Roof Cleaning in Sarasota, FL

The service

What causes black streaks on a Florida roof?

Roof cleaning is the removal of algae, mold, moss and lichen from a roof using a soft-wash process — low pressure and professional cleaning solutions, never a pressure washer. The dark streaks running down Florida roofs are Gloeocapsa magma, a cyanobacteria that feeds on the limestone filler in shingles and tile and thrives in Gulf-coast humidity. Because it lives in the surface, blasting it with pressure only removes the top layer while cracking tile, stripping shingle granules and forcing water under the courses — so it grows back fast and the roof is damaged in the process. Soft washing instead dissolves the growth at the root and rinses clean, so results last far longer. We clean tile, shingle and metal roofs, pre-wet and protect the landscaping and gutters below, and keep high pressure off the surface entirely.

Those dark streaks running down a Florida roof aren’t dirt — they’re a hardy blue-green algae (Gloeocapsa magma) that feeds on humidity and the limestone filler in shingles and tile. We treat it the only way that’s safe for a roof: a low-pressure, solution-based soft wash that kills the growth at the root and rinses it clean — no pressure blasting that could crack tile, strip shingle granules or force water under the courses.

A streaked roof is one of the first things people notice about a house — and one of the most misunderstood. Those dark stains make a perfectly sound roof look old and neglected, and homeowners often assume the roof is failing when it simply needs cleaning. Clearing the algae can take years off a roof’s appearance and, on the day you sell, off a buyer’s list of worries.

The temptation is to blast it off with a pressure washer. Don’t — and don’t let anyone do it to your roof. High pressure cracks tile, strips the protective granules from shingles, and drives water up under the courses. It also only removes the surface of the growth, so the streaks return fast. Soft washing is the correct method precisely because it kills the algae at the root with low pressure and solution, leaving the roof clean and the material untouched.