When it comes to preserving your home’s beauty and its value, maintaining the outside of your home is integral. This frequently involves touching up the paint, landscaping your property, and ensuring that the exterior of your home is clean from dirt and debris. This not only includes keeping the exterior siding or brick clean, but also the roof of your home. Performing a roof wash in order to clean your roof has numerous benefits, including the following:
With every day that passes, your roof is exposed to many things, including wind, rain, leaves, tree branches, dirt, and even different types of algae, bacteria, and fungi. With regular exposure to these elements and contaminants, your roof cannot help but develop some stains. These stains can be unsightly and will, unfortunately, negatively impact your home’s curb appeal, as well as its market value.
Performing a roof wash can help remove the dirt and debris that cause staining to occur. It can even clean and remove stains or discoloration, renewing the look of both your roof and your home.
The presence of bacteria, moss, algae, debris, or dirt can affect other aspects of your roof other than just its appearance. These contaminants can also influence your roof’s durability and the length of its life. Different types of algae can actually feed off of the roofing materials, such as limestone or asphalt. This essentially wears down your roof and reduces its strength to withstand the elements, ultimately shortening its lifespan.
Not only will the feeding of the algae weaken your roof, but so will heat. Algae have an incredible ability to hold onto heat. As a result, the temperature of both your roof and your attic will increase. If the temperature gets high enough, it will actually “cook” your shingles, which weakens them as well.
Often times, moisture goes hand-in-hand with moss and algae. If moss or algae are taking up residence on your roof, chances are that moisture is damaging your shingles. When shingles get wet, they can become soft and may even starting tearing or crumbling. Once this happens, your risk of experiencing a roof leak will inevitably increase.
The moisture that forms as a result of moss or algae can also contribute to wood rot. Wood rot is not always visible, so it could be occurring without you even knowing. Wood rot makes your roof more susceptible to damage from animals, like squirrels, and it negatively affects your roofing lifespan. It can even result in mold growth, which can be extremely hazardous to your health. Once there is mold, you are not only looking at the cost of roofing repairs, but also mold remediation and possibly medical costs.
A roof wash can help maintain your roof’s integrity. Mold, mildew, algae, and moss will only continue to grow and spread across your roof, especially if they are receiving the nutrients and moisture they need to grow. The best approach to prevent them from wreaking havoc on your roof is to remove them before the damage becomes so severe that you need a roof replacement, which is much more expensive than the price of a roof wash. A roof wash can remove dirt and debris that aid in the growth of organisms, such as mold or algae, as well as expel them if they have already begun to grow. These organisms like to get into the nooks and crannies of your roof, so having a roof wash will help get deep down into these areas to clear them out before they completely take over and weaken your roof.
A roof cleaning or roof wash will extend the life of your roof and will ensure that your home’s beauty remains intact. However, there are many homeowners who think that they can rent or buy a pressure washer and be able to achieve this goal without having to pay a professional power washing company.
Sadly, if a homeowner attempts to perform a roof wash themselves, more than likely, they will not be satisfied with the results or will even be able to get started for a variety of reasons:
Even just attempting to get on top of a roof and walk across it can be dangerous if you are not accustomed to this type of work. It can be slippery and difficult to balance, so you could slip and fall off the roof. It is even more of a challenge if you are trying to use power washing equipment.
Hiring a trained, professional company takes the risk out of the job for you. They have the necessary experience to know how to balance on the roof and reduce their risk of harm while also ensuring that your roof wash is successful. It may even be less expensive than the cost of your medical expenses or having to redo the job because it was not done correctly the first time.
Depending on the age of your roof, you may not have the right type of detergent. Older roofs require a “soft wash,” so they need specific pressure settings and gentle detergents. If you do not use the correct pressure or surfactant, you could potentially harm your roof in the process of washing it.
Roofing repairs or replacements are not cheap. A power washing professional has the best cleaning products and the knowledge to safely and effectively clean your roof without further roof deterioration. That way, you will not have to worry about expensive roofing repairs.
If you try to power wash your roof yourself, you may struggle to penetrate the crevices of your roof or remove the stains. A power washing company has the skills and expertise to properly clean your roof and safely remove any stains that are marring your roof’s appearance. With a professional, the job will be done correctly the first time.
So, if you are ready to transform and protect your roof, contact a trusted company, like Port City Power Washing, to schedule your roof wash!