Browse Forums Renovation + Home Improvement 1 Jun 20, 2014 1:21 pm We currently have a tiled roof, considering changing to colorbond. One concern we have is losing phone reception while in the house - we know people that have changed to colorbond and are no longer able to use their mobile phone in the house. From what I have read this is mostly due to the sarking/blanket? I was wondering if you could use colorbond without a blanket or any sarking, and instead double up on roof bats or something. I know it wouldn't be as effective, but is it okay to do this? Or is there some reception friendly blanket that you can use? Re: Reception with metal/colorbond roof 2Jun 20, 2014 1:26 pm One of the reasons to put sarking under a metal roof is to prevent condensation dripping onto the ceiling. If you are in a primary reception area (good signal strength, line of site to phone tower) your mobile phone will work indoors. If you are in a fringe reception area (poor signal strength, ) your mobile phone will not work indoors. Some (not all) phones have provisions for an external antenna. The antenna has a magnetic base which simply sticks onto your metal gutter or fascia with a lead which is brought inside and plugged into your mobile phone. Re: Reception with metal/colorbond roof 3Jun 20, 2014 2:41 pm There are other options for problematic mobile phone reception as well - dependent on who your carrier is - that involves use of a device that provides full strength internal mobile coverage and routes your calls over your broadband connection. Completed a knock down and rebuild in northern Melbourne. Handover completed 27/09/2013 and now moved in. Re: Reception with metal/colorbond roof 4Jun 20, 2014 4:02 pm Metal roofs irrespective on whether you have sarking on not can reduce signal. The best why to determine if you will be effected is to get a signal reading inside your house. You may live closer to a mobile site than you think so it shouldn't be a problem. Signal still comes through windows. Re: Reception with metal/colorbond roof 5Jun 20, 2014 5:09 pm At the moment I get around 3 bars, but this is also dependent on the phone so not necessarily a good indicator. To be honest I would rather have tiles than have to resort to some other solution, I do a bit of business from home so I need something reliable that doesn't involve mucking around. Do you think it is more the sarking or metal sheets themselves that cause the reception issues? New tile roofs probably have sarking anyway don't they? edit: Actually you can get antennas that don't need to be plugged into your phone can't you? I guess if they work well maybe there is no point worrying about it. Re: Reception with metal/colorbond roof 6Jun 20, 2014 8:40 pm Either the roof or the sarking on its own will block signal. Even some types of glass will block it out. To be honest it may not be that bad as while the metal roof and sarking block out signal they also block out interference so while the signal is lower so is the interference. Telstra as a repeater station you buy for about $500 which will work good if it did become a problem. Re: Reception with metal/colorbond roof 7Jun 20, 2014 8:50 pm Actually we have our TV aerial inside our roof space at the moment, and when it rains I can't get half of the channels, so I guess our absorbant tiles aren't much better as they are! Maybe I'll just suck it up and get a repeater, would prefer to go with a lighter roof material than tiles. Re: Reception with metal/colorbond roof 8Jun 20, 2014 9:02 pm HouseOB Actually we have our TV aerial inside our roof space at the moment, and when it rains I can't get half of the channels, so I guess our absorbant tiles aren't much better as they are! Maybe I'll just suck it up and get a repeater, would prefer to go with a lighter roof material than tiles. there are many different factors at play here. The reason for the rain causing problems is rain is block a little bit more of the signal and you dont have enough reserve to over come the additional losses. If your in a good coverage area then this could indicate a bad install. Your house roof does not show rusting other than some surface rust on the flashings. In my opinion you dont need to replace or paint the roof other than treat surface rust… 1 10238 You should pressure clean your roof first and make sure the paint you buy also is anti mould. 4 18582 Fine with me... just let 'em step in with some affordable (but good) gear... 12 5499 |