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Certified Roof Cleaners, at the RCIA, have cleaned roofs for many years, without the damaging results of using a pressure washing machine. http://roof-cleaning-institute.activeboard.com/index.spark Most of us started out pressure washing them, but could see the severe granule loss taking place on the shingles and turning the pressure down didn’t solve the problem. First off, it takes a certain amount of pressure to remove the black algae – period! So, if it requires say 1000 psi of pressure at the gun tip, which will work on shingles, but not on most tile, then it’s semantics. If at 2000 psi at the gun tip, we can clean a roof holding our pressure washer gun tip say 1 foot away, then, if I turn the pressure down to 1/2 that -1000psi -, Then, I have to move in to 6″ away to accomplish the same exact cleaning results. In other words cutting the pressure in half, means you must get twice as close-that brings the actual pressure back to 2000psi. Try it with your garden hose and your hand! Same principle! With tile, most roofs have at least a light glazing on top of a slurry coating {paint} as they come from the manufacturers. Pressure washing can remove or dull that glazing. If the roof has been pressure cleaned before and that glazing is mostly gone, then the slurry coating, creating your roofs coloring begins to be removed with that pressure. This will turn a red tile roof into a pinkish roof. It will turn other colors pale. Eventually, it will reach the plain cement the tile is made of, here and there, showing bare cement areas. Some companies use a “Surface Cleaning Machine†and give their cleaning method nice names like shampooing your roof. These machines are made for flat surfaces and are great on driveways and cement parking lots, where almost no damage can occur. They are the worst thing you can do to a tile roof though. The powerful jets are angled to cut sideways, also, they are set at an exact amount of inches above whatever surface they are set on. With flat cement that is perfect! Tile is not a flat surface, so the high parts get blasted badly, while the lower portions of the tile, barely come clean-if at all. If you went up and inspected such a cleaning job, you would find the former sharp, cut top edges to be somewhat rounded now. You would also find many small black lines of leftover, living algae. If any algae is left, it will continue to spread and need re-cleaning within 2 years! An RCIA, Roofing Manufacturer Approved chemically cleaned, soft-washed tile roof is easily evenly coated and all algae is killed and disintegrated. That’s why a Non-Pressure Roof cleaning, as explained below, lasts just about twice as long as any type of pressure washing / shampoo style cleaning can. Fortunately, you are not stuck having to accept roof damage in order to have a nice, clean, healthy roof! Many years ago some of the roofing manufacturers, came up with a formula to “chemically clean†roofs, using no pressure at all. It’s called by a few names “Non-Pressure†“No-Pressure†Soft-Washing†“Chemical Cleaning†many of us at RCIA started using this method and the chemicals specified by the roofing manufacturers themselves as well as their Roofing Manufacturers Association {ARMA} back in the 1990′s and found that it cleaned tile just as well as it cleaned shingles! The roofing manufacturers specify a mixture of about a 3-5% solution of Chlorine Bleach and a little TSP {Tri S Phosphate} Nowadays, there’s always someone trying to sell you something. Non Bleach alternative chemicals are on the market and I try them as they come out. They all use the “Eco-Friendly†“Green†sales approach, to sell their chemicals with. Many of us at RCIA have tried these new chemicals, but they did not do a nearly good enough job, for us to sell them to our customers. I personally tried Spray and Forget, Wet and Forget and M-1 Deck & Roof Cleaner. I do not believe I could satisfy my customers, with the less than "so so" results I got. Plus, the instructions on most of these say "Wait 2 or 3 months for results" That's the "FORGET" part :-) Also, I like to know what I am spraying on your roof. On the label of these products, they do not tell you what chemicals are in the product. So, are they safe and eco-friendly? Who knows? So, none are products we could use on our customers roofs in good conscience. Plus, because, as I said, most of these new "gimmick" chemicals say the roof won't come clean for a few months after applying their chemicals. Try spraying a customers roof with one of these "homeowner specials" and then ask to be paid, telling them their roof will look good in a few months! Homeowners are smarter than that! We do know what to expect from bleach though! We wash our clothes in it, disinfect our kitchen food preparation areas with it, swim in it in our pools and drink it in our city water etc! When it dries, it turns back into salt, which is what it is made from. You can go to the websites below and read directly from the makers of your roofing. You will see that what this tech bulletin I made says, is what many makers of roofing also say. The links below all say to clean roofs with the non-pressure RCIA method! They all also say specifically "DO NOT PRESSURE WASH" {GAF Roofing Manufacturer} http://georgoulisroofing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Algae_Staining_on_Shingled_Roof_Surfaces_-_Steep_Slope_Techn-43-808-v3.pdf {ARMA Roofing Manufacturer Association Cleaning Bulletin} http://www.asphaltroofing.org/sites/default/files/tech-bulletin/tb_217.pdf {CORNING Roofing Manufacturer} Click number 1 "algae growth" http://roofing.owenscorning.com/homeowner/thingsyoushouldknow/needaroof.aspx The ARMA also says not to allow anyone to apply any roof coatings. This is a common sales gimmick. Usually pressure washing companies-not roof cleaning companies-will pressure wash your roof and then sell you an after coating, which they claim will keep your roof clean 2 years. Any properly cleaned roof should stay clean longer than that, without paying for a Roof-A-Fung-A-Cide treatment, which the rain will wash right off! They sell this stuff, because they want to reapply it every 2 years and lock you into a contract. Read the ARMA warning below. http://www.asphaltroofing.org/sites/default/files/tech-bulletin/tb_227.pdf NOTE PICTURE OF ROOF BEING PRESSURE WASHED. THEN COMPARE WHAT YOU SEE IN MY VIDEOS. HOW WOULD YOU PREFER YOUR ROOF BE TREATED? Videos of me cleaning a couple of roofs:

Video of me cleaning a North Port Florida Roof, without a damaging pressure washing job!