Serious question, does anyone actually pressure wash their roof or is that a scam?

I was up on my neighbor's roof last week helping him clean his gutters and noticed his shingles looked way cleaner than mine. He told me he paid a company $400 to pressure wash his whole roof last spring. I've always heard that pressure washing a roof can blast off the granules and ruin the shingles, but his roof looks fine after a year. On the other hand, my cousin in ABQ did it and got water inside his attic because the pressure forced water up under the edges. Has anyone here had a roof pressure washed without problems, or is sticking to a soft wash the only safe way to go?

2 comments

2 Comments

wendyc5310d ago

Soft wash is the way to go, no question. Had a guy pressure wash my old roof back in 2018 and it stripped granules off the south facing side within six months. Ended up patching it twice before I gave up and replaced the whole thing early. That $400 your neighbor paid might look like a deal now, but wait until he needs new shingles in five years instead of fifteen. My current house I hired a soft wash crew and they used a garden hose with a sprayer attachment, nothing more powerful than that. Roof looks clean, no leaks, no bare spots, and it's been three years now. Stick with the soft wash and save yourself the headache.

nora18411d ago

Oh I had this EXACT same debate with myself last year! My roof was looking nasty with all that dark algae and I almost went with a pressure washer guy. So glad I didn't. I went with a soft wash company instead. They used some kind of bleach mix and a low pressure sprayer, no power washer at all. Cost me $350 and it still looks great 14 months later. Your cousin's water in the attic thing is EXACTLY what my roofer warned me about. He said those high pressure rigs can blast the granules off AND push water where it doesn't belong. My neighbor did the pressure wash route and now he's patching little bare spots on his shingles two years out. Soft wash all the way.