The roof of your home is exposed daily to harsh environmental conditions like sunlight, heat, and rain. All of these can cause your roof to become discolored. When you combine this with a growth of mildew, algae, and mold, your roof takes on an unsightly appearance. Not only does your roof look unsightly, but all of these things can shorten the life of the roof. The algae growth on your roof also can pave the way for the growth of moss and lichens that usually thrive in the edges and gullets of your roof’s shingles. Both of these will keep your roof damp by holding in moisture and water. They can cause the edges of your roof to lift up and make them vulnerable to leaks and wind damage. This is why it is important that you do a regular roof cleaning or have a professional to do the job.
There is nothing you can do about the environmental conditions, but you can do something the mold, algae, and mildew. You can do a no pressure roof cleaning. Before you start you will need a broom for scrubbing the roof surface, a garden hose, and a cleaning solution. You can use a commercial cleaner or one you make at home using three parts water and one part chlorine bleach. If you would like you can add a cup of powdered detergent to the mixture to increase the degreasing ability.
Before you get on the roof to spray the mixture make sure you have on slip proof shoes, goggles, and gloves to protect your hands and eyes. You will also need a sturdy ladder to climb up and down from the roof. Once you have everything ready put the mixture into a pump sprayer and start to spray your roof saturating it. Stand at the peak of your roof and work in sections. Begin with the lowest part and work your way up gradually. By doing this you can avoid standing on the wet shingles because they can be very slippery. Once you have sprayed a section leave on for at least twenty minutes.
For the dirtier parts of your roof you should use the broom to scrub the area to get rid of the dirt, mold, mildew, and algae. Make sure that you do not scrub the area too vigorously as this could damage the shingle’s granular surface. After the cleaning solution has been on the allotted time rinse it off with the garden hose. It is important that the chlorine solution is all rinsed off because it could damage your clean roof.
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