Roof cleaning in Eastover

Those black streaks are alive

The dark stripes running from the ridge down are not dirt, not shingle wear, and not a sign the roof is failing. They are a living organism that feeds on the limestone filler used in asphalt shingles. It starts near the ridge because that is where water runs from, and it spreads downward in the direction rain travels, which is why the pattern is always vertical.

A roof covered in it does not need replacing. It needs the growth killed. Plenty of homeowners have been quoted a replacement for what is a cleaning job, and on a big Eastover roof plane the difference between those two numbers is not small.

Never pressure wash a roof

Asphalt shingles are protected by a layer of mineral granules fixed to the surface. Those granules are the roof. They take the sun, and when they go, the asphalt underneath ages fast.

Pressure strips them. It also drives water up under the courses, which is the opposite of what a roof is designed to do. A pressure washed roof looks clean for a season and has had years taken off it. The treatment here is a low pressure application that kills the organism and lets the weather rinse the residue over the following weeks.

Why Eastover roofs take the worst of it

Two things stack up out here. Canopy keeps the planes shaded and damp, which is the growing condition, and constant pine and leaf drop keeps organic debris sitting on the shingle feeding it. On top of that the roof planes themselves tend to be larger, because the houses sit on larger lots.

The debris also loads the gutters, and gutters that overflow send water down the fascia and the siding rather than away from the house. That is why roof work out here is usually booked with gutter faces and often with a house wash.

What to expect

• No walking the roof where it can be treated from a ladder or the ground
• No pressure on the shingle at any point
• Planting protected, wet down before and rinsed after
• Gradual finish, since the residue rinses over following rains rather than all at once

Method detail is on the roof cleaning page, and the town on the Eastover page.