Is pressure washing your roof a good idea?

However, pressure washing is generally not recommended for cleaning ceilings. A pressure washer is a powerful tool that can damage the ceiling, as well as enter through any small crack or hole in the ceiling, causing water damage to the house.

Is pressure washing your roof a good idea?

However, pressure washing is generally not recommended for cleaning ceilings. A pressure washer is a powerful tool that can damage the ceiling, as well as enter through any small crack or hole in the ceiling, causing water damage to the house. Yes, it's good to pressure wash the ceiling. The roof may need more than one treatment, but algae die and are then washed away by rain.

You don't want to exert too much pressure when spraying the shingles, as too much pressure can remove the protective granules from the shingles or even damage or remove them. There are many different types of roofs that cover buildings across the country, just like there are many different types of pressure washers with a variety of configurations. If, like me, you have a rain garden where all the rain that falls to the roof is diverted to a fast-draining planted area in your garden, then don't use this bleach cleaning method. However, pressure washing of ceilings must be done with the appropriate configurations and techniques to avoid causing costly damage to the roof.

Ceilings can be made of a variety of materials, each of which is capable of fulfilling a specific function. So now, a home seller who had a slightly dirty-looking roof when he had 10 years left, now has a clean asphalt roof with less than 5 years left. Therefore, it is imperative to have a thorough understanding of the composition of the roof and to use proper pressure washing configurations and techniques before attempting to use the pressure washer to quickly and efficiently wash dirt from the roof in the gutter. If done incorrectly, cleaning the roof can be offset by structural damage caused by water pressure.

While it's tempting to simply climb a ladder and spray from the gutter to the top, doing so risks getting under shingles or shingles and lifting them off the roof surface, leading to road leaks. If you plan to use a pressure washer to clean the roof, you should always work from the top of the roof and down to the gutter. But if you're looking at a dirty ceiling and wondering if you can remove dirt with your handy pressure washer, keep in mind that's probably not a good idea. Tearing off a roof completely and then re-varnishing everything is a much more complicated process that is best left to professionals.

This is what I learned personally in my job as a real estate agent and by following home inspectors climbing stairs to pressure-washed ceilings. While a roof may seem like one of the most durable parts of a home, roofs can be surprisingly delicate in some ways. For example, if your roof is made of slate for wood, you'll want to check before spraying to make sure that the additives it includes don't cause the wood to deteriorate prematurely.

Darla Nakama
Darla Nakama

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