How To Clean Slate Roof Shingles

When cleaning a slate roof don t use chemicals like ammonia or chlorine bleach.

How to clean slate roof shingles.

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. Sunlight and warm weather will ensure the cleaning solution dries too fast to be of any use. You want to keep it wet once you ve begun. No pressure washers please.

The goal when cleaning a slate roof is to soften and loosen the undesirable buildup. Use heavy rubber gloves to scoop up material in areas you can safely reach. 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. Before you begin it s important to repair loose shingles and flashings to minimize roof damage.

Cleaning roofs is slippery work. Regular roof cleaning is critical for your roof as slate is easy to cleave and water absorbent. Wait about 20 minutes then rinse. Punch a hole into shingle from the back.

Hook the nails and pull them out. That ll prevent the cleaner from drying out too quickly. Then spray the cleaner onto the shingles photo 1. Such harsh chemicals are incompatible with the copper components of your slate roof.

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. That way you always stand on dry surface and reduce the chance of slipping. 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. 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.

Use the sprayer to saturate a strip 3 feet high x 10 feet wide. Slide the replacement shingle into place. Buildup of moss and debris on slate roofs hold moisture in the slates that can split them during winter. Spray the cleaner on a section of roof and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

The more applications and sitting time the better. The day you perform deep cleaning on the shingles should be cool and overcast. A vinyl leaf rake can clean harder to reach spots. Limit cleaning to removing organic debris and delaminated slate flakes from valleys snow guards gutters and the area behind the chimney.

Start at the lower portion of the roof moving up as you clean each lower section. Step 1 choose a cool and overcast day.