keeping ceilings of tiled roofs clean?

OK... I just finished putting insulation into my ceiling (finally decided I'd bite the bullet and pay the moeny):(

Anyway, while I was up there, I spent days (probably weeks actually) cleaning all the dust and pine needles out of the ceiling (looked like about 50 years worth........seriously, got about 2 wheelie bins worth of crap out!!

So, I had a look up there last week, and the insulation's already starting to get pine needles through it :(

The house is about 1950s, with Jaywoth concrete tiles..... Does anyone know if there is any way to keep the majority of the dust/pine needles out? I have heard of people stapling sisalation to the underside of the rafters? is this going to cause any problems?

Cheers,

Chris

On newer houses (epending on roof pitch) they would put a insulation blanket between the rafters ant the tile battens. So I recon the cheapes option would be to get some builders wrap or similar and cut into strips and staple between the rafters. Hopefully someone else may have some more advice ... but I wouldn't think it would have any negative side effects.

The fine black dust in a roof space usually contains a lot of lead (and other nasties) from the pre-unleaded fuel days.
You can get professionals to vacuum it out for your health's sake.

thanks John,

I already cleaned out most of the dust (just brushed it out, but wore a particulate/gas mask just in case). What I'm looking to do now is keep the dust/pine needles out (once they get stuck in the insulation, they won't be easy to clean out!!!) :(

Cheers

Chris,

Putting in sarking [sisalation] after the roof goes on is a job that is really the pitts [used to do it for a quid in my younger days]

Pick a cool day and start about 4 am

Drink plenty of water, because its going to get hot. Did a job once and the attic temperature went up to about 56 by 9.00am.

Cut the sisalation - use double sided silver- to the length of your run. You used to be able to get fixings specially for the job, They were about the size of a 50c piece with 3 prongs stamped out of them, a little like a gang nail. If not available pieces of hardboard cut into about 3mm square. Use clouts to drive through the hardboard and into the rafters.

You can make life a lot easier if you pre drill the hardboard so the clout is a snug fit. Put the clouts into the hardwboard before you get in the cieling. You will save yourself a lot of grief later

Start at the apex and work down, overlap each run by about 50mm.

When completed, it will waterproof your roof, enchance the insulation like you wouldn't want to believe..........have fun

Colin Howkins
Graceville Qld

You can still get the 3 pronged thingies ... they use them for shade cloth and builders wrap now too.

Funnily enough those three pronged clip thingies are called "foil clips". I paid $13 for a box of 500.

Hi,

thanks for all the replies:U

so it will be OK just to nail/ "foil clip" the sisalation directly to the underside of the rafters?
It doesn't need to go between the rafters and the battens?

thanks

chris

Hi

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chris718

So, I had a look up there last week, and the insulation's already starting to get pine needles through it :(
Chris

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...And your problem is???

Sorry I just had to ask :) Why on earth would you want to go to all that trouble, effort and cost, to prevent "two wheelie bins" worth of dust and pine needles that take *50 years* to accumulate?

The house may not be standing in another 50 years. Would you think the demolishers or potential future buyers would stand back and think "gee isn't the roof space CLEAN!"

Are you REALLY going to staple the foil to the rafters right down at the bottom of the rafter where it is nailed to the top plate?

The fringe benefit of course is that you will improve the insulation properties of the house. The air circulation in the roof space is less, so if you have any vents into the roof space you may need to extend them out above the tiles.

The sisalation is supposed to go above the rafters and below the battens, but I am sure you don't want to take the tiles off - do you?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MrFixIt

Are you REALLY going to staple the foil to the rafters right down at the bottom of the rafter where it is nailed to the top plate?

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well, I had to get in there to do the wiring, and to clean it out, so yes, I would...:U

I'm not really concerned about the dust, more the pine needles....especially because I've got LV downlights 5 of the rooms. I figured because I have cutout areas in the insulation around the downlights, the pine needles might concentrate in these areas, and increase fire risk......

I don't care what future buyers think (although if I was buying a house, and looked in the roofspace and it looked nice and clean, it'd at least make me think the house was looked after), but after all the effort I've gone to to rewire/replumb/insulate etc, I thought it may be an easy way of keeping it clean, and insulating better at the same time.

Cheers,

Chris

Chris, as Colin said, that is a really hard job to do especially at this time of the year.
If it is the pine needles you are worried about, have you considered doing something about the tree? (maybe it's not on your property so you are limited to what you can do)
The thing is if the needles are getting through the tiles they will build up between the new sarking and the tiles, possibly causing other problems and definately becoming a fire hazard.
My suggestion is (if you can't replace the tree) try to seal the insulation by spraying it with a mixture of PVA and water using a 5 litre garden sprayer, once it dries it will leave a clear skin that binds the fibres on the top of the insulation. They do this with cellulose insulation to stop it blowing around in the roof space but the advantage is that the needles should be easier to pick up when you do it from time to time.

If you need to get under the insulation for any reason you still can by cutting through the skin.

You may need to play around with the mixture to get it to work and be sprayable.

Good luck.

Alan M

my god !, what do you do for a living?.... i wish i had this much useless time on my hands.

actually i do, for $70 AN HOUR I"

for $70 an hour, ill run a bead of liquid nails between every row of tiles, guarenteed to seal it permanently

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crackerwoody

my god !, what do you do for a living?.... i wish i had this much useless time on my hands.

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I'm trying to work out who you're having a go at here crackerwoody (me or "make it work").... either way, thanks for your constructive comments...:~:no:

FYI, I work until at least 5 every day, then am up until at least midnight most nights working on the house, so NO, I don't have "useless time" either!

why not chop the damn tree down ,get it milled up to useable sizes, buy a lathe and bandsaw, and instead of sweeping out the roof cavity ,you can make some bowls etc.i used to get old ladys who used to vacuam the ceilings so it was nice and clean for me to install their air cond,ps if you are worried about pine needles around your drop lights get some 20 ltr plastic drums and cut them into 3 sideways put around lights blob of silicon to stop moving, cover with flyscreen and large cable ties.bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robyn2839

why not chop the damn tree down.....

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That is what I was getting at but I was trying to be a bit more subtle about it.

Alan M

the tree is entirely on our land, so thats no prob... it is a decent size tree though, and I wouldn't want to cut it myself (close to power lines and house:( ).... and at the moment (and for the fnear future), I won't have the money to pay someone else to cut it down

it's probably a "significant tree" too....