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Soft Wash Moss Removal
Algae & Stain Treatment
Gutter & Downspout Clearing
Preventative Anti-Growth Coating
Pressure washing does — high-pressure water strips the protective granules off asphalt shingles and shortens the roof’s life. Soft washing uses low pressure and cleaning solution instead, lifting growth and staining without blasting the shingle surface.
If a company quotes you a “power wash” for an asphalt roof, ask what pressure they’re using before agreeing to it.
Those streaks are almost always algae — Gloeocapsa magma — which feeds on the limestone filler in asphalt shingles and shows up first on north-facing slopes that stay shaded and damp. It’s cosmetic at first, but it holds moisture against the shingle surface over time. Streaking usually appears in the same places every time, which is why shaded slopes need attention before sunny ones.
Less often than in wet climates. The Salt Lake Valley is dry enough that heavy moss is uncommon on the valley floor — what builds up here is dust, wind-blown debris, and pine needles on properties near the foothills. A visual check once a year, usually alongside a gutter clear-out, tells you whether anything actually needs doing.
You can, but the two common DIY mistakes are expensive: using a pressure washer, which strips granules, and walking on shingles in the wrong conditions, which cracks them. Roof work also accounts for a significant share of home-maintenance injuries. If you do go up, work from a ladder where possible and never pressure-wash asphalt shingles.
Clearing debris and organic growth removes trapped moisture, which is what drives rot and premature aging — so keeping a roof clear helps. It won’t reverse damage that’s already happened, and it won’t extend the life of a roof that’s already at the end of it.
If your roof is old enough that cleaning is being considered as a way to delay replacement, an inspection is the more useful place to start.
Roof cleaning in Utah is priced per roof, not per square foot, because five things move the number: total roof area, pitch, how many storeys the crew has to work at, how much moss, algae or debris has built up, and how accessible the roof is from the ground. A single-storey ranch roof with light debris is a different job from a steep two-storey roof with growth on the north-facing slope, and no honest quote comes out of a photo. We look at the roof first and give you the price in writing, free.