Roof Wash
Temporarily unavailable — we are not booking this one right now.
The black streaking on asphalt shingles is Gloeocapsa magma, an algae that colonizes the shingle surface, north slopes first. It is treated chemically at low pressure — a soft wash, worked from the eave. Pressure washing a roof strips granules and shortens its life, so we never do it, and neither do the shingle manufacturers.
Scope
What's included
- Low-pressure soft wash treatment across all affected roof planes
- Ridge caps, valleys and the north-facing slopes that streak first
- Rinse-down of siding, windows and gutters below the treated planes
- Pre-wet and post-rinse of landscaping around the full drip line
- Before and after photos of every plane, sent with your invoice
Asphalt shingle only. Metal, tile and cedar are quoted individually.
Instant quote
How it's priced
Roof wash is quoted as a starting at price in the instant quote, based on your roof footprint and stories from county records. Pitch, access and how far the streaking has progressed all move the real number, and none of those are in public data. So before we schedule, we ask for a few phone photos of the affected slopes — or take our own from the ground — and confirm the final price in writing. You approve it before any work is booked.
Why low pressure and chemistry beat a pressure washer on every roof:soft wash vs. pressure wash. The full list of what we will not do to a roof is inwhat we won’t clean.
FAQ
Questions we get
- What is the black streaking on my roof?
- Gloeocapsa magma, an algae that colonizes the shingle surface and shows up first on north slopes and under tree cover. It is treated chemically at low pressure and rinsed gently. The shingle manufacturers’ own cleaning method is the same idea: a bleach solution, a dwell, a low-pressure rinse.
- Is the algae damaging my shingles?
- The shingle manufacturers’ association says there is no scientific evidence that algae damages asphalt shingles. It stains them and costs reflectivity. Moss and lichen are the ones that do real damage, and if we see either we tell you before we quote.
- Will you walk on my roof?
- No. We work from the eave and the ladder. Walking a wet shingle roof is a fall risk and a granule-loss risk, and nothing about cleaning requires it.
- Why is the price “starting at”?
- Pitch, access and how far the streaking has progressed all move the real number, and none of them are in county records. We confirm from your photos or from the ground and put the final price in writing before anything is booked.
- How long before it comes back?
- Exposure decides it. A shaded north slope under oaks streaks again sooner than a sunlit one. As a working interval we say every two to three years, or at first streaking, and we would rather you call at first streaking than on a schedule.