Hints ‘n’ Tips on roof’s and rainwater goods.

Now is the ideal time to give your roof and guttering the once-over, before the bad weather really hits hard. Checks you do now could prevent the costly consequences of neglecting a leaking roof – damp, rot and rain-damaged ceilings and walls, and house contents.

If you want to take a look, it’s best not to climb a ladder yourself. Instead, see if you can use a neighbour’s upstairs window as a vantage point. Borrow some binoculars and zoom in on potential trouble spots……

On pitched roofs, look out for split, loose or missing tiles or slates. Remember that even a hairline crack can result in major damp problems later, so you can’t ignore wear and tear. Check also the cement around the ridge tiles and if there are any holes have them re pointed. Firm ridge tiles will protect your roof during high winds.

And don’t forget about your chimney – come the winter they can take quite a hammering from wet and windy weather. Check that the pointing is intact.

By their very nature, flat roofs – not uncommon on extensions – can be particularly vulnerable to heavy rainfall. Make sure waterproof covering isn’t cracked or coming away.

Guttering should be absolutely clear – autumn and winter will fill it with leaves and other muck. Overloaded and overflowing guttering means damp walls. Check the state of gutters and drainpipes – for example, rust holes on metal and problem patches on PVC.

Have a poke around the loft, too, and test timbers for damp. While you’re there, measure your insulation. To be really effective, it should be topped up to 270mm thick for glass wall, 250mm for rock wall or 220mm for cellulose.

Beware the cowboys

Don’t trust the so-called expert who calls to say he was just passing and happened to notice your roof is about to fall in, then offers to fix it ridiculously cheaply ‘for cash’. He’ll be up a ladder for 20 minutes, have a quick fag, and fleece you.  Instead call us...the experts!

Why the boom in metal theft ?

It’s all to do with the industrialisation and urbanisation of china. The eastern giant, with a population of 1.3 billion, is going through its own Industrial Revolution –and one on a massive scale, china’s  cities are growing at such a rate that by 2020 an extra 400 million people will have been urbanised.

That means that over the next 15 years ,something like 20 million people will be urbanised every year ,that’s like building new York and London every year.

The result was that china is” mopping up” the worlds reserves of metal. the past three years or so metal has more than doubled. lead is now thought to fetch

A £1,000 a tonne-while copper is now fetching £3,500 a tonne, no wonder the criminal world is taking notice.

WHO ARE THE THIEVES TARGETING?

Schools, churches , shops, factories, railway lines, care homes, residential homes, if they can take it ,they will .churches and schools  seem to be the most at risk as they are often isolated, and have high level of lead and copper on their roofs

HOW CAN YOU HELP SAFEGUARD OUR PROPERTIES FROM METAL THEFT ?

METAL TAGGING. Metal tagging is a new and simple way to identified stolen metals .

G&A have come up with a unique way of helping to safeguard from such event. a stamping tool is made up with the name of your building, with a unique code, and this tool can embossed in to any metal, even iron. the imprint is discrete and can be used many times as you wish, it’s a bit like a hallmark, this means that anyone caught with it in there possession could be liable for prosecution and linking it back to the scene of the crime. Other safeguards can be used see below.

SELCTA DNA can prevent thefts of metals. a solution is applied to the lead so that if handled by thief, the soutionit transfers onto their skin, the solution contains a uv tracer which link the criminal with the crime scene. www.selectadna.co.uk

RED WBB, Is a dye that contains biosynthetic  dna that is registered to the customer and can gain solid evidence to help  secure a conviction www.redwebsecurity.com

SMARTWATER Smart water can be applied to interior an d exterior metals, along with any other  valuables. when subjected to ultraviolet light its presence is immediately .obvious by tell-tale fluorescent glow. www.smartwater.com

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

G&A will charge a fair price for good quality work ,the above applications do vary on price, G&A will charge all materials at  cost, we provide our own scaffolding so there is  a BIG saving there, for instant quote email a photo of your building

WHAT AREAS DO YOU COVER?

G&A cover the whole of the uk, for more info telephone free on 0800 62 64 30