You may have noticed streaks on your (or someone else’s) roof. What are they, and how can we deal with them?
The short answer is algae, and it can be cleaned off. But let’s go a little deeper.
The most common type is gloeocapsa magma and it has a blue-green color that protects it from the sun (and looks grey or black). It grows up there because there is plenty of light and moisture, and carbonates that it eats out of the shingles.
Ouch. It does damage the shingles. It can be cleaned off pretty easily, but walking around a roof is pretty dangerous, and might void your warranty. Better give us a call.
What to hear something interesting? When there are stains below a pipe or something metallic the stain you see is actually the original roof color! Tiny amounts of metal that washed off the pipes are keeping the algae from growing directly under them. That’s not what it looks like, but it’s true! The rest of the roof is covered with algae, and what looks like a stain is the clean part!
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