How to clean a roof

Cleaning a roof is very easy to do. It's also very easy to make a big mess of things. I mean, the reason you're cleaning the roof is so you don't have to replace it, right? Well if you're not careful you will have no other choice but to replace your roof and now! Read on and I'll explain how to do it the right way.

There is no one way to clean your roof.  Of course we have different levels of dirty roofs.  Some may just be stained with mold, and others may have a ton of algea.

Cleaning just a moldy roof can be very easy.  As we all know, mold can be killed in seconds with regular house-hold bleach.  But bleach alone is way too harsh on your roof.  For this reason a roof cleaner would be a better choice to use.

Now, many home owners and contractors believe using a power washer is the answer.  This is simply not true.  For starters, using a power washer on your roof could very easly rip your shingles right off.

Below is a pictures of all the roof granules that came off after a so called roof cleaner used a power washer to clean a roof that I had to replace.

In short, when a new roof is installed there is something on the back side of the shingle called sealing strips.  These strips heat up from the sun, yes even in the winter and seal each shingle to the next. Thus preventing the shingle from lifting up in high winds.  So, to use a pressure washer would be way to easy to separate that seal, allowing the water to get right under the shingle.  Needless to say that shingle will fly right off your roof.  Not to mention using a pressure washer you will remove most of those very important granulars (small stones) that make up a shingle.

The best way to clean a roof is to use a roof cleaning chemical and let is sit.  With most good cleaners that's all you need to do.  Just spray it on and leave it.  It will rinse off the next time it rains. 

Here's how I do it.

I mix up my cleaner in bug sprayer container and spray it all over the roof.  This can be done either while walking the roof or some hi-tech equipment I have - I can actually spray it from the ground without ever getting on the roof.  But of course, if the roof is really bad I may have to walk the roof with a power washer, but set at a very low pressure, about 400 psi about 12 inches away. 

If you're hiring a professional. 

Always get references.  Preferably from people who have had their roofs cleaned a month plus ago. This way, you will know know if the contractor caused / created leaks in your house.

What do you use ?

Roof Sparkle has the answers on how to clean a roof and clean it without damaging your roof. And the best part without using any pressure what so ever. How they do not sell their product on the open market as of yet. Roof Sparkle comes in for the day and kills all that nasty stuff on your roof. Now kills is the key word here. Once the mold is dead it's removed. Instead of just moving it around with a so called power washer that their competition uses Roof Sparkle kills and simply rinses it off while also killing all the algae in the gutters. Here is a link to their site ROOF SPARKLE.COM