Roof Cleaning Seattle

The Importance of Keeping Your Roof Clean with Professional Roof Cleaning Services

As a proud homeowner you want to keep your home looking its best and in good conditions at all times. The importance of curb appeal can’t be underestimated as it speaks well of the residents and keeps the aesthetics of the entire neighborhood on point.

But the benefits are more than just visual, keeping your home clean and presentable ensures it will suffer less strain and attrition from the elements. Nowhere is this more evident than when addressing the cleanliness and good health of the roof above your head.

As the single most important architectural element of the home, the roof protects the interior structures from the elements outside. No roof lasts forever and it is only a matter of time before the roofing materials will succumb to the damage and need replacing — but this impending cost of home maintenance can be postponed considerably.

Regular Roof Washing Services

At Dritan Power Washing, our objectives are simple. We hope to provide value to our esteemed clients with top-notch roof washing services. By preserving the conditions of their roofing materials and holding back the contaminants, pollutants, and other biological and chemical elements that can seriously damage roofing materials, our clients can squeeze every drop of value from the roofing materials they have placed on their home.

Protecting your Roof from Damage with Professional Cleaning Services — It’s More than just Dirt!

The roof on your home has the important task of shielding your home’s interior from the elements of the outdoors. While the most obvious external elements include sunlight and rain, the wind too carries with it destructive forces that work to break down and spread life. Dirt is the beginning, but inside the air borne particles are the ingredients for mother nature’s demolition plan.

In the exterior world, things are consistently being broken down to be absorbed into the marvelous circle of life. Lichen, algae and mosses are especially useful for breaking down organic and non-organic matter creating rich soil for plants and vegetation to grow. The spores for this pioneer vegetation are carried on the wind and require only the smallest amounts of moisture to spring to life.

Here is what you should know about how these invaders from the plant world will affect the roof over your head:

Algae — there are many kinds of algae, but gloeocapsa magma is the one that is most likely to affect your roof and bring about its destruction. This type of algae will be attracted to shady and cooler areas of the roof where it will feed on limestone and asphalt making the way for more complex forms of vegetation. This type of algae will appear bluish green at first, but on the side of the roof most favorable to GM growth, black molds will soon follow.

Lichens — lichens are a seemingly innocuous and even flamboyantly beautiful symbiosis of plants, but their strength can contribute to the breakdown of solid granite. There are actually two types of plants, a fungus and an alga, that work together to break down all types of materials and the roofing materials on your home are scheduled for natural demolition. Lichens move fast, are especially difficult to address and can appear quite suddenly after heavy rain or bad weather.

Moss — a more advanced plant system will arrive once the accommodations can support a true root system. Moss needs plenty of moisture to survive, but new colonies will spring up quickly if old colonies are not thoroughly eradicated. If there is a cool shady spot of your roof that manages to absorb enough moisture moss is a likely eventuality. This is an especially destructive force that will begin the rapid decomposition of your roofing materials and leaks will be a certainty by this time.

How Can this Plant Life Damage a Roof?

It is important that you head out every so often, especially after heavy rain and inclement weather, and perform a basic roof inspection. Take out your bird-watching binoculars and begin scanning the roofing materials for signs of damage and plant growth. Lichens, molds and algae leave streaks of black, green and even orange or yellow.

The damages that these plants can cause for the costly roof protecting your home is detrimental to a carefully planned budget. But luckily many of these risks can be avoided with a regular roof cleaning.


Shingle Damage

As we have mentioned already, these plants are used to break down, materials making way for larger more complex plant life to take root. This typically begins with the lichens that will feed on limestone and asphalt and prepare the way for the mosses that will follow.

As time goes by and the shingles are moistened and dried out the damage is exacerbated, even though the full extent of damage is not always visible. Lichen can work quickly and even leave pockmarks across the surface of roofing materials — which could mean that sections of your roof will need to be replaced to avoid internal damages.

Once moss has begun to make an appearance, we can be sure that the presence of moisture is fairly consistent, at least able to be absorbed into the roof and this is a bad sign.

Moss finds a way into the cracked and damaged surface of roofing materials and causes them to bulge and curl upwards. This is because more and more moisture is being allowed to enter the uppermost layers of the roofing materials — if something is not done about this, the damage could reach the interior.


Professional Roof Cleaning by Dritan Power Washing

As one of the most visual aspects of your home the roof is especially attractive when cleaned professionally. A roof cleaning is not only an impressive aesthetic investment, a clean roof is also a longer lasting roof. While it can be tempting to handle the job yourself or have a friend do this for you, there are some good reasons to have this important task handled by a professional roof cleaning company with many years of experience.

Experience and Safety

Cleaning the roof is a potentially dangerous task and the risks of falling and hurting yourself or damaging property is very high. At Dritan Power Washing, we have been doing this type of thing for many years and we know what it takes to do a job right. We have the safety skills, techniques and measures to ensure that the job is handled to perfection every time and with no risk to life, limb or property.

Proper technique

Once the unsightly black steaks and molds begin to appear on the roof, it will take a proper procedure to ensure that this problem is properly addressed. We use low pressure power cleaning that preserves the structural integrity of your roofing materials while effectively cleaning out all other contaminants. We also use a special brand of cleaning agent that ensures that all contaminants and vegetation has been completely cleared from the roof.

All types of Roofing Materials

All types of roofing materials can benefit from a good cleaning, although some will need this more than others for a variety of reasons. Speak with your roof contractor to discuss the best schedule for roof cleaning. Often two to four times a year is the best option.

Biodegradable Cleaning Agents

Another good reason to call in our superior roof cleaning services is that we use a top-of-the-line cleaning agent that effectively removes all contaminants from the roof but will not do damage to the environment. This is especially important because the wide-spread use of cleaning agents is a cause of concern in modern society.

Preventing Future Growth

Finally, unless the job is done well the first time, you will always be looking up at your roof tentatively wondering if algae, mosses and other contaminants are busy deteriorating your roof from the outside. For peace of mind in knowing that your roof has been immaculately cleaned — and doesn’t only look clean — call in a professional roof cleaning service.

Final Notes on Professional Roof Cleaning Services from Dritan Power Washing

We offer the full range of exterior cleaning services at Dritan Power Washing, in addition to keeping the roof free of destructive contaminants, we will wash down shutters, window frames, siding and more and keep your home looking it’s best and lasting the longest.

We also offer to doff our shoes and come inside to make sure the interior windows are given the same attention as the exteriors. For all your exterior washing needs, call in the professionals at Dritan Power Washing



Schedule your FREE estimate by calling 206-202-3467