Walking on roofs?

Not a government lobbyist. Like the PWNA selling BMPs. Or Brockman pushing for licenses in his state. Or Robert using the UAMCC to push reclaim that he sells. Lobbyist.

Black streaks donā€™t hurt a roof. Washing roofs is pretty purely for asthetics. In my opinion

Very little out there is strictly ā€˜necessaryā€™ for living, rich people get pretty irritated when their house, windows and roof are dirty.

The algae aactually feeds on limestone and other components in the shinglesā€¦it has to be doing some damage over time, if ignored. Definitely aging them prematurely. Do you gain enough shingle life to make the washing cost-effective (outside of aesthetics), IDK.

i donā€™t think itā€™s gimmicky, but lets face it, if you walk on an asphalt shingle roof you take off the granules and it winds up in the gutters after a rain. So, in my mind, I donā€™t know if I could market it as saving the shingles from microbes eating away at the granules if I am taking them off by walking on it.

I pay a guy to repair my shingles now, not worth the risk to my old fat butt (steep pitch and bad valley). He sets up ladder and bam, walks the roof. I lose tabs every year due to high winds, itā€™s just the cost of living on the top of a mountain. LOL he actually sighed the last time I called. He is a great roofer. Hand nails old roofs like mine made with wood boards. If you know anything about roofing, most guys (when I helped roof) were running those coil nailers which donā€™t work well on old board roofs (hit the gaps). Yes, he has nailed and asphalt caulked some of the worst wind prone areas and I still lose tabs, (next roofing cycle Iā€™m switching to architectural shingles as I still have the old 3 tabs from the last roof over 12-15 years ago).

One guys .02 and worth everything you paid for it.

Walking can cause some grit to fall but nothing like what moss can do it. Rain alone can cause grit to fall too. See all the moss speckled in the shingles in the first photo below? And then see how much damage it has caused to them underneath the moss. You can see the speckled grit loss that was below the moss spots. Thereā€™s nothing wrong with saying it can add life to your shingles. If you look at any shingles that had moss growing on them they almost always have some damage.


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Moss 100% damages shingles if not taken care of. Moss growth starts at the granule level and turns into the visual that we see. The very reason you never brush off moss before cleaning, it takes the granules with it and often a blotch appearance when cleaning is done. Moss needs to be killed at the roots to have a good chance at not damaging the shingle roof. A nice thick chem application and walk away, let time and the elements chip away at it slowly.

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Yep, thatā€™s part of why we have our roof cleaning warranty. We also tell people ā€œup to 4-6 months for moss to fully fall offā€. From time-to-time they call back because itā€™s still there 3 weeks later. I refer them to the warranty, and the pre-service info on moss, and let them kow if itā€™s still there 6 months after the service, weā€™ll treat it again at no cost. Never hear from them again, lol.

Really?!? You have someone doing it or just stopped it all together?

All the ones in TN and the Western part of the state I gave to Chad Johnson. Ones around here went to Mark with Superior, at least the ones he wanted. Most I just said no to. Lost a lot of business but Iā€™m trying to go out of business, not stay in it :slight_smile:

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I had the same thing a year ago. It was on a slate roof. Iā€™d clean roofs every day if I could.

I used to sell roofs. Had to tour a facility or two. Had to be educated on their makeup and maintenance to tell a homeowner whether they needed maintenance or a new roof. According to shingle manufacturers, the roof should be washed every x amount or years because they say it can damage the shingle and will void the warranty from a lack of maintenance. Theyā€™re made with copper in the matting or the grains, the amount of copper depends on how fancy the shingle is. Thatā€™s why they offer a x year streak free warranty, but after that copper gets so covered, it has to be cleaned to get rid of the streaks and prevent algae and moss.

As far as insurance, I added to my policy an ā€œadjusterā€ along with ā€œpressure washerā€. It went through, only 175 a month or just over 2k a year for workers Comp (not a shell policy, it covers me too). So if I or someone that works for me gets on a roof to wash (which I and they donā€™t) Iā€™m covered. According to my agent anyway. Insurance has their ways to avoid paying. Just my couple of pennies. Happy washing.

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Did they mention what method/chems should be used to clean them?

Sure did. To my surprise it said sodium hypochlorite. Iā€™ll see if I can find it. It was under something Certainteed had for their landmark shingles.

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From the CertainTeed manual

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I forgot about TSP! But there ya have it. It didnā€™t say anything about washing regularly for warranty, that may have been a different brand or somewhere else I saw, but thatā€™s the manufacturer recommendation.

As far as walking on the roof, usually thereā€™s no need to unless itā€™s very complicated in which case a ridge pro and cougar paws do a good job helping, but not so much on a wet soapy roof. Happy washing.

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