Elite Soft WashCommercial & Multi-Family Roof Cleaning: Shingle and Metal
On a commercial or multi-family building this is not a curb-appeal purchase, it is asset life. The black streaking is gloeocapsa magma, it eats the limestone filler in shingles, and it takes years off the roof while it does it. Cleaning is a maintenance line item; replacing a forty-unit roof is a special assessment. We soft wash with no pressure at all, which is the method the shingle manufacturers specify and the one that keeps the warranty intact.
Shingle, Metal, and What Grows on Each
- Architectural and 3-tab asphalt shingle
- Standing-seam and corrugated metal
- Moss and lichen colonies on shaded slopes
- Oxidation streaking and chalking on metal
- Roof-to-wall junctions and valleys
- Gutter faces and downspouts alongside
Cleaning Costs Less Than the Years Algae Takes Off
Algae feeds on the limestone filler in asphalt shingles, and a colonised roof holds heat and moisture that a clean one sheds. The result is a roof that reaches the end of its life early. For a board or an owner the arithmetic is simple: a clean is a scheduled maintenance cost, and a replacement is a capital event nobody budgeted for. Cleaning also keeps you inside the manufacturer's warranty, which pressure washing does not.
Working on an Occupied Building
People live and work under this roof while we are on it, so the job is planned around them. Tenants and residents get notice, entrances and landscaping are protected, and gutter and downspout runoff is managed so the detergent goes where we want it rather than across a parking lot. We work off the roofline where we can rather than walking the field, because foot traffic on a hot roof does its own damage.
Our Process
- 1
Inspection and condition report. We assess the roof and tell you plainly if cleaning will not fix what you are looking at. Sometimes the answer is a roofer, not us.
- 2
Scope and COI. Written scope, firm price, certificate of insurance naming your entity or association.
- 3
Protect. Landscaping, entrances, and downspout discharge points covered or diverted.
- 4
Soft wash from the roofline. No pressure on the shingle. The treatment kills the growth where it sits.
- 5
Photo report. Documentation for the file. Moss keeps releasing for two to six weeks after we leave, so we tell you what to expect.
The Proof
Before & After
Real results from real DMV jobs. No filters, no tricks.
Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
Will this void the roof warranty?
No. No-pressure soft washing is the method the shingle manufacturers specify. Pressure washing a shingle roof is what voids warranties, and we do not do it.
How much roof life does algae actually cost?
Enough to matter. It feeds on the limestone filler in the shingle and holds heat and moisture against it. Left alone across a whole community it turns a scheduled maintenance cost into a capital replacement years early.
Can you do several buildings at once?
Yes, and phasing is normal. We schedule building by building so the property is never fully disrupted, and we can spread a large community across more than one budget year.
Do the moss and lichen come off straight away?
The algae streaking goes immediately. Moss and lichen die on contact but keep releasing over the following two to six weeks as the weather works them loose. That is expected, not a job left unfinished.
What if the roof is too far gone to clean?
We will say so at the inspection, before you spend anything. If what you have is failed shingles rather than dirty ones, cleaning them is money wasted and we would rather tell you than take it.