Archive for December, 2016

What Causes Asphalt Shingles to Stain

What Causes Asphalt Shingles to StainMy Shingles have a black stain on them. We wanted to know what causes asphalt shingles to stain like this? It is very unsightly when you look at our roof from a distance. The shingles were advertised as 25 year shingles and this is only year 14! They appear to be wearing normally. There is no curling at the ends or abnormal loss of the grit. We also are well ventilated so the attic does not overheat in the summer. It is unsightly and since we live at the end of the street, everyone sees it when they drive down our street. We wanted to know what was causing this and what we could do about it?

What Causes Asphalt Shingles to Stain

Turns out that we live in an algae prone area. If you live in a humid area, there is a good chance that you will encounter this black algae on your roof. It is not harmful to the roof and will not cause your shingles to age prematurely.

The stains are not everywhere on the roof. Anytime there is a metal flashing or air vent, the area just below them are free of the black stain. This is due to the metal from these items being washed onto the roof in very small amounts.

You can wash the roof with chemicals to kill the algae, however it usually returns the following year. You may as well save your money. When it is time to replace your roof purchase algae resistant shingles to avoid this problem.

There are several products on the market specifically designed to remove algae stains from a roof. These include Wet & Forget and Moss Out. A mixture of trisodium phosphate (TSP), bleach, and water will also remove stains.

Oxygen bleach lightens stains as well and is less harmful to the environment, but it doesn’t produce as immediate or dramatic an effect as chlorine bleach. Be careful that you do not damage the roof each time you walk across it while applying the chemicals.

For more information about removing stains, click here.

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Warranty Claims for Roof Shingles

warranty claims for roof shinglesMy roof has black stains all over it on several different parts of the roof. We are thinking about warranty claims for roof shingles. However the industry has a really bad reputation for warranty support. A neighbor has curling shingles after only 7 years. Apparently he has to join a class action suit to get any money back. Even at that it will be minimal in terns of cash. It will not come anywhere close to replacing the roof. With this information, we think there is little chance of any help from the shingle manufacture for us. They do not pay for installation under the warranty so you are really out a great deal of money. It seems that the black stains on our roof is caused by algae and there is not a lot that can be done about it.

Warranty Claims for Roof Shingles – Algae

One solution is to wash the roof with a chemical wash. However you need to take proper precautions to avoid damaging the roof further. In addition there is the cost of the chemical and finding someone who will go up on the roof to apply the chemical.

Our roof is 14 years old and it supposedly has another 11 years to go. They were 25 year shingles. The shingles look physically ok, it is just this black coloring on the roof in specific areas.

We took pictures, had them printed and filled in this long report. I think there is less than a 10% chance that the shingle company will do anything about this.

Update: about two months later, we received a replay. Sure enough they denied the claim and indicated that this is a common mold that forms on many roofs. We have since noticed that many homes in our area have the same problem.

There is basically nothing we can do at this point, so I guess we just live with it.

If you are interested in reviewing renovation posts, click here.

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