A Property Manager’s Guide to Roof Cleaning

If you’ve been in the property management field for more than a few years, there’s a good chance you’ve dealt with roof cleaning issues. Roof cleaning can be very expensive, cleaning up after roof cleaners can also be very expensive. Repairing the damage that roof cleaners create is never included in the initial estimate because you don’t expect damage, but it happens more frequently, but if you know about the potential destruction ahead of time, you can prevent it from happening, limiting cost and headaches And that’s what property management is all about.

There are many fungi that can settle on a roof that are both destructive to the roof and icky to look at. Moss, lichen, black algae (black mold), green mold/algae make up the majority of the matter and removal has become a necessity. Roofs need to be cleaned for a variety of reasons; to prevent early destruction and replacement, to control rising energy costs, and to correct property depreciation.

Asphalt shingle, cedar shingle, and shingle roofs are the most commonly affected roofs, each affected differently.

Asphalt roofs are destroyed more quickly than others, fungus can grow under the shingles lifting them up until they crack and fall off. The tendrils or “roots” of the fungus also burrow through the reflective granules, causing them to break off and fall off. This action causes the shingles to become thinner and takes years off the shingle’s expected useful life as they then bow and cup.

Cedar roofs need to stay dry to last, when a cedar roof is covered in fungus the fungus traps moisture in the wood causing rot which invites insects to feed on the wood quickly deteriorating the integrity of the wood.

Tile roofs are most commonly found in the South, and although fungi cannot destroy shingles like they can asphalt or wood, shingles are destroyed when heavy roof cleaners walk on the roof, shingles are brittle, especially after years of baking in the sun. the damage is not apparent at first, but as the cracks are washed away by rainwater, they will loosen and fall off.

In addition to the destructive damage the fungus can cause, the homeowner can expect increased energy bills. The fungus is generally dark in color and dark colors absorb sunlight, increasing heat in attics, basements, and the second or top floor, causing air conditioners to work overtime to cool those spaces, resulting in higher than normal energy bills.

To top it off, most roof cleaning products on the market require plants, shrubs and any foliage around the house to be constantly covered or moistened because the toxicity in the cleaning solution will kill them and it’s just as careful as roof cleaners. roof cleaners. It may be that there are always victims in the foliage.

With the previously mentioned negative effects of roof fungus, the worst thing for a property manager is the fact that a house or dwelling with an infected roof is an “evil eye”, it makes a nice house look ugly, it makes an expensive development look sloppy. down or without maintenance, not only the value of the infected house decreases but also the value of the neighbor’s house, these houses are treated as lepers and as more houses get the infection, a leper colony is formed.

It is at this point that the property management team typically steps in and lawsuit notices are sent out demanding that the ceilings be cleaned. Now it has irritated homeowners who are forced to spend money, which could damage their home and a host of problems on the horizon.

Two solutions come to mind; The first is if you have a roof to clean, specify that the roof cleaners use a solution that will not harm foliage or alter the appearance of the house and the second solution is called “preventive maintenance” by this I mean covering roofs periodically with a solution that does not allow the maturation of the fungus, it is not necessary to clean and the following rains wash away the fungus that was eliminated. Proper roof maintenance is by far the most cost effective way to keep roofs clean. Money can be budgeted for periodic roof treatments instead of surprising an HOA with a massive budget-busting roof cleaning estimate. Maintenance spraying can be done from the edge of the gutters, thus saving workers from having to walk on roofs. The proper maintenance schedule will mean that roofs will never get dirty again, and the appearance of the community will never be degraded.

98% of roof cleaning contractors have “old school” cleaning knowledge and methods, including using chlorine bleach as the preferred cleaning chemical, which alone is the cause of roof damage. foliage along with the terrible fumes and odors and stains on painted surfaces. surfaces. The bleach was not formulated to deep clean the pores and crevices of your roofing, the bleach is a topical cleaner. Cleaning a roof with bleach is the equivalent of running a lawn mower through a field of dandelions to kill the weed problem. At first it looks good, but the problem grows again.

At Wash Safe we ​​take roof cleaning seriously, we formulated an eco-friendly roof cleaner called “Roof Wash” that won’t harm plants (no need to even cover them), has no odors or chemical fumes (in fact it has a citrus scent clean), it will not damage the roof in any way and keeps ceilings clean twice as long as bleach because it was designed to deep clean every pore and crevice thus eliminating the entire root system of fungus and spores. .

The next time your management company is faced with a roof cleaning project, specify that roof cleaning contractors use Wash Safes Roof Wash and ask them to design a maintenance schedule for periodic roof coatings and your roof cleaning issues. ceilings will be history. Preventative maintenance and cleaning with eco-safe Roof Wash, by Wash Safe, is the key to a clean and carefree future.