How To Clean Slate Roof Shingles

Regular roof cleaning is critical for your roof as slate is easy to cleave and water absorbent.

How to clean slate roof shingles.

The trick to doing this successfully is applying the solution with a garden type sprayer and letting it sit and reapply and reapply and reapply. Buildup of moss and debris on slate roofs hold moisture in the slates that can split them during winter. Before you begin it s important to repair loose shingles and flashings to minimize roof damage. Hook the nails and pull them out.

Punch a hole into shingle from the back. The goal when cleaning a slate roof is to soften and loosen the undesirable buildup. Slide the replacement shingle into place. Step 1 choose a cool and overcast day.

The day you perform deep cleaning on the shingles should be cool and overcast. That ll prevent the cleaner from drying out too quickly. The less expensive solution is to spray wash the roof with a 50 percent mix of water and bleach to get rid of the algae. Start at the lower portion of the roof moving up as you clean each lower section.

Step 2 replacing the shingles. Use heavy rubber gloves to scoop up material in areas you can safely reach. Limit cleaning to removing organic debris and delaminated slate flakes from valleys snow guards gutters and the area behind the chimney. You want to keep it wet once you ve begun.

Asphalt shingles are easy to install last anywhere from 10 to 50 years depending on the type and are less expensive than other roofing materials such as slate tile and metal. No pressure washers please. The more applications and sitting time the better. Such harsh chemicals are incompatible with the copper components of your slate roof.

Before applying the cleaner spray the roof with water to cool it down. When cleaning a slate roof don t use chemicals like ammonia or chlorine bleach. Use the sprayer to saturate a strip 3 feet high x 10 feet wide. Sunlight and warm weather will ensure the cleaning solution dries too fast to be of any use.

Wait about 20 minutes then rinse. They re likely to damage the shingles just be sure to wet your foundation plantings first and rinse everything in clean water when you re done. Spray the cleaner on a section of roof and let it sit for about 15 minutes. If a slate shingle needs to be replaced use the slate ripper a 2 foot piece of cast steel that includes a blade and a hook for the removal of slate nails and broken shingles.

Then spray the cleaner onto the shingles photo 1. A vinyl leaf rake can clean harder to reach spots.