It does not seem like that long ago you were cleaning out fallen leaves and debris from your roof and gutters. It was important in the fall to prepare your roof for draining the melt off from snow and ice, otherwise, you risked water backing up under the shingles or tiles. Now that spring is approaching, it's time to think about soft washing winter off your roof.

You may wonder why, after everything has pretty much been in a frozen state under a blanket of snow, what accumulation of dirt could possibly require soft washing? In Latin, the dirty word is Gloeocapsa magma. We know it better as bacteria, but this particular strain, called cyanobacteria, has a special twist. It is dark green, resembles algae and eats roofing materials.

Those nasty black stains that develop on your roof are caused by cyanobacteria. They reproduce through airborne spores, seeking warmth and humidity. As winter transitions to spring, your roof warms up nicely but fails to dry out completely. This is the perfect environment for cyanobacteria to thrive.

Cyanobacteria have a taste for the limestone granules in your shingles. While they are happily munching away, the colony expands and gets pulled down your roof by sheer gravity, causing ugly stains. This bacterium has no worries about the sun since it has a hard, UV-resistant outer shell. The damage it does to your roof is appalling:

• Shingle decay
• Loss of UV reflective ability
• Decrease in limestone granules
• Loss of water-resistance
• Premature decay and rot

At Maintain It All, we know how to deal with the nasty things that attack your roof. The best way to get rid of cyanobacteria is to apply a perfectly proportioned detergent mix using a gentle spray. This non-pressure technique called soft washing cleans and helps to stabilize your roofing materials. It has the same outcome as pressure washing but safeguards the easily dislodged granules in your shingles that add to their advanced protective strength.

Have questions about what to do for your roof as spring approaches? Contact us to learn more about how soft washing saves your roof from the dregs of winter.