The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum
"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

Algae have been around since the dawn of time.

Generally, the Species of Algae found on rooftops in Tampa today is  a normal part of the ecosystem and our earth’s environment.

Yet, in the scope of things, when deposited on the surface of a clay barrel tile roof or an asphalt shingle roof,  algae is absolutely not doing residential and commercial property owners here in Tampa any real good, and in fact is causing both an ugly eyesore and, a potentially damaging situation to grow, that can lead to premature roofing shingle failure and/or replacement.

 Today, many properties in Tampa with otherwise nicely landscaped, well-maintained yards and freshly painted home or business exteriors, suffer visually from the discolored, staining and streaking of roof algae, lowering property values in both more costly and median valued homes across Florida, and abroad.

This unattractive GROWING occurrence on the ROOFTOPS of property structures such as homes, business, churches, and other structures around our communities, give our towns and cities, and undesirable, rundown overall look, with many homeowners associations making it a REQUIREMENT to have residents of the communities annually clean and or treat their roofs for discoloration, mildew, mold, lichen, and moss, or face fines and letters of complaint from their neighbors.

Roof Cleaning in Tampa Florida

As the information gets out to more and more property owners in Tampa that understand that this is actually an invasion or infestation of this offending roof algae that ACTUALLY “Roof Hops” and if one house in a community has this algae left on the roof it will eventually spread back to the other local area homes sooner, rather than later, homeowners are taking the position to perform preventative maintenance now, rather than pay for costly and unnecessary premature roof tear off replacement.

As the knowledge spreads by the internet and word of mouth, that the fact is that if all residents in the area take this problem seriously and clean, treat, and prevent this problem as a normal matter of course by INCLUDING roof algae treatment and maintenance in their normal annual or bi annual property maintenance regimen, this problem can be largely reduced and potentially avoided by the drastic reduction of house to house, rooftop to rooftop algae infestation. 

This blue-green cyanobacteria, technically called, Gloeocapsa Magma, is a miniature plant with an aggressive root system that deposits itself on rooftops of homes and businesses in Tampa, feeding on the limestone filler used in the manufacturing process of the asphalt shingles.

This algae is not only unattractive but also is also dangerous from a slip and fall standpoint to walk on when servicing your roof while annually removing leaves, pine straw and other roof debris during routine fall and spring maintenance cleaning.

Additionally, if the algae is not cleaned using safe, non pressure RCIA Roof Cleaning Institute methods following ARMA standards, then, it will gain a rapid foothold with its root system becoming embedded into the important roofing granules that normally provide essential Ultraviolet protection from the harsh and damaging, shingle drying rays of the sun, and soon will spread to other parts of the roof, eventually covering the roof entirely.

One final additional very important reason to develop and maintain an annual roof maintenance program, besides the obvious reasons of additional longevity and increased curb appeal is the fact that this form of algae “blooms” periodically, much like a flower, and sends millions of microscopic spores, airborne that then attach themselves to other nearby structures such as barns, detached garages and neighboring rooftops in Tampa!

This is a major reason for communities here in the Tampa area to join together and perform “annual roof treatment days” to have all the roofs in the area treated to repel algae and mold and etc.

This way the entire neighborhoods roofs get clean initially, and stay clean continually.

As a homeowner in the Tampa area myself, it certainly disturbs me that, despite all the countless hours of labor for maintaining the grounds and exterior of the structures on our properties and large sums of money most homeowners and businesses invest in to beautify and add character and unique value to their properties, the addition of staining and algae and dark streaking and discoloration of the roof surfaces due to algae, mold, mildew and other roof dwelling plants turn an otherwise visually well-kept property in Tampa, into a less than attractive, rundown looking structure.

This occurrence is very unfortunate for a residential or commercial property owner who is working so hard to get their property to “POP” and stand out above the other average looking homes in their neighborhood.  Yet despite all their money and energy put into paint and landscape, the black algae infestation on their rooftop ROBS them of the final desirable curb appeal they invest in, and deserve to receive.

Mainly, this is because many property owners don’t know that their roof can be restored to a new looking condition without damage to their roof and as easily as picking up the phone and calling a CERTIFIED Non Pressure SAFE Roof Cleaning Contractor locally.

Finding a local, professionally trained and CERTIFIED Safe, Roof Cleaning Contractor is easy, wherever a property owner is located.

To find a CERTIFIED Roof Cleaning Contractor in your area you may visit the Roof Cleaning Institute Of America (this forum), and look through our directory.

Or, if you are here locally, you may call us Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa at 813-655-8777