Roof cleaningin Parkland, FL.

Heron Bay started going up in 1996, so its earliest roofs are now close to thirty years old, and even the early-2000s ones are past twenty. Citizens, the state-backed insurer, asks for a four-point inspection on homes older than twenty years, and the roof is one of the four points. The inspector photographs it, and a streaked tile roof reads as neglected in that photo whatever its real condition.

Cleaning does not make a roof younger and does not repair anything. What it does is let the inspector, and you, see the actual tile. If Michael finds cracked or slipped tile while he is up there, he tells you before quoting, because a roof that needs a roofer should not be dressed up by a cleaner first.

Watercrest went up between 2013 and 2015, MiraLago in 2014 and Parkland Bay in the late 2010s. A tile roof that age usually shows its first streaks on the north slope or wherever it sits over water, and the rest still looks close to new. That is the cheapest point to clean it, because the growth has not spread across the field or into the laps.

Newer tile also has its surface color largely intact, and pressure is what strips it. The soft wash kills the growth in the pores and leaves the color coat alone. On a young roof there is rarely any lichen, so a second application is seldom needed, and the quote says so. Cleaning early also keeps the next clean simple, because a roof caught before the black spreads rarely builds up lichen in the laps.

A lot of Parkland roofs drain toward a lake, and the downspouts often empty onto the slope behind the house. The roof solution is diluted by the time it reaches the ground, but the beds under the drip line still get soaked with plain water first and rinsed again at the end. The lake behind a Parkland lot is often not the homeowner's, so keeping runoff on your own lawn keeps everyone on good terms.

Before the work starts, walk the back of the house with Michael and point out where each downspout goes. Where one discharges straight onto the bank, the runoff can be spread across the lawn instead. Gutters and downspouts are flushed at the end so nothing sits in them. On a two-story roof over a pool, the deck under the drip line is rinsed too, so nothing is left sitting on the pavers.