Fresno roof cleaning without the pressure washer

Look at the north side of a lot of Fresno roofs and you’ll see it: dark streaks running down the tiles, or gray-green crust spreading across the shingles. Plenty of people figure a dry Valley town shouldn’t have that problem. Winter tells a different story. From late fall into early spring, rain and weeks of tule fog keep shaded slopes damp for long stretches, and algae and lichen settle in. Then summer dust and pollen stick to whatever is growing there, and the roof looks a little darker every year.

Fresno’s mix of roofs needs a careful approach. Many newer homes in the north part of town have concrete tile, while plenty of older ranch homes have asphalt shingles. Blasting either one with a pressure washer is a bad idea. High pressure can crack or loosen tiles and strip the granules that protect shingles from the sun. We soft wash instead. A cleaning solution goes on at low pressure, sits long enough to break down the algae, moss and lichen, and then gets a gentle rinse. Thick lichen can keep fading for a few weeks afterward as the weather rinses it away. We pre-rinse your plants, rinse them again when we finish, and keep foot traffic on tile to a minimum.

Homes under big trees in older neighborhoods collect leaves in the roof valleys, and that damp pile feeds more growth, so we clear it while we’re up there. A clean roof also makes it easier to spot cracked or slipped tiles worth showing to a roofer. Selling soon or adding solar? Both are good reasons to clean first. We clean roofs for Fresno homes, HOAs, multi-family properties and commercial buildings. We’re licensed and insured, estimates are free, and if something isn’t right, we’ll come back and make it right.