Aquashield

knowloads

girlonabike wrote: »

If you have a problem with your roof after it is coated i.e. storm damage - do insurance companies cover the cost of repairs, respray etc ?

DepeNDs ON THE AGE OF THE ROOF AND THE DAMAGE after 20 yrs in roof's, the usual get out clause from insurance is 'not covered , due to age of roof or reasonable wear and tear, but as to effecting insurance in a positive way then.
NO cover ! And as for the other company mentioned above, remember, 6 years ago ther were NO roof coating co's in England bar 2. The rest are ex-aquashield staff setting up on their own.... bar none. Aquashield DO NOT have exclusivity on their coating, they just tell you that. They have uses all the UK suppliers for a time, but usually upset them and change on a regular basis. Aquashield Manchester branch closed this week, and currently in the North West lakes, area doing their stuff. LOOK OUT CUMBRIA

Horsesmouth

To make it easier for the cynics, this is my first post here and I have worked as a Salesman for Aquashield previously, but no longer work in the DIY sector at all.

Roof/wall coatings have been around for many years and do an excellent job, IF they are applied properly. They are not suitable for slate tiles and only suitable on clay tiles, such as rosemary, if the correct primer is used first. However, both slate and clay tiles last far longer than concrete ones do anyhow.

In the case of concrete tiles, they are usually coated by the manufacturer, eg Marley, initially, as concrete is not waterproof. However, the coating degrades and water weakens the tile with age. The felting under the tiles is designed to redirect water that penetrates tiles, or is forced between, them into the gutter. However, the felt is NOT waterproof either and degrades with time, especially materials used on older roofs.

For roof coatings to work on concrete tiles, they must be washed to remove dirt, lichens, moss and any remaining manufacturer's coatings, so the new ones can penetrate properly. Thus cleaning alone is a very bad idea, as the tile becomes more porous. If the cleaning is done badly, it will also damage tiles and/or pointing. However, a professional company would replace any damaged or broken tiles after the cleaning process anyhow and re-point where necessary, all within the quoted price. Similarly leading should be replaced/restored if needed as well.

Washing alone is NOT a good idea, as the roof will we worse than before. They should also use an approved fungicide to slow the growth of moss and lichens, typically 10 year guarantees are given for this. The roof coatings should be applied in 2 stages, or more if the finish is uneven. They should only be applied when the roof is dry and not when rain is expected. Each coating should be allowed to dry properly before the next is applied and so should not be done on the same day. They should also be applied above a temperature of 5 C to ensure they bind properly.

The best coatings are acrylic based and as well as allowing the roof to breathe, they will be water-proof and flexible. Because the coating soaks into the tile partially and is rubbery, it also helps bind the concrete better. They should also contain products such as thermilate, tiny hollow ceramic balls like fine sugar, which help insulate surfaces.

Generally, on concrete tiles less than 15 years old it is unnecessary to use these coatings. Tell tale signs of tiles soaking up a lot of water due to porosity are excessive moss growth, NOT lichens, which need far less water to survive. However, if the roof is sagging, then a new roof is preferable as coatings do not fix battens and/or felt.

Note, prevention is cheaper than cure. Waiting for a roof to leak before spending money is not a good idea, as by then the damage could be considerable. Most 'leaks' are into the soffits, because the felting rots close to the fascias first, because that is where it tends to dip and the water collects. This is why fascias and soffits rot from the inside, despite external maintenance and so the roof may not appear to leak, despite water getting in.

Aquashield had franchises, but we were told that this is no longer the case. From my experience, they have a variety of subcontracted coaters, some excellent, some terrible. When they do it properly, it is a great product, but they are not cheap and others do it cheaper. However, many of these other companies do a far worse job than Aquashield and use cheap exterior paints, instead of coatings designed specifically for concrete, so do some research first. The correct coatings have been used widely in Australia and the USA successfully for over 30 years, for both water protection and thermal efficiency, mainly to keep houses cool in the summer in the former country.

Finally, a quick way of calculating the size of your roof is to count tiles along the gable end. Concrete tiles are usually 3 per metre, so if you have 15 tiles, that is 5m multiplied by the length of the roof. Include the ridge tile on one side. Thus on a typical inverted V roof, both sides are usually between 40 - 65m in total. Bungalows tend to have bigger roofs that 2 story buildings, for obvious reasons and terraces are usually the smallest. Aim to pay no more than £30 per metre. Aquashield reps do not like selling for less than that as they get paid very little at that price and they are self employed, so no sale no earnings. I believe there current bottom price is £25, but I may be wrong. NEVER pay more for coatings than a new roof and I would suggest a subtle colour, one that compliments the house and others in the street. I disliked terracotta, the best seller, as I thought it too garish. Rustic red is nicer IMHO, but all colours used are council approved. Personally, pick a colour that is similar to what you have now, if you don't want to stand out too much in your street and if you live in a semi or terrace, consider doing it at the same time as your neighbours.

Hope that helps.

ormus

you must have worked for New Labour too.

Horsesmouth

ormus wrote: »

you must have worked for New Labour too.

No, but if they paid enough I would However, my post was not that of a spin doctor, as I no longer work for them or any other DIY company. If you don't want my advice or don't believe it, that is fine by me as I don't care either way, I merely wanted to give an informed opinion. However, your negativity might carry more weight if it was backed up by some facts and not just opinion and epic epeen from posting here a lot.

knowloads

Horses mouth is right except that the coating used in Australia is no good for the northern hemesphere. Sterites in the coating wash off wisth rain and frost. Sterites are a filler that is used to bulk out the acrylic and Ok for hoot countries. Thermal barrier coatings are being sold by AQshield and many more with the crazy feature that they will save up to 305 of energy bills. Thos is nonsense. The reflective properties of nanotechnology spheres in coating, is designed and practical for REFLECTING HEAT fROM THE outside IE: THE SUN and not from the inside ie: your gas boiler. If you run an air conditioner all summer, then yes the coating will decrease the amount of heat coming into the building. As for the Aquashield situation. They have recently closed the Manchester and Sunderland branches, both run as seperate companies, and now both void of any warranty issues. The whole point of this thread, is that Aquashield in general have a terrible history of charging too much (£20 sq mtr MAXIMUM for most roofs is fine), doing bad work, (earlier this year seen by ME doing a coating in minus 4 temp), and using hard sell tactics to old and vunerable people. On the other hand and as mentioned earlier, 6 years ago there were a handfull of companies offering this service. After many like Horsesmouth who saw the money making potential for a simple product, I estimate over 200 'companies' (use that word carefully), out there today. many many of these are ex-aquashield staff. Not many do the job as described above, or will follow up warranty claims. NOTE: do not let any roof coating company attempt a coating job in the wet or colder than 5 degrees. Cleaning at this time of year is hard enough, coating......... April-Sept .

Horsesmouth

Thanks Knowloads, I am not entirely familiar with the Australian market but I know Aquashield's founder got the idea whilst on holiday over there, or so they claim.

The reason I worked for AS was because I was recruited by a manager there, who I had worked for previously in Double glazing. The person in question had integrity and I liked him, so I was persuaded to join. I should stress not all AS employees are the scum of the Earth as many state here, but like all direct sales businesses, there are those who are. Personally I was honest with my customers, as it is easier to gain trust by being truthful and only had two cancellations whilst I was there, neither of which were due to me.

The only area I am uncertain about the product, as it is difficult to get definitive scientific proof regarding the thermal benefits of the ceramic micro-spheres. I doubt that the 20-40% savings are realistic, but I do think there may be some benefit to the additive, as it WAS developed for NASA to solve some of the issues they had over coating the Shuttle etc. Since the Shuttle has to be insulated against extremely high temperatures on re-entry and the cold of space, it must work to some extent. Logically, vacuums do insulate, so the spheres will work to an extent, but I am not convince the very thin layers of the coatings would have any meaningful benefit in terms of insulation. However, in waterproofing the roof they definitely work.

As to the closures, I am not sure if they are the same Aquashield or remnants of franchises. I do know that in the winter months and especially this year so far, it becomes impossible to apply the coatings properly, as it needs to be done above 5 C, so they may have closed them temporarily until the Spring. Other companies do close their coatings divisions at his time of year to save overheads and focus on other products in their ranges. Roofline suppliers will be very busy just now judging by the amount of gutters the snow has ripped off ;P

docmatt

Hello everyone, I haven't read through all the posts above but take it from me (someone who knows more about it than the Aquaseal salesmen alone)...



You don't put magic coating on roofs, you fix them properly. Aquasealing your roof is like !!!!!! tarmacing your drive....looks nice when you pay.

fylo

Ok, so I'm looking for a quick fix for my roof. The felt is old and full of holes and that, according to my roofer is why there is water leaking into the property (I have mould on my ceiling).

He's told me that a 'colour coat', which I presume is aquashield, will completely waterproof the property and he'll guarantee it for 10 years (he's also going to replace the mortar fixing the tiles).

He said the tiles are in good nick but the mortar needs replacing.

I'm not living in the property, in fact I'm hoping to sell it in the next 6 months. I also have no money to spend on it. Is the aquashield (£1,000 inc VAT) a reasonable option (as opposed to new felting at £1,600)?

I know in the long term it's probably not wise, and I may well be just 'papering over the cracks' but I'm not going to be in the property in the long term, I have zero cash and anyway a ten year guarantee sounds pretty good to me.

Thoughts?



I REALLY need to do it as cheaply as possible (new baby, wife not working)

ormus

find the extra money and get the felting renewed.

fylo

Thanks for the swift reply. So you reckon spending the extra and getting it felted will still save me money? I know this sounds cheap but I'm really just looking for a quick fix. From my perspective it doesn't have to last years (although I get a 10 year guarantee) as I'll be selling the property (or more like cutting my losses, ASAP) .

I know it's the cheapskate approach, but if it does what my roofer claims, isn't it a worthy consideration for the short term? The roof isn't visible from the street, so it won't look daft, and if it does waterproof it, then that's surely all I need. Or is it too good to be true and will it devalue the place when I come to punt it?