Roof Care 101: Help Your Roof Live a Long, Happy Life

Roofs, not unlike people, can have a wide range of lifespans. Some roofs go on to have full, useful lives while others, sadly, must be replaced before their time. And when that happens, the price to replace your dead roof is enough to make any homeowner cry. Thankfully, there are preventative measures to ensure you get the most time and use out of your roof.

According to the National Roofing Contractors Association, the typical roof is designed to last about twenty years. Some, of course, can last much longer or shorter depending on where you live, the type of roof you have, weather conditions in your area and even the slope of your roof. However, maintenance can add a full ten years onto the life of your roof.

Here in Washington, our roofs suffer from an algae and moss malady. Moss eats away at the shingles of your roof, leaving holes that weaken it until the only solution is to have it replaced. Once it has been eaten away, even the best pressure washer will not be able to resuscitate it. Johnny was out working on such a roof this past week and saw some very extensive and irreversible damage. We hope the following images (though traumatizing) will help other homeowners prevent other such tragedies from occurring.

The holes are where the moss has eaten extensively at the shingles.

Even cleaned, the damage to the roof is very apparent.

This roof will need to be replaced in the near future. If only they had called on Johnny Tsunami before it came to this!

Thankfully, we don't see too many roofs at that point. Maintenance is key in preventing an early roof death and Johnny Tsunami Wash is certainly the best pressure washer for the job! Since we don't want to end this post on a sad (though informative) note, we'll end with some photos of folks who know the importance of good roof maintenance.

This is a before shot of a roof in the Kitsap area.

Same roof after Johnny got to it-- it looks brand new! Having your roof cleaned can actually raise the value of your home and after seeing this picture, you might have an idea of why that is.

Of course, metal roofs need to be maintained as well. Here is a before shot of a metal roof Johnny worked on.

The metal roof after, looking much improved!

Johnny Tsunami Wash even offers annual maintenance programs to ensure your roof stays clean and healthy for as long as possible. Like the old cliche' says, "A roof cleaning a year keeps the replacement... not near?" Or something to that effect.  And don't forget to check out our website at www.johnnytsunamiwash.com for additional information.