You got a letter from your Tampa Homeowners Association.
Your roof is dirty, you can see black stains,or maybe some other type of fungus. Now the question is “how do I go about cleaning it?”
You are not alone in Florida, in fact I’m sure that you have noticed the same problem on other roofs in your Tampa area neighborhood. If you have done any research you will have noticed that the problem is not just in the Tampa Florida area.
What is it on your roof? The black stains that you see is a form of black algae called glaeocospca magma.
it is a living plant, feeding off of the nutrients in your roof. It generally can only survive on the north facing roofs or on heavily shaded sections of your roof, that is because the ultra violet rays from direct sunshine will kill it, and direct sun light dries out your roof not allowing moisture to congregate. The exact opposite happens on the north facing and shaded sections of your roof.
Algae, Mold, or any fungus needs three things to survive, air, food and water. We discussed the water source being on the north side or under shade, the food source comes from the shingle contents, if you have wood shingles the wood is the obvious food source, if you have asphalt or fiberglass shingles, then the limestone that is used as a thickening agent is the food.
Is it damaging my Tampa Florda area roof? Yes, We have seen moss eat through two layers of shingles right into the wood underlayment, black algae is a surface feeder, eating the shingle granules, while spreading over the roof. Just look in your gutter of the infected side, I guarantee it is full of discarded shingle granules. So, yes it can cut a 40 year asphalt or fiberglass shingles life expectancy in half or worse.
What can YOU do about it? 3 choices here, clean it yourself, hire a professional non pressure roof cleaning company, or replace it. Let’s examine these three options.
Replace it – If you have that kind of money, great! here is the bad news, even though the new fiberglass shingles on the market are algae resistant, buyer beware! Read the shingle warranty.
Roofing Manufacturers only guarantee them for an average of 6 to 10 years, it takes that long before visible signs confirm that black algae is present. If you have the money, and want to buy yourself 6 to 10 years of a clean shingle roof, go for it.
Hire a Tampa non pressure roof cleaning company – Good choice but who?
They are around, usually listed in the yellow pages under “roof cleaning” or “non pressure roof cleaning”
What to look in a roof cleaning company is very important. 1. references – who have they ade happy?
2. Qualifications and Awards 3. inquire about their cleaning product, there are a lot of products out there that will clean a roof but if they heavily chemical laden they will dry out the roof shingle to such a point that a few months down the road on a windy day, shingle pieces will be flying. These product will also stain the face of your home, kill plants and grass, you want them to use something “bio-degradable” that means it will disappear. 4. portfolio, they should have before and after pictures of jobs that they have done and you should take the time to drive by one of the homes and make sure that they didn’t just download pictures off of the Internet 5. do they have a business license? they should. If they can’t provide those 5 things, move on to the next company.
Clean it yourself – Dangerous work, what if you FALL ?. Don’t fall for the “just spray it on and nature will clean it” product sales pitch, that’s BS, it might work but it would be years before it would be clean and you would have to keep reapplying it.
Think about it, IF these product really worked, who would need roof cleaning companys ?
No, there is only one way, get up there, stage the roof safely along the bottom even if it is walk able the roof will become incredibly slippery, spray the product on, usually through a “garden style” sprayer, take out a medium bristle scrub brush and scrub the infected area keeping the area moist while scrubbing then take a regular garden hose and wash it off, it may only become 80% clean at first but all the loose, dead fungus will wash off with the next rain.
After you have successfully cleaned your roof, had it cleaned or replaced it, I have one very important suggestion. Apply a strip of zinc flashing across the ridge line, it is the only protection your roof will have against fungus growth. The effectiveness of zinc is easily proved, just look around any metal object on your roof, pipes, copula, or chimney and you should notice that the area below it is clean. The way it works is quite simple, when it rains, metal ions wash out of the metal and coat the roof below it, the metal ions will not allow growth to occur. Zinc has the best run-off of all metals and is the most cost efficient, you may know that zinc is used on boat bottoms and around boat props to keep algae from growing. I recommend that the zinc should be at least 3 1/2″ wide, zinc has a run-off coverage area of about 10 feet for every inch the zinc is wide. The zinc remains actively releasing ions through out it’s life.
John Redihan is the owner of Wash Safe Industries of Brewster, Massachusetts. Wash Safe Industries manufactures environmentally safe cleaning products and provides exterior “green” cleaning services
Here is some Tampa Roof Cleaning Information from our friends at Midwest Pro Wash!
There is certainly a lot of misconception involved with the topic of Roof Cleaning in Tampa. Can you clean an asphalt shingle roof in Tampa ? Can you clean a tile roof in Tampa without harming the shingles? What are the black streaks on my Tampa roof? What will happen if I don’t get the roof cleaned? These are just a few of the questions this article will answer. Knowing this information can save you costly future roof replacements and added heating and cooling costs. In many regions across the country roof algae (Gloeocapsa Magma) is a growing problem. The algae thrives in warm humid climates like ours in Tampa Florida, usually first appearing on the north facing slopes of your roof where the right amount of shade and moisture are common. With the proper atmosphere the algae only needs one more element to survive and that ‘s food. Roof algae feeds on the crushed limestone that is used in the manufacturing of asphalt shingles. When shingles were first produced manufacturers quickly realized they were too light and would not provide adequate protection, so they added crushed limestone to the asphalt to add weight and durability to the shingles
Gloeocapsa Magma is an airborne algae so it can land on any Florida roof with no rhyme or reason, though it does seem to be more prominent in areas holding a lot of trees. Once the roof algae lands on the roof it will have to be killed and removed properly or it will continue to spread, it will never get better or just go away on its own. The algae begins feeding on the nutrients in the shingles, as it rains it is spread down the roof causing black streaks. If not taken care of it will take over the entire roof in a few short years turning the whole roof black. Besides looking very unsightly and diminishing any home ‘s curb appeal and value, what other damage can roof algae do? When roof algae are not taken care of they stop the shingles from reflecting heat from the sun ‘s UV rays. When this happens it can affect your Tampa home ‘s heating and cooling costs without you even realizing it. Also because the shingles cannot reflect heat they start to diminish prematurely. Signs of wear are curled corners, wavy or humped shingles, broke or loose shingles, and an excess of shingle granules appearing in your gutters just to name a few.
Most Tampa Florida homeowners associations become concerned when the first unsightly black streaks begin to appear long before permanent damage is done. It ‘s at this point that most homeowner associations will call a roofing contractor and in my opinion it ‘s the point where homeowners associations are steered in the wrong direction.
It has been my experience from talking with many troubled home owners that most and I express the word “most” roofing contractors are not going to tell the home owner that their roof only needs to be cleaned. Think about that for a moment, why would they? I have had many customers tell me that a roofing contractor told them that the black streaks were water marks or a sign of wear in either case a roof replacement was recommended.
Another scenario is that some roofing contractors have no idea themselves what roof algae is and that it can be cleaned. Some will also combat losing a potential roof replacement job by telling the home owner that you can’t clean shingles without damaging them, which is completely untrue. None the less many home owners are suckered into a costly, premature roof replacement of a roof that only needed cleaned. If you think about it, it is no different than replacing your vinyl siding because it has mold or mildew on it, no one would think of doing that.
The good news is that shingles can be cleaned properly without harming the shingles, and the major shingle manufacturers say so themselves. They even have suggestions and guidelines for cleaning roof algae off of asphalt shingles without harming them. The proper methods include a low pressure chemical application followed by a light rinsing. NOTE: never use or allow a pressure washer to be used on your roof. Inexperienced home owners and unethical contractors have damaged shingles by attempting to blast the algae off the shingles using high water pressure. Doing this blows the shingle granules off which are there to protect the shingles, thus lessening the longevity of the roof. In the past some have tried zinc strips on the peak of the roof which are suppose to release chemicals down the roof when it rains to help combat roof algae. Most have reported poor results with the strips. Recently shingle manufacturers have produced algae resistant shingles but there have been plenty of cases of roof algae still invading such shingles. This is why they can only call them “algae resistant” and not algae proof.
If you are battling with roof algae or know of someone else whom is don’t lose hope and don’t replace that roof prematurely. First call a professional Tampa Florida Roof Cleaning company in your area so they can access the situation for you. Be sure that they use the chemicals and the low pressure methods that are recommended by the major shingle manufacturers. A proper roof cleaning can definitely save you money.
Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa FL (813)655 8777 offers Professional Non Pressure Roof Cleaning Service for the following Florida areas and Zip Codes…33503,33508,33509,33510,33511,33527,33534,33547,33548,33549,33550,33556,33558,33559,33563,33565 33566,33567,33568,33569,33570,33571,33571,33572,33572,33573,33573,33575,33583,33584,33586,33587 33592,33594,33595,33598,33601,33602,33603,33604,33605,33605,33606,33606,33607,33608,33608,33602 33603,33604,33605,33605,33606,33606,33607,33608,33608,33609,33610,33611,33612,33613,33614,33615 33615,33616,33617,33617,33618,33618,33619,33619,33620,33621,33622,33623,33624,33624,33625,33625 33626,33626,33626,33629,33629,33630,33631,33634,33635,33637,33637,33647,33647,33672,33673,33674 33675,33677,33679,33681,33682,33684,33685,33686,33687,33687,33688,33688,33689,33689,33694,33697
Roof Cleaning Tampa Florida, Brandon Florida, Dover Florida , Lithia Florida, Clearwater Florida , Roof Cleaning Lakeland FL, Carrollwood, Valrico Florida Non Pressure Roof Cleaning, Durant FL, Plant City Florida, Riverview Florida, Fish Hawk, Apollo Beach Florida Non Pressure Tile Roof Cleaning, Ruskin FL, Oldsmar FL, Odessa FL, St Pete FL, Gibsonton FL, Seffner FL, Zephyrhills FL, Non Pressure Roof Cleaning New Tampa FL, Wesley Chapel FL, Hillsborough County Florida, Tile Roof Cleaning Tampa Palms, Pasco County Florida, Polk County Florida Non Pressure Roof Cleaning.
This article was written by our friend Barry Maddox at Midwest Pro Wash. Roof Cleaning St. Louis
Roof Cleaning Tampa – Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa 7401 Patrician Place Tampa FL 33619 813-655-8777
You got a Roof Cleaning letter from your Tampa Homeowners Association. Your roof is dirty, you can see black stains,or maybe some other type of fungus. Now the question is “how do I go about cleaning it?”
You are not alone in Tampa, Florida. In fact I’m sure that you have noticed the same problem on other roofs in your Tampa area neighborhood. If you have done any research you will have noticed that the problem is not just in the Tampa Florida area.
What is it on your roof? The black stains that you see is a form of black algae called glaeocospca magma. it is a living plant, feeding off of the nutrients in your roof. It generally can only survive on the north facing roofs or on heavily shaded sections of your roof, that is because the ultra violet rays from direct sunshine will kill it, and direct sun light dries out your roof not allowing moisture to congregate. The exact opposite happens on the north facing and shaded sections of your roof. Algae, Mold, or any fungus needs three things to survive, air, food and water. We discussed the water source being on the north side or under shade, the food source comes from the shingle contents, if you have wood shingles the wood is the obvious food source, if you have asphalt or fiberglass shingles, then the limestone that is used as a thickening agent is the food.
Is it damaging my Tampa Florda area roof? Yes, We have seen moss eat through two layers of shingles right into the wood underlayment, black algae is a surface feeder, eating the shingle granules, while spreading over the roof. Just look in your gutter of the infected side, I guarantee it is full of discarded shingle granules. So, yes it can cut a 40 year asphalt or fiberglass shingles life expectancy in half or worse.
What can YOU do about it? 3 choices here, clean your roof yourself, hire a professional non pressure roof cleaning company, or replace the roof. Let’s examine these three options.
Replace it – If you have that kind of money, great! here is the bad news, even though the new fiberglass shingles on the market are algae resistant, buyer beware! Read the shingle warranty. Roofing Manufacturers only guarantee them for an average of 6 to 10 years, it takes that long before visible signs confirm that black algae is present. If you have the money, and want to buy yourself 6 to 10 years of a clean shingle roof, go for it.
Hire a Tampa non pressure roof cleaning company – Good choice but who? They are around, usually listed in the yellow pages under “roof cleaning” or “non pressure roof cleaning” What to look in a roof cleaning company is very important. 1. references – who have they ade happy? 2. Qualifications and Awards 3. inquire about their cleaning product, there are a lot of products out there that will clean a roof but if they heavily chemical laden they will dry out the roof shingle to such a point that a few months down the road on a windy day, shingle pieces will be flying. These product will also stain the face of your home, kill plants and grass, you want them to use something “bio-degradable” that means it will disappear. 4. portfolio, they should have before and after pictures of jobs that they have done and you should take the time to drive by one of the homes and make sure that they didn’t just download pictures off of the Internet 5. do they have a business license? they should. If they can’t provide those 5 things, move on to the next company.
Clean it yourself – Dangerous work, what if you FALL ?. Don’t fall for the “just spray it on and nature will clean it” product sales pitch, that’s BS, it might work but it would be years before it would be clean and you would have to keep reapplying it. Think about it, IF these product really worked, who would need roof cleaning companies ?
Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa services these and other Tampa Deed Restricted Communities.
New Tampa Subdivisions
New Tampa Subdivisions Roof Cleaning Arbor Greene Ashington Bassett Creek Buckingham Club Manor Roof Cleaning Cory Lake Isles Roof Cleaning Cross Creek Easton Park Grand Hampton Hammocks Roof Cleaning Hunters Green Roof Cleaning Heritage Isles Live Oak Preserve Jade Palma Vista Roof Cleaning Pebble Creek Richmond Place Stone Creek Roof Cleaning Tampa Palms Roof Cleaning Tuscany Vista Del Rio West Meadows Wynstone.
Roof Cleaning Arbor Lakes Belmack Acres Canterbury Village Citrus Green Council Crest Durango Echo Lake Roof Cleaning Farmington Village Fox’s Corner Garden Lake Horseshoe Estates Innfields Roof Cleaning Keystone Acres Keystone Beach Keystone Cove Keystone Crossings Keystone Groves Keystone Park Keystone Park Colony Keystone Post Estates Keystone Post Estates Keystone Reserve Keystone Terrace Lake Abray Lake Alice Lake Breckenridge Lake Grace Lake Maurine Estates Lakes of Keystone Roof Cleaning Lakeside Groves Estates Lindawoods Montreux Roof Cleaning Nine Eagles Northlake Village Northton Grove Post Shores Rainbow Terrace Royal Troon Village St. Andrews The Cove at Lake Alice Roof Cleaning The Eagles Turnbury Warren Estates Windsor Park Woods of Eden Rock Roof Cleaning.
Roof Cleaning Citrus Park & Westchase Roof Cleaning Subdivisions Casa Blanca Charleston Place Roof Cleaning Countryway Enclave Citrus Park Fawn Lake Roof Cleaning Fawn Ridge Roof Cleaning Hampton Chase Hampton Lakes Highland Park Lake Chase Roof Cleaning River Chase South Hampton Tree Tops Twin Branch Acres Roof Cleaning Waterchase West Hampton Roof Cleaning Westchase Westchester Westmont Oaks Westwood Lakes Roof Cleaning.
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