Not All Roof Cleaners Are The Same Nor Are All Roofs

By Author: Tom Derringer.
Total Articles: 1
Comment this article

There are many different types of roofs and believe it or not, not all roof cleaning services are able to deal with every type of roof out there. That's right sometimes you may have to hire separate or specific roof cleaning company that is knowledgeable of your roof. It's essential that you ask the roof cleaning company whether they clean your type of roof or not, ask them about their experience with it, if they hesitate to answer and don't provide a good answer, there's a good chance they may not be the right company for you to use. A good roof cleaning company will be able to show evidence of their work with specific types of roofing materials and roofs, they will be insured and have the necessary certificates with them. They will also be willing to create and sign a contract with you on your job so that you can feel at ease knowing they won't run off with your cash. There are many types of roofs, and not everyone knows what type they have, therefore this guide below should assist you in knowing a little more about your roof and which type you have.

The Gable roof is one of the most popular choices when deciding a ...
... style of roof for your home. It has two roof surfaces of the same size, that are pitched at the same angle back to back, making a ridge at the top and forming a triangular roof. Its simple design makes it cheap and easy to build. It effectively sheds water, allows for good ventilation, and typically provides the most ceiling space. A cross gabled roof is simply two gable roof sections put together at a right angle. The two ridges formed by these gable roofs are typically perpendicular to each other. Lengths, pitches, and heights may or may not defer from each other. Often used for Tudor and Cape Cod style houses.

The Mansard roof gets it's name from architect Francois Mansart who popularized it in the 1600's in France. A mansard roof has two distinctly different slopes on each side. The lower portion of the roof has a very steep pitch often with dormers attached, while the upper portion has a low slope, just enough for water runoff to occur. Typically speaking the low slope portion of the roof cannot be seen from ground.

A very common roof type the hip roof (or hipped roof) does not have flat sides like the gable roof instead all sides of the roof slope down to meet the walls of the house. Building a hip roof is more involved than a gable roof but building the walls for such a house is actually easier as they are all the same height.

Most similar to a gable roof, the saltbox style rose from a need to create more space for cramped colonial houses. Early Americans looking for an efficient way to add space to a home soon realized that adding a one story lean-to (or shed roof) to the back of a 1 1/2 or 2 story house saved materials and cost. The earliest examples of saltbox houses will sometimes show evidence of the addition by having a second "lean-to chimney/fireplace" or by changing the roof line (slope) on the addition to allow enough height for a useable ceiling. Eventually, the addition became so commonplace the lean-to was simply added into the original design of the house.

The Gambrel roof, like the mansard roof, has two distinctly different slopes on each of its two symmetrical sides. The bottom slope has a steep pitch, sometimes nearly vertical while the top slope is lower. But unlike the mansard roof, the gambrel roof only utilizes this method on two sides of the structure rather than four.

Flat roofs usually have at least a slight slope to assist in the shedding of water thus they are also referred to as "low slope roofs '. Flat roofs are typically a more economical roof to build given that it requires less material. While being cheaper to intially build a flat roof will require re-roofing more often with many materials lasting 10-20 years versus 25-50 years for many pitched roof materials.

All Surface Cleaning Company is a Portland Oregon based roofing company specializing in gutter cleaning, roof maintenance and roof care. All Surface Cleaning Company is a leading Portland area roof cleaner. Call them at 503-590-9274 today or visit them online at http://portlandroofclean.com