Rainy season is almost here

 The rainy season is almost here, are you prepared? You are probably wondering how you prepare for rain, but you only have to look over your head, if you are reading this in your house. The roofs in most houses here in the Yucatan, are poured concrete over blocks set in Vigas (beams). Concrete has the nasty habit of developing fine cracks and slowly erodes over time when exposed directly to sunlight and other elements. That is why I think it is important to seal the roof. If water does penetrate the roof there is more opportunity for rebar and reinforcing wires to rust and create issues down the road, that could have been avoided. The other benefit is heat reduction. If you paint your roof with a white impermeable coating, it will reflect the suns energy, instead of allowing it to heat your roof over the course of the day. Impermeable coatings come in 2 common colours white and terracotta and according to the price you pay are good for up to 10 years (so they say). Almost all the coatings are water based and usually the first coat is thinned considerably, to allow it to suck into the roof surface. However, the roof has to be clean and free of major defects. Lets face it, how often to you go up on the roof to check it, but it is one of the most important parts of your house and expensive to replace. Therefore, you should inspect it for cracks regularly, repair them and make sure the coating is in good shape. Failure to do that will sooner or later cause damage to the roof and leaks will occur. The point being, NOW is the time to make sure it is good, not when it is pouring rain and you see problems. The roof needs to be dry to put a coating on. In my opinion the average home owner can do this himself, if they want to save money and it is a very good value for the time and money spent.