How often should I clean my roof?

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Several factors have to be considered when determining how often you should clean your roof. The first is what type of roof you have. We will start with concrete tile, which can vary from one type to the next. The most common concrete tiles are brushed, flat and barrel or s-tile. Brushed concrete tile has a rough finish and takes a long time to dry when wet. This means it requires more frequent cleanings, typically every two to three years or less depending on what type of cleaning is used. Flat concrete tile and barrel or s-tile are less porous and sometimes have a slurry or coating on the surface of the tile. When these tiles are new they usually will require there first cleaning at about five years. Pressure washing will erode the finish, which will reduce the amount of time between cleanings and ultimately over time require yearly cleanings. You can avoid etching your concrete roof tiles by utilizing our No Pressure Roof Cleaning system. By eliminating power washing you can expect to get three to five years out of every cleaning and extend the life of your roof.

 

The next type of roof we will discuss is asphalt composite shingle. This material is far more fragile than concrete tile. When first installed most shingle roofs will not require cleaning for seven to nine years. Unlike concrete tile it does not retain water and dry’s much faster when wet. High-pressure cleanings and even low pressure, which require a rinse, will destroy these delicate surfaces. Even the slightest rinse will loosen and remove the sandy gravel finish and expose the tar paper underneath to high heat from the sun. This will make the paper dry and brittle extending the time it takes to dry after rain. This results in more mildew growth per calendar year. Our No Pressure Roof Cleaning dissolves mildew without damaging the surface of asphalt composite shingles. Safe cleaning techniques will reduce the frequency of cleanings and extend the life of your roof.

Should I Pressure Wash My Tile Roof?

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In most cases, your roof is the most valuable part of your home. Utilizing safe cleaning techniques will help preserve your roof and avoid costly repairs. When you pressure clean your roof, you cause irreversible damage.

Lets start by talking about your concrete roof tile. Concrete is essentially sand, high pressure will remove this “sand” from the surface of your roof tile, causing the tile to erode and become faded and more porous. As a result, your roof will take longer to dry when it rains, which means the more you pressure clean your roof the more often you will have to clean it.

The amount of damage done also depends on what type of pressure cleaning you use. Surface cleaners (you know that round disc that has a brush on the edge) have a bar in the middle of them with two pressure washing tips on the end. These tips are angled which causes the bar to spin. It makes pressure cleaning much faster, but this bar can hit and crack protruding roof tiles. A single cleaning with a surface cleaner can leave you with dozens of broken roof tiles. Surface cleaners also leave mildew on the front edge of the tile and would require either chemical or a gun or wand to be effective.

Another method is to use a pressure cleaning gun or wand. This is by far the worst way to clean a roof. It takes much longer than using a surface cleaner and causes significantly more erosion of the surface. Also, when cleaning the edges of the tile the force can lift and loosen the tiles.

You wouldn’t clean you car with a brillo pad or a wire brush. That would ruin your paint, right? Well, pressure cleaning your roof is just a silly and causes the same amount of damage. So now you know, protect your investment and avoid pressure cleaning.

How Should I Clean My Shingle Roof?

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Shingle roofs are very fragile. Asphalt composite shingle is essentially a thick piece of paper dipped in tar with sand or gravel stuck to the exposed surface. This sand can easily loosen and separate from the shingle. The sand is what protects your underlayment and the “paper” the shingle is made from. Once the sand is removed, the sun will quickly dry out the tar and make your shingles brittle and prone to cracking.

So how do you safely remove mildew without removing the sand? Well, the manufacturers recommend using a chemical solution. By applying a solution to the roof, you can avoid damaging these delicate shingles. Our No Pressure Roof Cleaning works great at removing the mildew without harming the shingle. Because we don’t rinse off the roof after we apply the chemical, your roof will remain in new condition for many years.

Another benefit of our product is that it chemically dissolves mildew. Many other cleaning methods that require a rinse just “mow the lawn”. In other words, they just remove the surface mildew but leave behind mildew spores that quickly regrow on your roof’s surface. Because we are removing all the mildew, shingle roof cleanings typically last 7-10 years. This means over the life of the roof, you will only need a handful of cleanings, which is better for your budget and your roof.

Chemical Roof Cleaning?

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Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion when it comes to chemical roof cleaning. We receive countless calls from homeowners asking if we do chemical roof cleaning. The fact of the matter is, typically every roof cleaning company employs chemicals in their cleaning process.

The most traditional method is to apply chemical before using high-pressure to remove the mildew. Recently, people have begun to realize how harmful this is to the surface being cleaning and many companies have switched to low-pressure or soft wash. This is essentially the same technique involving higher concentrations of chemical with less pressure.

Our No Pressure Roof Cleaning involves no pressure. This makes it safe for the roofs surface. This is a chemical-only cleaning that requires no rinse and no-pressure for the chemical to clean your roof. So remember, you don’t want a chemical roof cleaning, you want a No Pressure Roof Cleaning.