how do you clean your steel roof?

[terracore]

I've noticed a lot of moldy roofs and solar panels lately, including our own.

I don't know if I'm suddenly just more cognizant of them, or is the mold itself more common than it used to be (maybe because the rain isn't as acidic as the vog days?  Chemtrails?  Greta's nonsense?  Misdirected energy weapons?)

Like many things in life, steel roofs are slippery when wet, and my days of walking off a fall from a roof are probably behind me, even the single-story variety like we have.  So how y'all cleaning the roofs?  I've seen a gizmo advertised to do it from the ground at the end of a long pole, but not sure how anything on a stick would work well in that application on a corrugated roof.

[Punatang]

Lady Tang gets very nervous (like more than when sharks swim around) when I get up on the roof.  I still do it sometimes and I tend to scooch around on my backside and keep my center of gravity very low.

Barring that, pay some youngun!

Magnetic shoes?

[Chas]

Yama's would probably do it. I had them out for an estimate for painting, and in the quote was, "Pressure wash existing metal roofing".

I'm assuming they would do washing only. I've only had them reseal my roof vents, no other work, but I was happy with them and they were easy to work with.

[Durian Fiend]

A friend of mine pressure washes his every year, and he's in his 60's. I've never cleaned my 30 year old metal roof. There's little to no mold on it, at least last time I checked.

Solar panels have been noticeably dirty enough to prompt cleaning a couple times. Rubber soled shoes or boots have pretty good traction on metal.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I’ve never done this so can’t say how effective it is.  But Lowe’s used to sell a roof pad that was mostly to cushion your knees and okole when working on a roof as well as provide a little protection from the heat on a hot metal roof.  I believe it had some rubbery, stick-to-the-surface properties, but was not made specifically as a safety device.  That may vary if it gets wet while pressure washing.

Harness and rope tied to an immovable object is best for safety.

[My 2 cents]

1.  Pressure wash starting from the bottom, keeping the wet area below you and your feet on a dry surface.
2.  WEAR A SAFETY HARNESS!!!  Keep in mind that even with a harness, if you fall it’s going to hurt.  And when you slide down the roof and the rope pulls tight, that’s going to hurt too.  And when you try to get up with the rope pulling tight in an awkward direction you are going to find that difficult.  And the more of a geezer you are, the more difficult it will be.
3.  Find a younger person to do it.
4.  Reverse this order.

[HiloJulie]

When we went solar, we had all the roof panels replaced as well. The contractor who did the solar panels also installed a safety harness tie off system that allows you to anchor a safety harness to it as you do anything on the roof. 

That being said, if you’re going to use a safety harness tie off system, get a fall limiter.

Using a 50 foot harness and having it yank stop you after a 49 foot 10 inch fall is not really safe!

Also, if you do manage to fall, the screw heads on each panel will enjoy themselves very much as they rip your skin off!

[macuu222]

We had "Property Wash in Paradise" clean our metal roof last year. We have a 2 story 30 year old home and I'm 70m years old. I decided to leave it to the professionals. They showed up on time and got right to work. They did a great job. Cost $699.00 and took about 2 1/2 hours to clean. They also paint roofs.

[Rob Tucker]

That's why God created strong young men.

[Chas]

Yeah, and paying in money is better than paying another way, which could be WAY more costly!