All Weather Products Ltd
The Roofing Store
All Weather Products specializes in supplying roofing products for the Western Canadian and Pacific Northwest region.
Torch-On Membranes
Modified Membranes
Peel & Stick Low Slope / Flat Roof Membranes
Caulking & Coatings
Copper Drains
Roof Vents
Ridge Vents
Peel & Stick Underlayment
GAF ELK
Roof AquaGuard UDLX
Shingle mate
Roofer's Select
BP Felts
Hal Felts
Polyglass
VandeHey Raleigh
PermaDri
Rubber Coatings
Emulsions
Roofer Safety Equipment
Korkers
Synthetic Underlayments
Skylights
Roof Windows
Balcony Roof Windows
Blown in Attic Insulation Machine
Roof Maintenance: (See eco-friendly roof cleaning products below)
Every roof requires periodic cleaning and roof maintenance. If you want a roof to last a long time, as well as look good for a long time, there is no such thing as a maintenance free roofing system.
Some roofs are hard to walk on, either because the roofing product is fragile, breakable, dentable, or slippery, as well as safety is always of key importance for the individual who need to perform work on a roof. Safety equipment should be used by professionals, or do it yourself types, no matter what the roof steepness. But steeper roofs usually will require professionals to perform the maintenance tasks from time to time.
Key issues of roof maintenance are keeping the roof free of debris build-up, and keeping the rain-water flowing without dams, obstacles, or diversion. Diversions of rain water flow can cause leaks in many types of roofs, and any debris build up on a roof may cause roofing material warranties to be voided. Debris build up does not look good for a home's curb appeal, and such debris can lead to the growth of algae, fungus, moss, and other lichens, which in itself will look very unpleasant, as well as contribute to diversion of water flow, and potential cause of leakage. Sometimes, these natural growths can also lead to degradation and pre-mature failure of roofing materials and or their finishing or paints.
In the Pacific Northwest and Western British Columbia regions, we live in a rain forest type climate. Algae, fungus, moss, tree sap residue, and algae staining are all naturally occurring and normally expected realities to end up on our roofs in this region. Some types of shingles advertise that they are "algae resistant", but the reality is that most such copper additives do very little to prevent algae growth or moss growth on the roofs. 3M Corp puts out a "Scotchgard Algae Resistant granulation" formula for a few brands in our area, and this added algae resistant formula has proven to be best of class amongst all shingle manufacturer's recipes.
The amount of copper added by some shingle manufacturer companies, such as IKO, are so little that it seems misrepresenting to "claim" that their shingles are algae resistant. We have heard directly from one of their insiders that if one adds one copper granule to an entire batch of shingles, then one can claim that their shingles are more algae resistant than had they not added that granule. They offer a 5 year Algae Resistance warranty, yet it is rare for any algae to appear inside of five years anyhow. Scotchgard offers a 20 year Algae Resistance Warranty on shingles such as Malarkey's Northwest XL-AR Scotchgard, or their Legacy AR Scotchgard, but in order to do this 3M Corp requires a certain minimum percentage of copper granules to be part of every shingle.
Algae resistant shingles such as Scotchgard type offerings do not have free exposed copper on the face of the shingles. Instead, a certain percentage of the colored ceramic coated aggregate granules are actually copper based instead of simple rock aggregate based prior to being coated and baked in the pigment. Those copper based granules create an electrolytic charge on wet roofs that hampers the growth of certain algaes. The black green algae that is targeted usually creates a dirty looking black streaked look on older shingles. This formulation does little if anything for green algae, nothing for moss, and all consumers need to know this before they have expectations on a roof being "free" of algae on their roofs. These copper formulations do not hurt a roof however, so they are considered a good option to include as part of the roofing specification.
So to prevent more of the algae and moss growth we almost certainly get on our roofs in this region, it is still a good idea to add zinc moss control strips (or copper), as the solution of copper or zinc free running on the roof surface is a better deterrent than any copper shingle granule additive. This is for wood roofs as well as fiberglass asphalt shingle roofs. These zinc strips do not look architecturally appealing, but they do serve a practical function. Always keep in mind that the further down a roof they are installed, the faster the zinc dissolves away in the water-flow and the more effective will be the growth control. When one installs these strip directly below the hip or ridge caps, there is no much water flow over the strips, and therefore they are not very effective. If one installs the zinc strips 3 rows down from the ridge, one gets triple the rain-flow over the zinc, and therefore far more free running zinc solution to flow over the roof below, and now it works far better.
But no matter what one uses to resist algae growth, our climate for this region will always trump the prevention. So we at The Roofing Store have gone to work to find products that can be used to clean the roofs and bring back your roofing material to an improved newer look again.
Wash Safe Canada:
Wash Safe "Roof Wash"
To treat roof moss:
Apply a coat of Roof Wash to the infected area of the roof. Once applied, you now have the option of letting Mother Nature rinse the roof for you or rinsing it yourself. If you do not clean your roof the day of the application you will notice that all of the moss that was sprayed will be turning brown and drying up. This happens very quickly, within the first week after the treatment. The good news at that point is that the moss has stopped eating away at your roof. Now all there is to do is to wait for the sun, wind and rain to remove the moss. With every day that goes by you will notice less and less moss on the roof until the roof is free of the moss. The process usually takes 60-90 days before the moss is completely gone.
To treat black roof stains and streaks:
Apply a coat of Roof Wash to the infected area of the roof. Once applied, you now have the option of letting Mother Nature rinse the roof for you or rinsing it yourself. If you want to see how much black algae and mold is coming off your roof, catch some of the gutter runoff in a bucket. The water will be black and when it settles there will be coating on the bottom that will look similar to mud. If you do not clean your roof the day of the application, you will notice with every passing storm that your roof stains will become lighter and lighter.
A reapplication in some severe cases is necessary 60 to 90 days later to achieve optimum results. The most important factor in this whole process is that after that first application the algae or mold will no longer be eating away at your roof shingles, so right away you have solved the biggest problem. Now you just need to wait until the rain rinses away the mold and black algae.
If you are cleaning a cedar shingle or shake roof you may want to check out our Cedar Wash. We have formulated some ingredient changes to help brighten the wood shingles after the cleaning, and make them look newer again.
We stock this product in 2 lb cans, our popular 10 pound cans, and for commercial clients or for those unusually large jobs, it is also available in 40 pound pails. A 10 pound can will normally do a 3000 square foot roof cleaning application.
Tile Roof Wash
Being based in the North where tile roofs are less common, we had to employee the help of a Florida roof cleaning company to test our newest roof cleaning product that was formulated specifically for tile roofs. We quickly found that water travels differently down a tile roof than down an asphalt shingle roof. The top of the tile is round and forms a ridge, so water drains off the ridge and into channels where it runs down the roof. The water obviously does not stay on the ridge or the side of the tile long before it is in the channel being transferred down the roof, unlike an asphalt shingle roof where water runs smoothly and uniformly down over the shingles and off the roof. The shape of the tile also caused a problem. The problem was that our roof cleaning product flowed off the tile too quickly, only cleaning minimally before ending up in the channel. We added a natural product that we use in some of our other cleaners to help the product linger on vertical surfaces.
By adding this natural adhesive to the roof tile cleaner the product now sticks 100% longer to the tops and sides of the roof tiles thus giving our Tile Wash Wash time to penetrate every pore and crevice before running off. The difference was dramatic, and the formulation of the Tile Roof Wash was complete. Our Tile Roof Wash removes dirt, grime, mold, mildew, black algae, moss and lichen by attacking the "roots" and weakening the fungus for an easy clean that last longer than traditional cleaners because of the ability to adhere to tile longer, allowing it to clean more effectively prior to rinsing. As with all our products, you do not need to worry about covering or wetting down your plants as our products will not harm the landscaping.
We stock this product in 2 lb cans, our popular 10 pound cans, and for commercial clients or for those unusually large jobs, it is also available in 40 pound pails. A 10 pound can will normally do a 3000 square foot roof cleaning application.
Cedar Wash
Cedar chair before treatment on right, and after on left.
This hydrogen peroxide based formulation with natural wood brighteners continues to receive compliment after compliment. The alternative has always been chlorine bleach or TSP but the problem with those cleaners are that they leave the wood surface with a very unnatural bleached look, and rarely comes out uniformly clean, with a "blotchy" look that looks as if a bucket of bleach was thrown on the house.
Our cedar cleaning product does not contain bleach nor does it require bleach to be added. Cedar Wash comes in a powdered form that when mixed with water creates millions of tiny little bubbles. These bubbles loosen all mold and fungus that may be attached to the wood surfaces. Our advantage is the natural adhesive, that we added, to keep the product on vertical or steep pitched surfaces long enough to clean before running off. A light brushing with a scrub brush and a hose powered rinse is all that is needed to clean up your cedar shakes or shingle and save them from rotting away.
Pressure washing cedar shakes or shingles without prior treatment of cedar can actually make your situation worse. Direct pressure can imbed mold spores into the wood and if you are applying a stain or sealant the mold will come back through. High pressure power washing is not advised as when the pressure hits the surface, it spreads the mold.
Like cutting dandelions with your lawn mower to remove them from your lawn, untreated pressure washing is a short term solution at best. If the mold is treated first with the Cedar Wash then pressure washed very lightly, (no more than 1,000 psi) with the spray angled down, as rain would fall, the cleaning process is accelerated and will not spread the mold nor damage or scar the cedar. Unlike chlorine bleach and TSP the Cedar Wash will not harm the vegetation around the house. It also will not stain any painted surface or fabric that it may come in contact with.
It is called Cedar Wash but it is a wood cleaner and works great on log homes, boat teak, barn board or any natural wood surface. It's a "must use" prior to sealing or staining any wood surface.
We stock this product in 2 lb cans, our popular 10 pound cans, and for commercial clients or for those unusually large jobs, it is also available in 40 pound pails. A 10 pound can will normally do a 3000 square foot roof cleaning application.
ECO Friendly Roof Cleaning Products:
Using Hydrogen Peroxide
Did you know there were so many uses for Hydrogen Peroxide?
We find it kind of funny really, that there are so many different ways to use hydrogen peroxide. It's a bit like the old Saturday Night Live skit about the (made up) product Shimmer. "New Shimmer is a floor wax", "No! It's a dessert topping". The joke , of course, is that a floor wax and a dessert topping seem impossible in one product.
Here are some of the uses of hydrogen peroxide and why we developed our cleaning products around it :
 | As a mouthwash and gargle |
| In relaxing baths and foot baths |
| To sanitize toothbrushes and dentures |
| As a produce wash, to keep fruits and veggies fresh longer |
| To disinfect compost pails, cutting boards, and scrub brushes |
| For washing carpets, floors, and windows |
| Cleaning wooden decks |
| Removing mold |
| To brighten laundry & remove stains |
| To clean out aquariums |
| To keep the water clean in fish farming |
| In gardening: As a plant fertilizer and plant spray |
| To clean swimming pools and spas, as an alternative to chlorine |
| Taxidermists use it to clean and whiten bones |
| It's used in making cheese |
| Aseptic packaging (those weird little boxes that food comes in) are sprayed with it |
| It is used in products for whitening teeth, treating acne, and cleaning contact lenses |
| Oh, and it's also great for cleaning cuts and skin infections! You know, like the brown bottles at the drug store! |
Now, this is kind of wonderful, really. Right there, hydrogen peroxide is very practical to have around.
But there's much more to it -- you see, hydrogen peroxide also has a wonderful quality of being good for the environment. This benefit goes deep and wide. It is good for rivers, it is good for plants, and it can be used to replace chlorine bleach, ammonia, and other chemicals which are harmful to rivers and plants.
Copyright 2012
Updated 26 September 2012