BEST WAY TO CLEAN A SHOWER

Our roof is tiled with artificial slates. They are made of some sort of slightly porous ceramic. They are coated with paint when they are new. Since our roof about 25 years old, the paint has disappeared, leaving the slightly pourous roof slates, and quite a lot of moss which has grown on top.

Salesmen come to our door to offer roof-painting services. They swear blind that the roof is probably leaking, and that the roof-boarding, metal frame and walls of the house will be damaged. They are probably right. From standing on the roof it seems that the boarding is not as strong as it was - a bit spongey. From the inside, there is still no water getting through, but it will not be long.

Since the moss has to be removed first, painting the roof is quite a big job.

Another company, the maker of the house, recommended putting another metal roof on top.

After surveying the options we found a place that would retile the roof using artificial slates (a rare service these days since so many homes use either ceramic or metal tiles) for about the same price as having it painted.

But all the same, that would be a cool $13000 USD.

So, partly due to experiences on top of a barn when I was 17, I tried painting a small area of the roof mysefl, with bitumen (as shown above).

Special slate paint is on sale, but it is just exterior paint and I agree it would require that the moss be removed. This would involve steam-cleaning the roof, hiring or purchasing a steam cleaner, and a lot of work.

Bitumen on the other hand seems to sink into the moss and tiles leaving a not particularly attratctive but seemingly waterproof surface of tar. The other thing is that it is very cheap, only 28 dollars for large bucket sized cans. I think that 4 cans would be sufficient. The special roofing tile paint is 4 times the price. We could paint it on with brooms.

So do you think that I should paint my roof with bitumen?

If we don't like it we could always have the roof retiled.

A NEW VISUAL arts exhibition has opened in Dublin which features over 90 artists from five continents.

Dublin Contemporary 2011 includes a range of talks, tours and special events in conjunction with a wide range of exhibits.

Four main galleries are participating in the event – the Douglas Hyde Gallery, the Hugh Lane, the National Gallery of Ireland and the Royal Hibernian Academy – and a major exhibition called The Office of Non-Compliance is housed in Earlsfort Terrace (I have obtained a press pass and hope to visit next week).

The Iveagh Gardens are being transformed into a sculpture garden throughout the six-week event.

Meanwhile, out on the city’s streets, artist Katie Holten has been leaving a series of hand-painted ceramic tiles bearing lines from On The Nature of Things by Lucretius.