A few weeks ago, there was this heavy downpour after dinner. We were all surprised when we heard water coming out of the ceiling. There's a leak in the roof and a big leak maybe because of the rushing water. We had collected more than 3 buckets of water in the living room floor. And since the rain hadn't stopped, we had to call the neighbor to check on the roof.. that night. What do you know, the roof drainage is clogged by bamboo leaves so the water overflows in the gutter to the ceiling. Now we are thinking of trimming the bamboo grove in the vacant lot beside our property. But having it trimmed will cost us big money because it is not easy to cut down long bamboo poles. The twigs of the bamboo are thorny and can injure.
We had a small tree that became a big 'un with thick branches We got a branch cutter and it cut through the thickness with ease Something like this ................... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Anvil-tel...528256?hash=item3d16bd9500:g:xXgAAOSwgY9XfBFt
@Corie Henson, take the necessary precautions to prevent injury as well as making sure you have medical aids on hand. Myself I would just trim only where needed to prevent further damage to the roof and/or purchase gutter guards to stop the leaves from piling up. If you don't get much wind that will blow the leaves away you could just make it a routine to brush them off lightly so that you don't displace the guards or use a leaf blower. First things first though, get that roof repaired, right?
Yes, I think you need to get the roof repaired and then, go with the expertise of whomever you hire to decide what to do next. Make sure that you have trusted professionals on hand to repair your roof and give you a fair estimate of what you need to do. You may want to get estimates from a few different roofing people. Leaking is not good, and unless your roof is guaranteed for a certain amount of time, be prepared to get your wallet out. I had some leaking once, but I had a new roof installed after the tornado, and it was within a week or so...so the contractors came back, found the leak and fixed it.
Several carpenters have checked our roof and they say the design has a flaw because the gutter is only 4 inches deep and has a tendency for the rainwater to overflow. And what makes it worse is the nearby bamboo grove which leaves are landing on the our roof and clogging the drainage (water spout). The verdict is to monitor the roof regularly for those leaves that clog the gutter. Here is the bamboo grove in the vacant lot beside our property. It is towering high about our house hence our roof is the target of the shedding of leaves... PS. The tree in the foreground is our mango tree which was trimmed when it was felled by a typhoon 2 years ago. You can see some fruits.
I don't care for the taste of mangoes, but that's a beautiful tree, and the fruit is very pretty. I worry about the trees by the roof here. They also sometimes scrape the siding of the house when the winds are high. I noticed the other day that the house next door has the same issue, because that's also a rent house, and the landlords here are slum lords. I had a roof leak at my last place due to Hurricane Ike, and had one here due to a plumbing issue, and they're no fun. I hope y'all get the roof repaired and figure out the gutter issue, because water can do a lot of damage.
The tough thing is that if the roof is not fixed now, it will cause further damage thus costing more to repair. I know it is a pain, but better now than later.
The bamboo trees seem further away in the photo than I imagined hopefully you have a one story house to be able to check the roof top for the leaves.
The mangoes in the trees kind of look like balloons. They are usually greenish when I see them in the store. I hope you can keep your gutters cleaned out from the bamboo leaves that come down. There are so many trees around here...that it seems like our gutters are always full of leaves. Over here we have companies like gutter guard and gutter helmet that an protect the gutters from those problems. Is that something you can get over there Corrie?
It's not unusual here to see houses with very large tarps covering them, either because the weather wasn't conducive to a roof replacement or because the home owner is saving up to be able to afford a new roof. Most people are opting for metal now that the cost of a metal roof has gone down to about equal to that of a shingle roof.
The mangoes are usually green and turn yellowish when ripe. But you see the reddish color of the mangoes, it may be the effect of the recent drought early this year. Mangoes love hot weather that is followed by cold weather, that induces the flowering although rain ruins the flowers. That mango in the lowest branch was about 10 inches long. It was very sweet and may I brag that I ate it all.. by myself. @Ken Anderson, we are also thinking of using a tarpaulin to cover the portion of our roof by the gutter side. However, the tarpaulin is expensive here and we are afraid that it would not last long. Our extended garage for our second car is covered by a tarpaulin with metal frame which was custom-built. I think it's not 4 years yet and there are already holes in the tarpaulin.
I had a tarp covering our carriage house for several years until we were able to get new roofing. Of course the squirrels managed to pierce holes in it which eventually became bigger when the strong winds occurred. I patched up those I could reach with the infamous Duck tape and then purchased a heavier tarp that was double the size and folded it over. That created added protection from the squirrels sharp nails. Granted the tarp was more expensive but it did the job until we replaced the roof. I still have the tarp.