Roof Cleaning Temperatures

Roof Cleaning Season

During the fall and spring many homeowners ask about what season a roof can effectively be cleaned. “Can you clean your roof in the winter?”.

The answer is: YES, you can clean your roof in the winter if you live in Florida!

Roof Cleaning is driven by temperature more than season, so Floridians, prefer to clean their roof shingles in the winter because the temperatures are more reasonable for the homeowner who is doing DIY roof cleaning projects. (There is no technical reason not to clean a roof in 95 degree weather).

Roof Cleaning Temperature

For residents everywhere the real deciding factor is the Temperature. Roof Cleaning Products may vary on specific guidelines for use; however, the single consistent guideline is to only clean a roof when the temperature has been above freezing for over four hours.

The Roof Cleaning Temperature guidance is based on two factors:

Reduced risk of Ice on Roof Shingles

If you use a roof cleaner on roof stains that are covered in frost (which is just a form of ice) the roof cleaning product will first need to melt the ice, before being able to kill the roof stain. The process of melting through frost wastes some of the roof cleaner’s power, and lower the effectiveness. By waiting four hours, you’ll be sure the ice is gone.

Roof Cleaner Comfort and Safety

When the temperatures are below freezing, any one professional or homeowner who gets on the roof, will be dealing with frozen hose lines, wet clothes and gloves, and the risk of slipping on a roof surface with frost. In short, roof cleaning is no picnic on a warm day, but add fighting the cold and it becomes miserable.

Cold nights, and Warm Days

So on those days where the temperature was below freezing overnight, just wait until 4 hours of above freezing temperatures have passed. By this time the roof will have warmed up enough to not be frosted, and the air temperature will make the roof cleaning project less chilling!

On very sunny days, you may only need to wait 3 hours before starting roof cleaning project, because an asphalt shingle will absorb sunlight and warm very rapidly.