Two common reasons why people call roof plumbers

There are a number of reasons why people seek out the help of plumbers who specialise in performing plumbing work on roofs. Read on to find out about these reasons.

The dome strainer on their flat roof's drainage basin has fallen off.

Rainwater can accumulate rather rapidly on any type of flat surface, including on top of a flat roof. Because of this, most roofing systems of this kind have drainage basins, which are positioned in the middle of these roofs. Despite their name, 'flat' roofs with this feature are actually very slightly sloped, with the lowest part of the gradient positioned at this drainage basin; this ensures that rainfall that drops onto the rooftop flows down into this drain.

People who have a roof like this often end up calling plumbers because their dome strainer, which sits on top of the roof drain and prevents debris or wild animals from entering the drain, has been displaced by the wind or some type of airborne object. This problem needs to be dealt with quickly, as without a fully intact strainer in place, the exposed drain could become blocked up (if for example, lots of leaves from nearby trees land in the drain or if any rodents or other wild animals climb in and get stuck) and any rain that then falls on the roof will not drain away but will instead form large puddles, which could potentially damage the roof surface if left there for too long.

In this situation, the roofing professionals would need to remove any blockages that formed whilst the dome strainer was not in place and then retrieve and reattach this component.

They want to redirect rainwater from their roof to a rainwater tank. 

Roof plumbers are also often contacted by people who want to adopt a more responsible and eco-friendly approach to water consumption by using rainwater for certain activities (such as washing their patios, driveways and fences, or flushing their toilets), rather than using their property's water mains. A plumber can help people to achieve this goal by installing a rainwater collection system, consisting of a downpipe attached to the roof through which rainwater from the rooftop can flow and then be saved in a large tank.

Whilst sometimes, people who have these water collection systems installed prefer to collect pailfuls of rainwater from their tanks as and when they need it, others choose to have their plumbers add a second plumbing pipe to the tank, which connects it to their house's water mains and thus enables them to pump it straight into their homes and use it for things like showering and flushing their toilets, without having to physically scoop  water out of the tank and bring it inside every time they need do these things.


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