Thoughtful design, the appropriate product and regular maintenance will prolong the life of your ColorCote® roofing and cladding system
Design Issues
The design of your house will affect the life of your pre-painted roofing and cladding. It is best to avoid overhangs and designs that create unwashed areas. These are not naturally washed down by rainwater allowing dirt, salts and other corrosive elements to build up.
Good design can get rid of most unwashed areas at the planning stage. You also need to think of how the roof is going to be maintained. All roofs need to be washed down on a regular basis so you need to think of how you are going to access the roof. If the pitch of the roof is too steep to walk on safely you might have to hire a cherry picker or crane every time maintenance is required.
Orientation of the roof is important too, particularly in severe environments. It is important when looking at the aspect of the roof that the metal profile is protected from the effects of salt-laden air being driven in from the sea under the roof profile and accelerating corrosion. In severe and very severe environments it is also important that the right roof profile is chosen.
In such exposed environments care should also be taken when installing spouting. The spouting profile needs to be correctly fixed to prevent corrosive wind-driven water and salts being driven up under the sheets of roofing and causing possible early product failure.
Spouting, valleys and low pitched roofs also need to have the correct fall to prevent ponding which can accelerate potential corrosion.
The underside of all pre-painted metal roofing, including soffits, should be enclosed. The underside paint system is usually only a wash coat which is not designed for exterior exposure and has only limited corrosion resistance.
Maintenance
All roofing and cladding products require regular maintenance to keep them looking good, to prolong their life and to meet the terms of any product warranty.
The best way to reduce the amount of maintenance required is to pick the right product for the environment. The extremes of temperature, harsh UV rays and salt-laden sea air all eventually take their toll on all New Zealand buildings.
That’s why it’s important you get the correct pre-painted metal roofing and cladding system for your house whether you’re living in the city, beside the sea or out in the country.
The harsher the environment the more important it is that a regular maintenance schedule is followed – particularly regular washing down of roofs and cladding -- to maximise service life and appearance.