You come home one day, check you mail and see that dreaded envelope with familiar letterhead peeking through. The last time you saw that envelope, you were forced to remove a giant oak tree encroaching on your neighbor’s yard to the tune of thousands of dollars. Sure enough, it is a notice from your homeowner’s association stating that your roof needs to be cleaned and does not meet the community’s standards.
What do you do? Grab your cell phone and call your brother in law with the pressure washer? Let him get up there and high pressure wash your roof? That will do the job, won’t it? After all, Jimmy down the street had his roof pressure washed a few months ago and it looks spectacular and so clean that it looks like new. In fact, you asked him if it was a new roof as you were out of town on business for a few days and may have missed the roofers. Now you’re thinking of having your roof pressure washed too. Big mistake!
Why You Should NOT Pressure Wash Your Roof
While it may be tempting to think that pressure washing your roof shingles is a quick and easy fix to get your homeowner’s association off your back and have your roof looking like new again, pressure washing your asphalt roof will actually do more harm than good and will shorten your roof’s life span. That is why you should never, under any circumstances pressure wash your roof shingles on your own or pay a company to do so.
The damage caused by pressure washing is not immediately noticeable. Pressure washing strips the granules from asphalt shingles, thereby stripping away years of your roof’s lifespan. These granules are what enable your roof to protect your home from the elements, like sun, excessive cold and heat, wind and rain.
An older roof has fewer granules to spare than a newer roof and let’s face it, older roofs are usually the ones that look like they could benefit most from a good cleaning. However, it is important to keep in mind that pressure washing an older roof is essentially destroying the roof and significantly shortening its life span.
If you must clean your roof, here are 4 ways to do so without harmful pressure washing:
1-Call the company who installed the roof or a reputable, licensed roofing company in your area.
2-Find out what specific chemicals the manufacturer of your roof recommends for your type of roof to bring it back to looking like new.
3-Have an experienced, licensed roofing company come out and assess the situation and make recommendations that will give you the results you want without any of the negative ramifications.
4-Only let a licensed roofer on your roof to clean it according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
The safest and smartest way to clean your roof is to contact an experienced, licensed roofing company like Stratus Roofing. We are proud to be your trusted residential roofing and commercial roofing partner since 2004. Find out how we can help you with your roofing needs by contacting us today: www.stratusroofing.com
Posted in #roofchat, blog, residential roofing, commercial roofing
