Last year in January, I came home one day in a pouring rainstorm to find that water was seeping into my residence through one of the ceiling light fixtures. We were able to deal with it temporarily by placing a bucket under the drip and hoping the problem wouldn’t get worse, but it was still a very unsettling thing to realize that the place you live in is not waterproof.

A month later, the problem got worse when another heavy rainstorm caused much more damage: water was leaking through the roof, through the walls, and pooling in the upstairs carpeting. I woke up on a Sunday morning in February to find a lake growing in the carpet. Fortunately, I have one of those Bissel carpet shampooers, which just happens to be a great tool for sucking water out of carpets, and it definitely earned its keep on that morning. I was glad I have that shampooer, because without it, I don’t know how I would have kept the rising flood from getting much worse than it did. As it was, there was still enough water to soak through the upstairs floor and into the downstairs.

The leaking roof meant that those early-2008 rains caused a lot of damage both inside and out, and for months afterward, contractors came to replace the roof (which hadn’t been replaced in 25 years, and I was told the roof was only designed for 15-20 years of life, so it was definitely time), repair the drywall, and paint. Now the place looks brand new, and the painted walls are a brighter, more inviting color – the downstairs had been a pale grey and is now what the painters call “sandy beach” (although my kids tease me that it looks pink), and it looks remarkably more welcoming than what had been there before – so all’s well that ends well, even though it was an inconvenience having all those workers around for such a long time.

A month or two after this was all over, another rainfall showed me that the roof repairs had blocked up the drainage off of the roof, causing the roof to flood. Now, you might be wondering how a roof can flood. Well, you see, my roof isn’t an ordinary roof; it’s actually a deck. The following pictures are a little old – in fact they’re from when I first moved here, because I already have these pictures and I’m too lazy to take new ones – but they’ll give you an idea of what the rooftop deck area looks like, more or less:

As you can see, the rooftop is enclosed on all sides by a short wall, which means that if there isn’t adequate drainage, potentially a flood up there could be a very bad thing. So, I had a plumber friend of my neighbor’s repair the drain. (Probably I shouldn’t have needed to, since the guys who did the original contracting job were at fault, but … well, trust me, this way was just easier for lots of reasons.)

I’m extremely glad I did, because it’s now February again, which is heavy-rainfall season in southern California. It’s been raining here for the past several days. A couple of days during that time I went up to look at the roof to make sure everything was okay, and it was, which was reassuring. On Friday – two days ago – the rainfall got especially heavy, but I didn’t think there was anything to be concerned about because I had checked on the roof occasionally to make sure all was well, so I knew I could relax.

Well, I thought I could relax … until water started leaking into the upstairs again. It wasn’t much, just some drips around a door frame, but still!

After all that repair work, I thought, this place still isn’t waterproof??

So I went up to the roof to see what was going on, and that’s when I discovered that the entire deck was six inches deep in cold, cold water. That’s when I really freaked out. In a panic, and in bare feet, I went out with a bucket and started to bail water over the sides – until I realized that there was so much water there that this approach would take all night.

That’s when I went over to the drain to see if I could see why it wasn’t working like I thought it should, only to find that the drain cover had been dislodged and a big pile of leaves was blocking the drain.

Thank god, I thought. I can fix this!

I pulled the leaves out of the drain – and there were a lot of them &ndash and replaced the drain cover, and thank goodness, the water started draining again. Not long afterward, the wading pool that had formed on my roof had subsided, and life was normal again. With the crisis over, I went inside to take a long, hot shower to revive my frozen hands and feet.

The next day, I told this story to my neighbor. He pointed out something I hadn’t thought of at all: with all that extra water weight on the roof, he says I’m lucky the roof didn’t collapse. Yikes!

I have now learned my lesson: I will never again procrastinate clearing the fallen leaves off of that deck area. A drain cover is a good thing to have up to a point, but it can’t do its job when it’s covered in a huge pile of leaves.

Now I know.

A little “candy” for those fighting for the landmarked Corn Exchange Building. We have seen the former Mount Morris Bank Building incomplete and deteriorating in real time and as a fully complete building in sketches but rare is the photo of the building as it once was. Only on Harlem Bespoke will one find the complete collection of photos from circa 1920 and 1930 showing different views of the building from various vantage points. The top three photos provide a great side profile of the building with its stepped, pitched gable roof and chimneys peering from the avenue sides of the building. The last photo is the complete front facade of the building with its bay windows, parapets, miniature gables and multiple chimney stacks in full view on 125th Street.

Today, the roof is completely missing and no eyes have seen the complete building for about three decades. The structure reminds us of the Chelsea Hotel with all of its chimneys, peaks, parapets and red brick facade. And to the Architects who are working on putting it back together, note the original sketch is not true to the final design since the large, stepped pitched gable was added to the side street profile and missing from the original drawings. To read about the battle to save this building, see the original sketch and witness the current state of the building, by following the previous post: LINK

As a professional Roof Cleaning St. Louis company, it amazes me to see how many roof cleaners are starting to clean roofs in the St. Louis area. And what amazes me even more is they are tearing up roofs in the process when roof cleaning St. Louis. This article is going to discuss some of the myths about roof cleaning St. Louis company.

The First myth is using a pressure washer on a roof. There is NEVER a need to use a pressure washer on the roof. A lot of new companies have pictures of a guy up on a roof, blasting away at the shingles, removing the algae and removing the granules along with it. Now instead of saving you thousands of dollars in replacement cost, you will be out the high cost of replacement of your roof because some guy that claims he is a roof cleaning St. Louis company just tore up your shingles.

The Second myth is some roof cleaning St. Louis companies are telling homeowners they have to brush the shingles using a stiff bristled brush to remove the algae. The same thing happens here. When brushing the shingles, you are causing the granules to loosen from the shingles as well, causing the shingle to fail faster than what it needs to. So now, your out thousands again because the roof cleaning St. Louis company chose a ill effective way to clean your roof.

The third Myth is some roof cleaning St. Louis companies will tell you they will treat your roof, but then wait on the rain to wash everything off. Your paying for a roof cleaning right? You want it cleaned, not just treated then left. That would be like soaping up in the shower and waiting until it rains to wash the soap off. This is one of the most ridiculous things we hear as a professional roof cleaning St. Louis company. So many guys that claim they are a professional roof cleaning St. Louis company want to hurry up too fast and collect a check for a ½ job and get out of there. That is nonsense. Make sure your roof also gets rinsed off after the roof cleaning St. Louis detergent is put down. And make sure they are not using a pressure washer to rinse off your roof either.

In the above statement, there is one exception. There are lichens that sometimes attach themselves to the roof. When the roof cleaning solution is applied, it will kill these lichens, but they have roots that are attached to the shingles. It usually takes 4-6 weeks for these to fall off on their own without doing damage to the shingles.

Roof alga is a continuing problem in many sections of the country. The alga flourishes in warm, humid climates and survives on the substances used in asphalt shingles. Over time rain carries the algae down the roof causing hideous black streaks. The alga does not allow the shingles to shield away heat like they need [...]

Black roof stains on asphalt shingles is an algae that can be killed and removed without harming the shingles. Roof cleaning is a service that is becoming more popular among homeowners whom have educated themselves on the issue.
Finding and trusting the right roof cleaning company can be tough if you aren’t educated. A few basic [...]

This roof cleaning Kirkwood MO project was completed using our low pressure roof cleaning method. As you can tell by the pictures, roof stains began to really take over this roof. As a premier roof cleaning St. Louis Company, we were able to restore this roof and remove the roof stains.