Posts Tagged ‘Roofs’

How To Fix A Broken Roof Truss ?

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Roof trusses are frames made up of timber that is nailed, bolted or pegged together to form structurally interdependent shapes of great strength. Trusses are pre-fabricated, triangulated wooden structures used to support the roof.

However, the roof trusses may break due to many reasons. A broken roof truss can cause many different problems. If the truss is bad enough, it can cause the sagging or collapse of a roof. Well, don’t get dishearten. You can fix the broken truss.

Measure the truss area to be repaired. Roof trusses come in all shapes and sizes to suit almost every single design of roof. Find the one that suits to your existing trusses. Make sure, you but the one that measures the width of the truss under repair. For this, measure the width of the truss as these are available in sizes of 2 by 6 that is 5.5 inches and 2 by 8 that is 7.5 inches.

To begin with the repairs, we must have lumbers of 4 feet length each. These patches would be placed on either side of the broken truss.

Electric Plumbing Snake- An Essential Tool

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Clogged sinks are a common household problem. There are various ways by which drains can be cleaned out but the inconvenience caused is very stressful and irritating. There could be many reasons for clogging of drains like food residues, excessive hair accumulation, build ups of detergent in the pipes and many more.

There are plenty of techniques used to avoid drain clogging. You can unclog your drainage system by putting water with large amount of salt in it. Baking soda and vinegar are also used for this purpose. Also, for unclogging the drains you need tools like plunger or pliers. If the situation is worse, you may require an electric snake or an auger.

Below is the working and usage of an electric auger to be used in case you fail to dissolve the clog by above methods.

First things first, start inserting the auger into the pipe. Make sure you wear gloves for this also, better grip, and keeps your hands a little bit cleaner. Electric augers are big with a lot of cable and an auger at the end that goes deep into the drain to unplug the drain.

Easy Way To Paint Galvanized Roof

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Residential apartments that have metals roofs are usually covered with corrugated metal sheets. The major disadvantage of the corrugated metal roofing was that it gets rusted after some time. Well, this difficulty is overcome by using galvanized metal roofing.

Many metal roofs are made out of galvanized metal, which is a type of metal that has been covered with hot zinc in order to protect it from the weather. In order to further enhance the feature of material, roofs are generally painted. However, paint on metal roofs often peels or rusts, in which case it is time to repaint it.

The write up below familiarizes you with the step by step procedure of the metal roof painting. This is one of the most simple home improvement tasks and you can do this without the help of a roofer.

A galvanized metal roof should be thoroughly cleaned free from all the accumulated dirt and grin, should be free of any loose or scaling rust by hand tooling these areas with a wire brush or a scraper. Using a power washer, all the unwanted build up over the roof should be cleared.

Bonnet Roofs- A Trend For Today

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

A beautiful house is beautiful from interior as well as exterior. But, your beautiful house still lacks something. You can further gratify your home or your building may it be the restaurant or hotel or pub. Stylish bonnet roofs are excellent to add extraordinary appearance to your dwelling.

A bonnet roof is a type of roof that is characterized by two slopes on four sides of a roof, and the bottom slope is more angular than the top slope. Bonnet roofs are generally the modified form of hipped roofs. These also do not have the gables. All the walls in a house with bonnet roofs have same height as all the sides of the roof meet the wall of the home.

Since each side of the roof consists of two slopes, the upper slope in much steeper than the lower one. The bottom slope is often used to cover an open-sided porch that surrounds the building and is useful in shielding the house from bad weather or heat. The bottom part of the roof resembles an eave and thus, is referred to as kicked eave roof.

How To Build A Tin Roof ?

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

A beautiful house is beautiful from interior as well as exterior. But, your beautiful house still lacks something. You can further gratify your home or your building may it be the restaurant or hotel. Stylish tin roofs are excellent to add extraordinary appearance to your dwelling. In fact these are great in slashing down your expenses while installing the roofs.

Tin is a long-lasting roofing material, and tin roofs, if properly installed and cared for can last up to 50 years. To keep a tin roof in great shape, it needs to be painted regularly. Tin roofs are a perfect combination of the both durability and stability. Even the worst weather can be withstood by the tin roofs. The following part of the article familiarizes an individual with the building techniques of tin roofs.

One of the most important look out is to gather all the needed items like 30-lb. roofing felt, 1-inch galvanized clout nails, 3-inch metal edging, 1 1/4-inch roofing nails, 12-foot sheets of tin roofing, 1/4-inch metal wood screws and tin snips before starting the installation.

Make Your Home Better With Barrel- Vaulted Roofs

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Roof is meant to ensure the security overhead. This is the most important aspect of any roof. Another important role that a roof provides to a house or a building is the look. A unique and stylish roofing style simply adorn the house to make it stand exceptionally fine and tasteful.

Barrel- vaulted roofing is one such style that makes the building look more royal and opulent. This roofing style is known from ancient times. In that time these found application in monasteries, castles, tower houses and other such structures. But nowadays, these are found in both residential and commercial areas. These are constructed to shape, direct and focus indirect light from multiple sources.

In homes, barrel- vaulted ceilings are used very often because of their numerous advantages. In winters, these are a great source to bring in the warm sunlight. You can very well enjoy the natural light sitting under this roof. These make your home interior look awesome.

Homeowners often drop the idea of having this elegant and magnificent roof thinking about the cost involved in its installation. But, this roof type give homeowners a reason to cherish upon as these roofs are not beyond the reach of common man. There construction would require only 10% more than the cost involved in other roof patterns.

Feel The Beauty Of The Weather Sitting Under The Awning

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

A beautiful house is beautiful from interior as well as exterior. But, your beautiful house still lack something. You can further gratify your home or your building may it be the restaurant or hotel or pub. Stylish awnings are excellent to add extraordinary appearance to your dwelling.

These lovely over hangings are extended over the windows or area along the sidewalks. Awnings have nothing new in them since, these are from ancient times. But, the most admirable part is, these are available in large variety of shapes, colors and designs. Aluminum or steel awnings are durable and tough but, customers don’t have much choices in them. Latest awnings are made up of wood and transparent material.

Although these make any building beautiful yet, these are more suited to restaurants and pubs. Being stylish and trendy, these attract more and more customers and bring them in doors. Manufacturers offer restaurants and pubs awnings, garden and patio awnings, a huge range of models and colors.

Restaurants awnings can do much more than just providing shade to your patio. Life is simply wonderful sitting under the awnings and enjoying the beauty of the weather and landscapes. People find more pleasure in having tea or meals sitting in the restaurant garden instead of getting bored inside. Partying outside the restaurant under the awnings have become a trend nowadays.

Advantages Of Roof Tiles Over Roof Shingles

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

A roof covers you from all worldly phenomenon like excessive rain, extreme hot climate and windy atmosphere. But what about the coverings that protect your roof ? For a roof’s better performance, you need to maintain them after certain period. Moreover, one should take bountiful care while choosing the materials for your roof.

Providing shelter to yourself and to your family against rain, heat and wind is one of the basic necessities. And for that you need a tough and durable roof. Moreover, roofs provide a unique way to enhance the grace of your house.

In previous years, there were no styles and designs to choose from. And today, you have a plenty of roofing materials available in the market. But the question arises, which is the best option for your valuable home. Now the answer to this is roof tiles.

While roofing shingles are aesthetically pleasing, they are free from problems. Roofing tiles offer a large range of advantages over shingles. For example, wooden roof shingles are subject to rotting, especially in damp areas. And if you use bituminous felt shingles, they alone are enough to affect your bank account. On the contrary, roof tiles are not susceptible to rotting. Moreover, tiles are immune to the effects of hot summers and cold winters.

Characteristics Of Different Roofing Materials

Monday, September 28th, 2009

A homes crowning glory- the roof, should be designed to not only shelter you from sun, rain and snow but to cohesively unite all of the exterior finishes of your new home. Deciding on what type of roofing material you want for your new home should be based on appearance, desired life of a roof, material durability and of course, cost.

The roof is critical with respect to the performance of the home from both a style and ventilation perspective. It is imperative that a roof is designed to breathe. A well ventilated roof will prevent conditions such as ice damning.

By spending a little more on the roofs of your home, you can make it look much more beautiful. So, take out some time to decide the most suitable roofing material and roof design for your home. Now, you can even use two roofing materials on your home. For example you can use copper with cedar shakes.

In the last few years, many different roofing products with different shapes, size and texture have come up. So now-a-days there are many options to choose from. But, the most common one and a relatively cheap roofing product still remains the same i.e. asphalt or fiberglass shingles.

Hiring A Roofing Contractor

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Our roofs are constantly exposed to the harsh weather conditions so can be damaged very easily and this can arise a situation where roof repairs are necessary. Even the small defects like leaks or damaged shingles can be very damaging and require immediate repairs or something more.

The amount and the nature of damage will determine the steps that must be taken further. But, whether the defects are minor requiring small repair work, or your entire roof needs replacement, some tasks are better left for the professionals.

Roofing contractors provide such services, and the results of their roof inspection will tell you where you need to go next. Even if there are no serious leaks, or none at all, your roof may still require repairs, as everyone knows that a twenty-year- old roof will most likely start to show signs of deterioration.

It is recommended to consult a roofing contractor when you notice even a small sign of damage in your roof. One should not delay in this concern as it can create serious problems later on. The professionals are highly knowledgeable people and will suggest you the best possible solution, either a repair or a replacement.