As a team of roofing specialists with many years of experience on top of Auckland homes, we know how important it is to be safe when working at height. The truth is, regardless of a building’s height, proper safety measures are crucial when working on a roof.
Whether you’re a homeowner who’s wondering about the safety measures we rely on or you’re simply curious how roofers aren’t constantly falling off roofs, we’ve got the answers for you. Read on for a breakdown of our re-roofing safety measures and how we keep both you and our workers safe.
Roofs present a variety of potential hazards, from falling off the edge to falling through a structurally unsound area. Before we go anywhere near your roof, we first assess any potential hazards (to us and to you). This is known as a “hazard assessment”. Once we’ve identified every potential hazard, we develop a plan to manage them.
![[image] Table showing selection of work equipment linked to the hierarchy of controls](https://roofauckland.nz.123online.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/image.png)
Source: WorkSafe NZ
The idea is to prevent accidents, rather than minimise the damage and injury of a fall. This requires that we pay attention to two key dimensions: personal safety measures and group safety measures (illustrated by WorkSafe NZ above).
Once again, the kind of protection we choose for your roofing job will depend on the intricacies of your roofing system. Therefore, it’s best to talk to one of our friendly team members, who can expertly determine what your property requires.
At Roof Auckland, we price every job, from a quick estimate to a fixed price quotation, and we’re always happy to offer some free advice! For help from the best roofing company in Auckland, reach out to our friendly team on 0508 766 328 or fill in a contact form today.
Choosing the right material for roofing in Auckland requires a lot of consideration, and not just because we’re a stylish city. As an island nation, New Zealand enjoys the salt in the air and the rainy periods that give us such amazing seasons, but these are also factors in choosing the right roofing material.
Corrosion is a real problem in Aotearoa, where humidity, rain, and salt all gather to push metal roofs to their limits. This is one of our primary concerns as a roofing company, and in this blog post we’re going to reveal how we address it when re-roofing our clients’ homes.
Some science every now and then is good for the soul, but don’t worry, we won’t go too deep into the theory. Oxidization is just a fancy word for when things react with oxygen, and in metal this causes rusting and weakening.
The basic principle of oxidization is a trading of electrons, the little zippy things that carry charge around an atom. Metals don’t usually react with oxygen at all, but when water is introduced into the mix it breaks up the oxygen molecules present in the metal. This allows the electrons to run free, escaping into the air and causing the metal to change its composition. The metal goes orange and starts to flake off, revealing the untouched roof beneath.
In salty environments, this process is accelerated. Saltwater is more reactive and lets electrons travel through it faster. Therefore, metal roofs in coastal environments are prone to rusting quickly due to all the salt in the air!
Let’s imagine you’re situated close to the beach and you’re looking to re-roof your home. The threat of saltwater seems too big to handle, and you’ve essentially resigned yourself to a life of roofing and re-roofing your rusted metal roof every three years. Oh, the horror!
Luckily for you, that doesn’t have to be your reality. We are huge proponents of COLORSTEEL roofing because it’s the best solution for Kiwi homes, no matter where they’re situated. They have several ranges, each one suited to different NZ climates, and all coated with a protective zinc-aluminium alloy (Zincalume) that prevents corrosion.
The zinc in this coating is sacrificial. It gives its ions away a little bit at a time, reacting with the air before the air can touch the steel beneath. The aluminium in Zincalume doesn’t rust, so these two elements in conjunction with each other form a hardy coating that protects your metal roof for years. For those extra-tough coastal environments, COLORSTEEL offers the MAXX range that includes a corrosion-resistant primer and a baked-on finish to fight the salty air.
So, if you’re looking to avoid the unending struggle of rusting roofs, reparations, and replacements, we’ve got your back.
We’ve been a roofing company in Auckland for many years, so we’re experienced in finding the right roofing solution for our clients’ individual needs. Get in touch with our team today and weatherproof your home against everything the Kiwi climate has got.
As roofers, we know the importance proper roofing solutions. You may have a beautiful roof that has been weatherproofed with the latest flashing, the best roof membrane, and has been constructed perfectly, but if you don’t have a solid spouting system then this is all for nought.
Spouting is crucial to keeping your roof in tip-top shape for as long as humanly possible, but it is so often swept under the rug when it comes to installation and home maintenance! To show you just how important it is, we are dedicating this blog post to spouting.
While gravity is very helpful in removing Auckland’s common rain from your roof, it’s not completely effective. Rainwater tracking down the side of your house can also drag all the dirt and debris from your roof along with it, encouraging issues and discolouration in your siding.
An extra system for drainage is important to prevent puddling, the occurrence of mould, and sagging from plaguing your roof and siding. Spouting is a great solution because all the excess water drips off into the gutters surrounding the roof, and is carried to the ground through a downpipe.
Up until recently, traditional spouting was the preferred format for roofing companies in Auckland. It comes in pre-made lengths that are fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle, which means they could be fitted to homes of any size. While this makes the spouting very versatile, it also introduces complexity into the structure.
If different pieces have to join together, and those joins represent gaps in the spouting through which leaves and insects could find their way. This can lead to your spouting deteriorating faster than normal, costing time and money to take down and re-install once it gives up.
With continuous spouting, there are no joins except for the ones at the corners of the home. During an installation, your home is measured, and the spouting is cut to size, creating a smooth pathway for water to drain away from your roof. This drastically reduces the chance of something making its way into the pipe and creating a blockage.
Like any other part of your roof, the spouting is going to take some punishment as a result of its exposure to the elements. To prevent it from meeting an untimely demise, here are three things you can incorporate into your home maintenance schedule:
Roof Auckland is your one-stop shop for everything from maintenance to re-roofing in Auckland. We consult, install, and maintain long-run metal roofing with a high-quality of work and an expert team. You can call for free, so get in touch with us today!
As any roofing company in Auckland will tell you, there are many ways to rejuvenate your home, but few of them will beat a fresh exterior repaint. Perhaps you’re planning to put your house on the market soon, or you just want to be the envy of the neighbourhood. No matter the reason, consider getting a repaint while undergoing a re-roofing project, when you can save money on costly scaffolding. It will save you time down the line and might even end up making you money when the time comes to sell.
Giving the outside of your house a fresh coat of paint is the quickest way to make it seem brand new, and it has a lot of other benefits besides the aesthetic value.
Putting your home on the real-estate market is akin to placing it in an arena with other homes on sale. The best way to come out on top is to conquer the first impression. An exterior repaint is a sure-fire technique in any homeowner’s arsenal that will grant their house the exemplary curb appeal it needs to stand out.
This doesn’t mean you have to paint your house a shocking colour—rare is the home that can pull off neon orange walls. Rather, take the time to choose a colour that coincides with the neighbourhood’s vibe while making your house seem clean and well put-together. Darker colours are more popular than ever in New Zealand, as lighter colours can start to degrade much faster.
Most of the construction community agrees that repainting a home’s exterior is money well-spent. It makes one of the biggest visual changes and returns a high value down the line, but the investment is small compared to other potential renovations.
Painting your home immediately increases its value, and not just because of the way it looks! Repainting also refreshes the weatherproofing on the outside of your home and reseals any gaps where water can sneak through. In this way, it’s almost as valuable as re-roofing in Auckland’s variable weather. Furthermore, it extends the life of your siding and helps you neatly avoid the replacement costs damaged siding would bring.
Finally, repainting your home helps it to kick any invasive wood-munchers to the curb. Termites find their way into homes by way of the cracks and broken seals that appear over time. By slapping on a fresh coat of paint, you’re sealing up those little passages and preventing termites from getting in.
Termites may be tiny, but they are very mighty, and they can wreak a lot of havoc on your home in a short amount of time. By eating their way through beams and walls, they can weaken the structure of your home and eventually start to bring it down around your ears. Repairing termite damage can be costly, even if caught early, so getting ahead of it by taking on a repaint is one of the smarter choices a homeowner could make.
We recommend repainting at least every ten years to keep your home in tip-top shape, but a re-roofing project is the perfect time to consider a repaint or any additional maintenance your homes may need. When it comes time to give your home a makeover, we’ll be happy to help, recommending painters who can offer value by saving on scaffolding. We take care of everything from exterior painting to roof maintenance in Auckland. We know homes inside and out – call us for your quote today!
From metal long-run roofing to industrial bitumen, every kind of roof has its vulnerabilities. With the subtropical climate and occasionally wild weather we get in New Zealand, it’s important to stay on top of what your roof’s vulnerabilities might be, and to tackle any problems as they crop up. That’s where a roofing inspection comes into play.
Getting a professional to look over your roof’s condition is essential to keeping that roof over your head for as long as possible. We can pick up on smaller issues before they become more difficult to handle, saving you time and money, and making sure that your roof will endure. We provide you with a full report, including photos and repair recommendations, so you can trust that our suggestions are legitimate.
The question is, what are we actually looking for when we get up there?
Usually we start on the ground, walking the perimeter of the house and using our eyes to check for any obvious or glaring issues from the ground-level. This can help us to identify any issues with flashing or guttering, and it also gives us a broader view of the roof.
Then, we get out the ladder and get onto the roof itself. Unless your roof is pitched at a fairly severe angle, we’ll be climbing up there to check for any issues that have developed over time, or even issues with how the roof was constructed in the first place.
You might think that we only check on the outside of your roof, but that isn’t the case! The inside of your roof’s decking is also crucial to its survival, as rot and wear can come from both sides of the construction, so we make our way into the gap between ceiling and roof.
This may sound like a fairly invasive process, but we pride ourselves on being as quick and discreet as possible when inspecting your property, so you can go about your day as normal!
We specialise in roofing solutions that will make your roof last as long as possible, so when we do our inspection, we are thorough to say the least. As mentioned previously, we check out the interior and the exterior of the roof, and we’re looking for different things in both of those areas. Here’s a breakdown.
When we get up into the space between your ceiling and the roof, we’re looking for anything that shows signs of excessive wear and tear, or any mistakes made during the roof’s construction that could be causing trouble, such as:
● Water damage. Puddles, water marks or soft materials are all indicators of water damage, which suggest that there is a leak somewhere in the roof. Leaks are dangerous to leave alone, so we will recommend finding and repairing it as soon as possible.
● Structural damage. The space underneath your roof should be pitch black, as that indicates nothing from the outside can get through. If we notice that light can be seen through the roof, that’s a sign that there is significant deterioration that requires repair.
● Rot or mould. If we see any rot or mould, that’s a sign that water is somehow making its way past your roof (even if there aren’t any obvious structural signs).
Heading up onto the roof is a slightly different story. It gives us a chance to catch any issues before they get worse, and to give our recommendations to prevent these from causing long-term damage. Here’s what we look for:
● Sagging. This is a sign of severe leaking and can be very dangerous; sagging roofs can collapse at any time. Our recommendation will often sway towards an entire re-roof if your roof is starting to sag.
● Rust or corrosion. For metal long-run roofing and metal guttering, checking for rust is essential. Your roof is constantly exposed to the elements, and despite modern weatherproofing practices, it can still fall prey to oxidisation and eventual structural damage.
● Flashing. We’ll also make sure to check out your flashing while we’re up there. These are the pieces of metal and sealing that go around gaps in the roof, and if they start to deteriorate then water can make its way inside.
Once we’re all done, we’ll present you with a comprehensive report that includes our assessment of your roof’s condition, as well as our recommendations for repairs going forward. It’s easy as pie to sit back and let us do all the checking, and it might save you a big headache in the long run.
We’re some of the best roofing contractors Auckland has to offer, and we pride ourselves on providing the best possible services to our clients. Get up to date with the condition of your roof today!
Summer is approaching, Spring has sprung, and it’s time to step out from the shelter of our homes and start looking at some roofing solutions. What better time than now to open up your home to the sunlight that’s coming out from behind the clouds.
A skylight is the perfect way to take that sunlight and pour it into your hallway, your bedroom, or your kitchen. Take a moment now to discover how a skylight works, and what the benefits are of adding one to your home.
The best time to install a skylight is while you’re getting some new roofing during Auckland Summer. Instead of rain pouring in, you’ve got sunlight, so whether you’re picking up a retrofit job, or you’re keen to replace your entire roof, you’ve got the weather on your side.
A skylight is a fantastic way to open up a room and make it seem bigger than it is. Beyond that, light makes people happier, provides a source of constant vitamin D, and bypasses the year-round lack of light that parts of Auckland are so notorious for.
There’s a lot more to a skylight than cutting a hole in your ceiling and installing a pane of glass. To harness and redirect the sunlight throughout the entire room, a few components need to work together. The configuration also changes depending on whether you have a flat or vaulted ceiling. Let’s look at the different pieces of a skylight.
There are a few options for a skylight, and their variations fit for different kinds of homes. They can be static and fixed, or you can choose one that opens to allow some fresh air into your home. The biggest difference is actually in the kind of glass chosen to make up the panes.
A skylight is a constant source of light into your home throughout the day, which means that you need to consider what that constant light exposure can do. With warmth and light comes potentially harmful UV rays, so most skylights come with the option for a UV-protective coating of some kind. VELUX skylights (the brand we use in our installations) come with options for low-e or UV-reflective glass, to keep UV rays out while letting the light in.
If you have a vaulted ceiling, then you’ll just have the skylight installed on its own, no further systems required to get the light distributed properly. However, if you have a flat ceiling and a vaulted roof (as many homeowners do), then you’re going to need a lightwell. A lightwell is what it sounds like: a well for light to travel through. It’s essentially a pathway from the skylight to a corresponding pane in your ceiling for the light to travel down. Without it, the light would diffuse into your attic, unseen!
Talk to Roof Auckland—the roofing specialists Auckland can always count on—about getting a skylight installed when we re-roof your property. Elevate your home, bring the outdoors inside, and enjoy some light in every room of the house.
Want to know more about the most mysterious of roofing solutions, your insulation? After all, how does it work? Why do you need it? Why do some brands of it look like candy floss? It all has to do with reducing heat transference, and there’s some pretty interesting science behind it. Keep reading to learn more!
If you think of a hot space as an overflowing jug and a cold space as an empty bowl beneath it, heat is like the water in the jug. It’s always going to want to flow to the cold, empty space from the full space. This is why your home gets cold in winter and warm in summer; between inside and outside, the heat is always going to move to the cooler option. The goal of insulation is to prevent as much heat as possible from transferring, therefore maintaining your home’s internal environment.
Heat moves through the air and objects in one of three ways—conduction, convection, and radiation.
Conductive heat is the type of heat transfer most relevant to insulation, because it’s how heat transfers between things that are touching each other. For example, if you touch a hot plate, the heat transfers to your comparatively cooler fingers through that touch, which is what results in a burn. In your home there are a lot of things in contact with other things, allowing heat to walk the “thermal bridge’ from one side of your roof to the other. Even air can be conductive.
Convective heat also moves via the air. When a section of air becomes heated, the particles expand and move faster, causing that “section” to rise and the cooler air above it to fall. These air currents bump against each other and transfer heat through open air spaces, such as the walls in your home.
Radiant heat moves as an infrared wave through space, which is how the heat from the Sun reaches the Earth despite the lack of air in space. Radiant heat will bounce off of reflective surfaces, such as shiny metal or a mirror, but it will be absorbed by surfaces like glass fairly easily.
If you ever get a roof repair in Auckland, your contractor is bound to ask you about your insulation, because their job is affected by whether or not any construction will damage it.
Most types of insulation are there to stop heat escaping through conductive transference. By filling up the gaps in your walls with a material of low-conductivity, like fuzzy fibreglass, contractors are aiming to put up a wall between the warm and cool spaces that will stop the heat from moving from one side to the other. Filling up those airy spaces also helps to reduce convective transference, as the air can’t move as freely and therefore doesn’t transport as much heat.
There is something called an “R-value”, which is essentially a measure of how well insulation traps heat. The general rule of thumb is ‘the thicker the insulation, the higher the R-value’, which is great for keeping your home cool in summer, and warm in winter.
If you’ve noticed that your heating bill rockets upward in the winter months, or that the house is cold no matter what you do, it most likely has something to do with your insulation. If you talk to a qualified insulation contractor like Roof Auckland, we can help you sort it out as soon as possible.
For everything from ceiling insulation installation to laying COLORSTEEL® roofing, the team at Roof Auckland is the one to call. Get in touch today for a quote, or browse our services to see how we can help you to improve your home!
Roofing contractors all over Auckland will tell you that restoration is better than re-roofing because it’s more cost-effective, but that’s not always true. In the long run, a roof that has been patched or overlaid can present a big problem for your household. The mould, dampness and leaks present before you got the repairs done will still be beneath the surface, and these symptoms can infect the rest of your home, which can result in a lot of unwanted costs.
Re-roofing rips up all the problems that characterised your old roof so you can starts, giving your home a fresh protective barrier against the harsh elements. Let’s take a look at how beginning anew protects both your home and your family much better than trying to patch many holes at once.
If you think of your home like a human body, then the roof is almost like an immune system. It works to keep all of the bacteria and viruses—in this case mould and dampness—out, and you can do several things to make it stronger. On the other hand, when your immune system starts to falter, your entire body is negatively affected. This is true for a roof and home as well.
When a roof starts to degrade from wear and tear, cracks and leaks begin to appear that let moisture and water in. Water spreads reasonably quickly throughout the porous materials in your house causing a whole host of issues, some of which we’ve outlined below.
● Rotting. Once water gets into the timbers of your roof deck, the walls of your home, and then the insulation, materials start to rot over time. This makes your home’s heat retention plummet, and can cause some serious problems with structural integrity.
● Mould. Dampness and darkness create an environment in which mould will thrive. You’ll especially want to watch out for black mould. Spores are easily carried through the air, infecting all corners of your home, which is very dangerous considering that black mould is one of the most hazardous moulds out there.
● Water damage. When water puddles and accumulates, it dries as an unsightly yellow or brown blotch on your ceiling. This is usually accompanied by sagging of the ceiling, which in turn encourages more water to pool.
If you’ve noticed that your roof is showing signs of leaks, there are cracks or curling in your shingles, or there are signs of structural sagging, then you’re going to want to get a new roof soon. When it comes to big jobs, it’s much better to tear up what was there before and start fresh, rather than laying a new roof on top of the old one (which is how restoration works). But why? So many builders specialising in roofing in Auckland say that it is more cost-effective, faster, and requires less labour. Let’s dive deeper into those assumptions.
The initial price point of roof restoration is lower. However, as we pointed out earlier, it can be much cheaper in the long run to re-roof. Rotting, mould, water damage and structural issues are more likely to persist if you don’t rip up the roofing that constituted the initial problem, and these are costly to remedy.
This is true. Restorations are faster than re-roofing because there is less to do, which means you’ll need fewer people to get the job done. However, it is important to remember that the speed at which you can get a job done does not signal how effective it will be. Make your choices based on what will be best for your home once the building crew leaves, not on how long it will take to accomplish.
Discover the best roofers in Auckland. We work with a range of quality Coloursteel roofing to ensure you get the best value for your dollar, and we pride ourselves on keeping our customers happy until well after we leave your home. Ready to start? Get in touch now!
Replacing your roof is a big job, so you want to engage a company with a lot of experience in providing quality and professional roofing solutions. It can be difficult to decide who to choose. After all, how do you what to expect when you’re only engaging a re-roofing business maybe once or twice in your lifetime?
Here at Roof Auckland, our success has a formula. We know re-roofing your home isn’t a regular occurrence, so we use effective communication from the outset—as well as quality materials and experienced tradespeople—to ensure our customers’ satisfaction for every single project. How do we do that? With a simple yet comprehensive five-step process that keeps you informed and involved. Learn more about our re-roofing process below!
The foundation of any solid renovation job is a total understanding of where you’re starting and how you’ll be proceeding. With that principle in mind, we carry out a complete inspection of your property and deliver a comprehensive report that includes our recommendations, alongside photographs of any necessary repairs.
During this stage, we offer advice on materials and what would best suit your home. This will be largely dependent on the environment you’re located in. Roof Auckland boasts a wide selection of ColorCote® and COLORSTEEL® materials that can withstand New Zealand’s coastal conditions for a long period of time, while also providing the ideal aesthetic for our customers. For example, if you are near a beach and need to deal with a large amount of salt in the air, or greater UV exposure, the material choices will differ significantly.
If you are unsure about how the materials will work with the architecture of your home, we are happy to aid you in the decision-making process.
Once you’re aware of what needs to be done and which materials we will be using, our design and build team will work with you to create a plan. Here, we create a construction timeline, which factors in your schedule and any financial requirements (such as waiting for a loan to be approved). Additionally, we factor in the placement of materials, the number of workers on site at particular times, and the safety equipment we will need to set up prior to beginning the build.
If you have any animals or children on-site, or if you operate a business from home, don’t hesitate to let us know about it! We will endeavour to keep all disturbances to a minimum.
This step is one that is often overlooked by homeowners because it doesn’t relate directly to construction. We offer a full end-to-end service, which includes informing our clients of any permits or permissions they need to attain before we begin construction. This is an incredibly crucial part of the re-roofing process because it’s essential for getting a valid roof warranty once the build is over. Building consents and warranties assure you that your roof will hold up through the years, as well as helping you to avoid any nasty fines.
Another important consideration here is the removal of asbestos. If your home was built prior to the 1980s, it’s possible that the insulation in the ceiling is made from asbestos and is therefore dangerous to remove. To prevent any harm coming to the inhabitants of your home, and to keep to the government’s guidelines regarding asbestos removal, we will help our customers by using accredited asbestos removal companies. We can take care of the air-monitoring after the removal, which ensures there is no lingering hazardous asbestos.
If you have any questions about the paperwork side of things, we’ll happily guide you through that process using our years of industry experience as roofing contractors in Auckland.
Before we even pick up a hammer, we have to make sure that the site is safe to work on. While our people practically live on roofs, that doesn’t mean they can do the job without the appropriate safety equipment. Erecting edge protection, scaffolding and anchor points for harnesses is how we keep our workers (and you) safe from harm throughout the entire building process.
We’ll also work with you to establish places on the property for storage of materials, and keep to any other requests you have about our work on-site. We understand that we are coming to your home to do the work, and we always want our clients to feel safe and comfortable while the job is underway.
Then, we get started. Our crews are always punctual, and we pride ourselves on keeping the homeowners informed about how far along the re-roofing has come each day. If we encounter any problems that may require an additional cost, we inform you immediately rather than going ahead and tacking it onto the bill at the end.
Once we complete your re-roofing project, there a number of after-care tasks we carry out. This includes helping our clients through the process of having the roof inspected by an expert, getting the dimensions and materials documented, and attaining a warranty for the lifespan of your completed roof. During the span of the warranty, you can claim the costs of any repairs that fall under its jurisdiction.
When all of that is done and dusted, we pack up and recycle all our waste. All that’s left once we leave is to head inside and enjoy the surety of a good, solid roof overhead.
If you’re looking into getting re-roofing in Auckland, we’re the guys to get in touch with. We work with our clients to create a plan that works for them, and pride ourselves on a clean site, recycled materials, and safe practices. Ready for a re-roofing? Give us a call now!
