A tile roof makes any home look expensive and luxurious, but that great style gets less attractive when the tiles get damaged or dirty over time. Many homeowners leave their tile roofs without regular maintenance because they simply aren’t sure when they should be cleaning the roof and don’t know how to do it themselves because the tile can get very slippery when wet. The good news is that qualified professional roof cleaners are available in your area to take care of the cleaning for you! Hiring a professional to maintain your roof is a great investment in the future integrity of your roof and can give you peace of mind that the cleaning is being done properly.
Setting a regular schedule with your local roof cleaning professional is the first step to having a clean and well-maintained roof that will look great for years to come. In general, the minimum number of cleanings that you should plan for your tile roof in a rainy and humid climate like Florida is one cleaning per year. For a particularly rainy year, two cleanings might be better. Only very dry climates can handle having a tile roof cleaned every other year. Cleaning every year is so important because the humidity in Florida is the perfect breeding ground for moss and algae, which can not only damage the tiles over time, but it can also push them apart if it allowed to grow for too long before it is removed. Since most tile roofs don’t have a fantastic water barrier underneath, any water leakage due to damaged tiles can become catastrophic for the home.
Maybe you didn’t realize that your tile roof needed cleaning until recently because of the sudden appearance of discoloration or moldy patches. Once you can visibly see changes in your roof, a cleaning is required immediately. When a roof is cleaned on a regular basis, it is quite rare to see mold or other grime since it is washed away before it can really bite in and flourish. In hot and humid climates, mold or mildew is almost always starting to grow on a microscopic level since these conditions are very favorable to mold growth, especially if a large section of the roof is in the shade throughout the day. The goal of tile roof cleaning is to remove any potential roof-damaging growth before it makes itself visible. Since most roofs are quite high up, seeing anything from the ground indicates an urgent need to call in a professional. Darkened tiles are not a normal part of aging and should not be ignored!
Should you have your tiles cleaned in the rainy season or the drier part of the year in Florida? If you are cleaning your tile roof once per year, the ideal time to do so is right after the rainy spring season, since this is when most of the mildew, mold and grime has had time to start getting ready to grow thanks to all the rain and humidity. By cleaning the tile roof as the season is getting drier, the potential damage accumulated and caused due to all the rain can be removed and you can enjoy a clean and gorgeous roof for the remainder of the summer season! If your local professionals are too busy during this time of the year, as it will be in high demand, cleaning your tiles right before the rainy season is also advisable. Although not as ideal as cleaning after the humidity has promoted the growth of all kinds of nasty things, using cleaning products on your roof right before the humidity helps can actually help prevent the growth of mold in the first place! That is because the mold or algae doesn’t grow directly on the tile, it actually feeds off of debris and dirt that is already present on the tile surface. By removing this grime, the mold has a much harder time ever growing at all.
Cleaning a tile roof is an incredibly important part of home maintenance and requires the expertise of a professional. The homeowner only needs to set the appointment and make sure that the person carrying out the service is qualified for the job. After all, what good is cleaning a roof if it isn’t being done by someone who can make sure that the roof is clean at the end? Hiring a professional makes cleaning tile roofs easy and having professionals come in once every year after the rainy season is truly the gold standard for keeping a tile roof looking its best over the summer and for the rest of its lifespan.
We offer free roof cleaning estimates! Give us a call at 407.256.8610 or contact us online here.