

Once the holes are drilled, fill them with grounded small, pea gravel. Fill the hole all the way with the gravel. Use your garden hose to fill the hole with water. You will be amazed at how much water the hole will hold.

These holes and gravel will get the water down into the soil and get it moisture. This reduced the ground shrinkage and helps prevent those foundation cracks.

Glass Block Video

Posted on by Tim Carter

Glass Block

In the past, working with glass block was the same as working with bricks. You had to use mortar for the glass block installation. Now, there are simple plastic spacers to perfectly align the glass blocks. Short spacers for side to side spacing and a longer space for spacing between rows. No messy wet mortar. You use silicon caulk. When it cures, it is very hard.

The glass block must sit on a solid base, either wood, metal or concrete. After placing the first block, be sure to check that it is level and plumb. Apply some silicon caulk and install the first vertical spacer to the side of the block. Continue this as you place the glass blocks across the row.

To keep the glass block from tilting over, use a special hidden anchor. This anchor inserts into the plastic horizontal spacer and screws into the side frame. This will hold the spacer in place for the next row.

Use these blocks to easily make a great glass block window, glass block shower enclosure, interior green house, or whatever project you can image. Installing glass block is much easier with this new spacer system.

Search Results

Posted on by Tim Carter

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Posted on by Tim Carter

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