Soft wash roof cleaning that kills the algae at the root and keeps pine straw from holding moisture against your shingles.
The black streaks running down a Bluffton roof are not dirt and they do not wash off. They are Gloeocapsa magma, a hardy algae that feeds on the limestone filler in asphalt shingles. It takes hold on the north and shaded slopes first, because those are the ones that stay damp longest after a summer storm.
Bluffton has a particular version of this problem. Off the island there is far less salt in the air, but there is a great deal more pine. Longleaf and loblolly drop needles across roofs in the golf and river communities nearly year round, and a mat of pine straw in a valley or behind a chimney holds water against the shingles for days after everything else has dried. That damp patch is where the algae starts, and it is why two houses on the same street can look completely different depending on which one sits under the trees.
A pressure washer will strip the streaks off a shingle, along with the protective granules that make the shingle a roof. Those granules do not grow back. Most shingle manufacturers void the warranty outright if the roof has been pressure washed, which matters more in Bluffton than in most places, because a large share of the housing stock went up from the early 2000s onward and plenty of those roofs are still inside their warranty period.
We apply a low pressure, algae-killing solution, let it do the work, and rinse at a pressure closer to a garden hose than a pressure washer. Nothing is scrubbed and nothing is blasted. The growth dies at the root rather than being knocked off the surface, which is the difference between a roof that stays clean for years and one that looks streaked again by the following spring.
We pre-wet and rinse the landscaping around the house before, during and after. In the river and golf communities that is not optional: mature azaleas and camellias are a big part of what those lots are worth.
If you live in Palmetto Bluff, Belfair, Hampton Hall, Hampton Lake, Rose Hill or Colleton River, your community almost certainly has an architectural review board or a property owners association with something to say about exterior work. Most are straightforward about roof cleaning, but some want notice, some restrict the days and hours work can happen, and a few keep a list of vendors they have already cleared.
Tell us which community you are in when you call and we will work to whatever the rules are. We are fully insured and can provide a certificate of insurance if your POA asks for one, which several of them do.
Every two to three years for most Bluffton homes. Roofs under heavy pine or oak canopy, which covers a lot of the river and golf communities, tend to come back closer to two. If the black streaks are visibly returning, that is the signal rather than the calendar.
Pressure washing can, and most manufacturers say so explicitly. Soft washing does not, because nothing abrasive touches the shingle. We only soft wash roofs, and we are happy to put the method in writing if your builder warranty is still active.
Yes. Clearing the debris out of the valleys and from behind chimneys is part of the job, not an extra. Leaving it there would simply give the algae somewhere damp to start again.
Requirements vary by community and they do change. Tell us where you are and we will work within whatever your association asks for. We carry insurance and can provide a certificate if your POA requires one.
Yes, with the method adjusted for the material. Metal and tile are common on the newer Bluffton builds and both clean up well at low pressure. Tell us what you have when you call.
Low-pressure cleaning for siding, stucco and Hardie.
Debris clearing, downspout flushing and gutter brightening.
Everything we clean across greater Bluffton.
Free, no-obligation roof cleaning estimates across greater Bluffton. Most quotes come back the same day.
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