A Good Roof Cleaning Article

Here is a really good roof cleaning article that was partially written by our good friend Marcus Raif of Katy Memorial Roof Cleaning in Texas who’s worked as a roofing contractor for a significant amount of time. Marcus is a fellow member of the Roof Cleaning Institute Of America, and is also an RCIA Certified Roof Cleaner.

Think You Need a New Roof? A Cleaning Instead Might Do

Patti Hollingshead thought she needed a new roof.

The Pittsburgh resident’s roof was covered with moss and black streaks.

“It looked terrible,” Hollingshead said. “It looked like it was in poor condition. We had a roofer look at it but got an astronomical estimate. It was tens of thousands of dollars for a new roof.

Over the past two decades, more homeowners across the U.S. have experienced the very same issues with their roofs as Hollingshead. Gloeocapsa magma, a type of bacteria that presents as the black streaks, is the culprit.

“About 15 years ago, in the manufacturing process, (fiberglass) roof manufacturers added limestone in the asphalt shingle mix,” explained Brad Iannacchione from Orezona roofing in Corvallis. “That’s what (the bacteria) enjoys eating.”

Though there’s no demonstrated proof that the bacterium is harmful to roofs, industry experts say it can lead to premature rotting of the shingles if left untreated. Plus, the appearance of those streaks can lower a home’s value if you’re trying to sell it. In an effort to curtail unnecessary roof replacement, some insurance companies are even making it a requirement homeowners have their roofs cleaned, or risk losing their policy. A professional roof cleaning will usually rid those black streaks for five years or longer.

“The biggest reason is aesthetics, as far as making sure your house looks nice again and clean,” Raif said. “(Plus), the black on the roof raises the attic temperatures within the house. It can reduce your electric bills by reducing the heating of your attic by getting rid of the black streaks.”

Both Iannacchione and Marcus Raif of Katy Memorial Services in Katy, Texas, recommend a non-pressurized cleaning as the most effective method for removing the black streaks.

“You’ll blow the granules off an asphalt roof” with pressure washing, Raif said.

 

“The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association recommends you don’t use any pressure whatsoever on the roof.”

The “soft-wash” method using a chlorine-based chemical wash is the best way homeowners should go for a roof cleaning, both experts say.

We don’t use any more pressure than a garden hose to spray our cleaning solution on the roof. “By the time we leave, the roof is 99 percent clean. The other 1 percent will be gone after the first rain. A lot of times, homeowners themselves will get up there with the pressure washer, and frankly, it works. It will take care of those black streaks. Unfortunately, those folks just ruined their roofs, in my opinion, because there are a lot of different granules and little stones on the shingles. I’ve talked to a lot of different roofing manufacturers, and it will actually void the warranty that homeowner has for the roof.”

Before hiring a company to clean, you could try them out yourself or ask about the method the technicians will use. Raif said he’s certified by the Roof Cleaning Institute of America. Check that the company carries liability and workers’ compensation insurance, so you’re protected in the event they cause unforeseen damage or someone gets injured on the job. A roof cleaning for homes can range in price from about $250 to $1,000 or more, depending on the size of the home, pitch of the roof and how dirty it is.

If you do decide to have your roof cleaned, be sure the company protects grass, shrubs and flowers from runoff. Both Raif and Iannacchione said their companies always send two technicians to the job; one who applies the cleaner and one who stands on the ground, constantly saturating the grass and plants with water from a hose.

Hollingshead said she noticed an immediate difference after having her roof cleaned and is glad she didn’t pay to replace it.

“They did an absolutely excellent job,” Hollingshead said. “He came out and did the roof in about five hours. It’s absolutely immaculate. It looks like a new roof. The roof was in good condition, but it didn’t show it. But now that it’s cleaned, it really looks like a brand new roof. It saved us tens of thousands of dollars.” go to this company’s website for more details on roofing.

Non Pressure Roof Cleaning In Tampa

If you are looking for non pressure roof cleaning in Tampa, be aware it is not “all the same”.

We get people calling us (often, our phone rings off the hook) who will say “I have a 2500 sq ft shingle roof in Tampa Palms, and a 2 car garage, so what is your price to clean it”? changing the door might cost a bit, Titan Garage Doors are one of the best to do that.
Though some of these nice, but misinformed people live in homes worth well in excess of 350.000.00, they will shop and shop for roof cleaning services based solely on price, and not the safety of their roofs!
What is gained by saving 50.00 dollars, when the integrity and longevity of your roof is going to be compromised.
Contrary to what you may have been told by well meaning neighbors and friends, strong chemical roof cleaning solutions can remove granules from a shingle roof as well as, or even faster, then pressure cleaning can.

Better Business Bureau

A dangerous method of so called “non pressure roof cleaning in tampa” involves spraying pure swimming pool chlorine onto your roof !
This will harm your shingles as much, or even more, then pressure washing, and will void your shingle warranty.

Ever see roof shingles curl up, dry out, and fall apart ?
Get your roof cleaned this way, wait a year, and you will.

It can also kill your plants.
We have seen yards look like barren lunar landscapes for months, even years, after just one application.

The right way to clean a shingle or tile roof is to apply a lot of a weak, non pressure roof cleaning solution.

Because some companies lack our equipment, they apply a smaller amount of a dangerously strong toxic chemical solution.

A tiny battery powered pump (check these magnetic drive pump distributors in Mexico), and a small tank are sure signs of this method.
Look at their equipment before you hire them, is it a huge, dedicated to roof cleaning truck with a huge tank and big air powered non pressure roof cleaning pump ?
Or is it simply the small trailer of a weekend warrior part timer, with a small battery powered pump and a small tank.

A small battery powered pump is simply incapable of applying a large enough amount of the weak A.R.M.A approved solution to properly and safely clean your roof.
Dont say we didnt try and warn you.

Our big, dedicated roof cleaning trucks, our unique high volume air powered pumps, and our large tanks are necessary for A.R.M.A compliance.
We use 200- 300 gallons of a safe, A.R.M.A approved solution on an average house, and we often do more than one a day.
This is what it takes to do it right.

Remember, it costs no more to have it done right.
We will meet or beat any written quote for equivalent non pressure roof cleaning, and you will get the peace of mind of knowing it will not void your shingle warranty.

Call Apple Non Pressure Roof Cleaning Tampa at 813 655 8777 for a free estimate…
Why fool around ???

Tile Roof Cleaning New Tampa FL 33647

Apple Tile Roof Cleaning 813 655 8777 are RCIA Certified, and trained in the latest advancements in our Trade.

If you live in any of these New Tampa Communities

 
  • Arbor Greene
  • Cory Lake Isles
  • Cross Creek
  • Easton Park
  • Grand Hampton
  • Heritage Isles
  • Hunter’s Green
  • Kingshyre
  • Live Oak Preserve
  • Meadow Creek
  • Misty Creek
  • Pebble Creek
  • Richmond Place
  • Tampa Palms
  • West Meadows

near Zip Code 33647, and have a Barrel Tile, Flat Tile, Ceramic or Cement Tile, Clay Tile, or a Slate Roof, give us a call for a free consultation and estimate on the cost of cleaning it.

Here is a video we made out of pictures of some of our past Tile Roof Cleaning jobs.

Many of these homes were in New Tampa. Some are in Hunters Green, and some are in Tampa Palms.

All these tile roofs, and the one slate one, were cleaned w/o walking on them, using manlifts.

Every roof we clean is evaluated for both our safety, and if it can be walked on safely, w/o breaking the roof tiles.

Some of these New Tampa Florida area customers received roof cleaning letters from their homeowners associations. Some wanted their tile roofs cleaned for other reasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roof Cleaning Costs Tampa, Florida


How much does a roof cleaning cost in the Tampa Florida area? That’s a great question to ask as every roof, shingle, tile, or metal, is different. With that estimation, it still might be difficult to answer, but the advantage to the fact that you could outsource your house cleaning to save time is just too captivating to let go. There will be many variables when estimating a cost, including roof size and type, labor and chemical usage costs, but in this Blog post we will try to cover the basics. Why are you getting your roof cleaned ? Has your Tampa Homeowner Association recently sent you a roof cleaning letter ? Maybe you’re you tired of having the dirtiest roof in the neighborhood ? Did you notice black roof stains on Northern and Western sides of your house ? Does Insurance Cover a Roof Replacement? A good first impression on a home can add as much as 10 to 20 percent to the value of the home, according to some Tampa Realtors we clean roofs for! On average it will cost anywhere from $3,400 to $6,000 to hire a Tampa Roofing Contractor to replace a shingle roof on a 2,000 sq foot home. We all know times are tough here in Tampa, and that sort of money may be hard to come up with for most families. If money is tight, but you are looking to increase the life of your shingle roof a few more years, then cleaning your roof will be thousands of dollars less than replacing it, saving you the unnecessary expense. Sounds like Safe Roof Cleaning is right choice but…. Roofs get a lot of moisture on them in the early morning hours. Because the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the eastern part of the roof is dried of it’s moisture by the sun in the first part of the day. The western side of the roof does not have sun reach it until the afternoon. That creates a damp, shady environment where black roof mold, green mildew, and algae can grow. If you wondering how much a roof cleaning in Tampa Florida costs, it could be as low as $199.00 or even $40,000. It all depends on the square footage, the degree of difficulty, and if your roof has gutters or not. And, tile roofs always cost more then shingle roofs, because they take much more time and chemicals, and they are much more difficult to clean safely. Apple at 813-655-8777, is Tampa Florida’s #1 Roof Cleaning Company. If you are looking to get a 15,000 sq ft roof cleaned in Avila, it most likely be more expensive if you are getting a 2,000 sq ft roof cleaned in Tampa Palms. The bigger the roof is, the more expensive it will be to clean it, as it will be more labor intensive and chemical consuming for our RCIA Certified Roof Cleaners. If you would like an estimate, we would more than happy to give you a roof cleaning cost by phone. Usually, there is no need to actually come out to see your shingle or tile roof. Call Apple Roof Cleaning Of Tampa today at 813-655-8777 for your free cost estimate

Can a Tile Roof Help Fix Air Pollution?

I teach my trade at the Roof Cleaning Institute, and have to be aware of all new aspects of cleaning roofs.

This is an amazing new invention that caught my eyes recently. I will let the article speak for itself, and can only address the cleaning aspects that will be involved for us roof cleaners here in Tampa, and everywhere else these roofing tiles will be used at.

These new tile roofs will have Titanium Oxide coatings on them and IMHO will not be able to have any pressure washing used on them. Interestingly enough, Titanium is a chemically resistant metal, and the chemicals we currently use to clean tile roofs with should have no effect on them.

I moved to the Tampa Florida area back in 1971, and remember when the air used to be much cleaner. Air Pollution is a serious problem, and this is a great way to help combat the problem. Titanium Dioxide is also a very potent way to prevent Roof Algae from growing on tile or shingle roofs as well.

Look into the benefits of the Portable AC and check how air conditioning can help fight air pollution. At present, the majority of air conditioning services meet the highest standards.

The Titanium Coated Tile Roofs will stay clean longer, as well as help clean the air we all breathe here in Tampa. What a great idea! I hope you enjoy the article.

It is great news for anyone who lives in a Tampa Florida area deed restricted community. It will greatly prevent that dreaded Homeowners Association Roof Cleaning Letter!

Los Angeles and London (CNN) — Can the roof of your house help you breathe easier by reducing the amount of harmful pollutants from urban air?

“Yes,” claims John Renowden, vice president of technology in a U.S. company that has introduced a line of roof tiles that they say have pollution-busting properties.

Based near Los Angeles, the most ozone-polluted city in the U.S., according to 2012 rankings by the American Lung Association, the company says its “Smog-Eating Tiles” improve air quality by neutralizing smog-forming nitrogen oxides released by most vehicles (read more about smog in our fact box).

The tiles are coated with titanium dioxide, a photocalyst that can oxidize harmful air pollutants emitted in the burning of fossil fuels. When exposed to natural light, the titanium dioxide breaks down nitrogen oxides in the air and turns them into harmless calcium nitrate.
We have to move past our oil dependence but it won’t happen overnight
John Renowden

“Calcium nitrate … washes off your roof with normal precipitation and is a regular garden fertilizer,” said Renowden. He notes that the tiles typically add between $600-$1000 to the price of tiling an average roof.

He adds that over a one-year period, the tiles on a 2,000 sq/ft house can oxidize nitrogen oxides “equivalent to driving 10,000 miles a year in your car.”

Read more: Ancient ‘air-conditioning’ cools building sustainably

CDBR – Brooklyn Roofing Contractors claims to be the first construction company in the U.S. to introduce titanium dioxide coatings to roofing products.

The technology originates in Japan and has been adopted in Europe by a number of industries. In the last few years, it has been used in the production of several products, including eco-friendly cement, architectural panels and paints.

The de-polluting properties of titanium dioxide, a compound commonly used as a white pigment in paints and plastics, were tested in a European Commission-backed project by Image Line Painting in 2005.

Smog
Nitrogen oxide is emitted as a byproduct of burning fossil fuels in vehicles and electric power plants. Smog is formed when nitrogen oxide mixes in the air with other chemicals in the presence of sunlight and heat. Smog is linked to a number of respiratory illnesses and can cause coughing and breathing difficulties.

“Tests in urban settings determined that some pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, which are a major pollutant contained in exhaust gases, could be reduced by 20-70%,” according to the European Commission’s Environmental Technologies Action Plan.

Read more: The eco artists turning trash into treasure

Air pollution is one of today’s biggest urban problems.

“It is definitely one of the biggest health challenges we are confronted with today,” she said. Exposure to urban air pollutants can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer as well as trigger asthma attacks, she added.

A recent study on the UK’s air quality by MIT pollution experts Steve Yim and Steven Barrett found that traffic pollution is killing more people than road accidents per year, causing 13,000 premature deaths on an annual basis.
The best way to tackle the problem is to clean up the source
Janice Nolen, American Lung Association

A brief uptick in traffic-related air pollution may also be enough to increase a person’s short-term risk of stroke, another report found in February this year.

Four in 10 Americans live in counties with dangerous levels of either ozone or particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association.

The organization’s recent State of the Air 2012 report found that California is home to many of the country’s most polluted cities, with Los Angeles continuing to top the list of ozone-polluted cities thanks to its heavy road traffic and trade ports.

Renowden says that more sustainable solutions are needed in the fight against urban air pollution.

“We have to move past our oil dependence but it won’t happen overnight,” he said.

Read more: Hacking the city for a greener future

Janice Nolen, national policy adviser at the American Lung Association, says that rather than dealing with the harmful effects of air pollution, the focus should be on tackling the problem at source.

“What we have found historically in any kind of pollution is that the best way to tackle the problem is to clean up the sources,” she said, “rather than trying cleaning it up afterwards when it’s in the air.”

“If you can keep those raw ingredients that make up ozone from coming out of the tailpipes and the smokestacks, then you don’t have to worry so much about cleaning it up later on,” adds Nolen.

SWS Roofing and Isha Sesay, CNN contributed to this story.

Roof Cleaning Letters from Home Owners Association

If you, or your neighbors have received Roof Cleaning Letters your Homeowner Associations, call us at 813-655-8777 for a free estimate.

No one likes to be told to clean their roof , but if you have received a roof cleaning letter from your HOA, you are in a no win situation.

Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa 813-655-8777 will not take advantage of you, just because you received a demanding letter from your Homeowners Association or Property Manager. In fact, if you want a great deal on roof cleaning, get a few neighbors together, and we will give you guys a great group rate on getting your roofs properly cleaned!