Clay tile specialists · Austin, TX
Those black streaks are alive.
And they're eating your roof.
Soft wash tile roof cleaning in Austin. We kill the moss, algae and lichen at the root — without the high pressure that cracks tile and strips glaze. Free estimate, no obligation.
- Soft wash — never high pressure
- Killed at the root, not blasted off
- Free 30-minute inspection
- The quote is the price
Why it matters
A tile roof doesn’t fail at the tile. It fails underneath.
Clay tile outlives almost everything else on your house. What doesn’t is the underlayment beneath it — and the fastest way to shorten its life is to leave something on top holding water against it.
Lichen bites into the tile itself
Moss sits on top. Lichen does not — it anchors into the surface and etches it as it feeds. Left long enough it pits the finish, and on glazed tile it takes the glaze with it when it finally lets go.
Growth blocks the water channels
A tile roof sheds water through the channels between tiles. Pack those with moss and debris and water backs up, sideways and under, to a layer that was never meant to be the last line of defense.
The underlayment is the real roof
Tile is the armor. The underlayment beneath it is what actually keeps water out, and it has a finite life. Anything holding moisture against it in an Austin summer is shortening that life.
Saturated growth is heavy
Moss holds many times its own weight in water. Spread that across a few thousand square feet of roof and it is a load the structure was never asked to carry, every time it rains.
A dark roof runs hotter
Black streaking absorbs heat that clean tile reflects. In an Austin July that difference lands in the attic, and then in the bill.
It is the first thing anyone sees
Appraisers, buyers, HOA boards and the neighbor who complains. A streaked roof reads as a neglected house whether or not the rest of it is.
Our method
Soft wash, not pressure wash.
Low pressure and the right solution, not high pressure and hope. The growth dies at the root and washes off, and the tile is never asked to survive the cleaning.
Why we don’t blast it
High pressure on clay tile is how tiles crack, glaze comes off, and water gets driven under the courses into the underlayment. It looks fast and it looks impressive. It is the single most common way a roof cleaning turns into a roof repair.
Low pressure, by design
Roughly the pressure of a garden hose. Enough to rinse, nowhere near enough to drive water up under a tile, crack a corner, or blast the surface off a glazed one.
The solution does the work
A treatment kills the moss, algae and lichen where they sit. Dead growth releases its grip and rinses away — which is why the roof stays clean far longer than a roof that was simply blasted.
We know how to walk clay tile
You cannot properly wash a tile roof from the ground, so we are on it — on the courses that carry weight, with boards to spread the load, and off it entirely wherever the tile will not take a person. Anything we would not step on, you hear about before we do.
Your yard is covered first
Plants and beds are soaked with plain water before anything is mixed — a plant already full of clean water cannot take up much of whatever lands on it next. Furniture and hardscape get covered, everything is rinsed again at the end, and runoff is directed rather than just aimed at the lawn.
What we cover
Two things we put in writing, because nobody else will say them.
We break a tile, we replace it
It is rare and it is not zero. When it happens we replace the tile at our own cost before we leave the property — you do not chase us for it, you do not wait on it, and you do not pay for it. It is in your photos either way.
Detailed before and after photos, every job
Every elevation is photographed before we start and again when we finish, close enough to show the condition of the tile itself. You get the full set, including anything we found up there. You are never taking our word for what your own roof looks like.
Our work
Our own crew, our own roofs, no stock photos.
Every one of these is a job in the Austin area. The first two are the same roof in a single frame — cleaned on one side, untouched on the other — because a matched pair can always be two different houses and one frame cannot.
How it goes
Five steps, and you’re only needed for one.
- 1
Tell us where the roof is
Name, number and address. We pull the roof up on satellite and put a real number together — usually the same day.
- 2
Book your free 30-minute look
No cost, no obligation. We confirm the measurements, check the tile and the valleys up close, and finalize the quote in writing.
- 3
We protect the property
Plants and beds get soaked with plain water first, so they cannot drink up anything that drifts. Furniture and hardscape get covered. Everything is rinsed again when we finish.
- 4
Soft wash and rinse
Treatment goes on, the growth dies, and the roof is rinsed at low pressure. Most homes are a single day.
- 5
You get the whole record
Detailed before and after photos of every elevation, close enough to see the tile itself, plus anything we found up there worth knowing about.
What it costs
60¢per square foot
On a generally accessible clay tile roof.
Measured off the roof, not the floor plan. No trip charge and no setup fee. Two things can be added to it — access and pitch — and both are published below rather than sprung on you at the survey.
- Single-story ranch1,800 sq ft of roof$1,080
- Typical two-story2,600 sq ft of roof$1,560
- Larger Hill Country home4,000 sq ft of roof$2,400
Illustrations, not quotes. Your real number comes from the measurement and the free survey.
The number we quote is the number you pay
The quote is finalized after we have physically looked at the roof, which is the whole point of the free survey. No change orders on the day, no surprises when the truck is already in your driveway.
What counts as accessible
A roof we can safely reach and stage from off the first story — normal pitch, room for a ladder, nothing that needs a lift. Most Austin homes are, including plenty of two-story ones.
What moves the number
Access and pitch, both at the published rates below. Beyond those: three stories, no ladder access at all, or growth that has gone far enough to need a second pass and dwell time.
Roof area, not floor area
A 2,000 square foot house has more than 2,000 square feet of roof once pitch and overhangs are counted. We measure the roof from satellite before we quote.
You see it before we book
The number is confirmed at the free survey and put in writing. Nothing changes on the day.
The only two things that get added
Published here rather than produced at the survey. Both are charged the same way as the wash — per square foot of measured roof — and both are confirmed in writing before you book a day.
| Added for | Per sq ft |
|---|---|
| Two-story accessClimbing direct to the second story, or a double ladder pull to reach it | +10¢ |
| 7/12 pitch | +5¢ |
| 8/12 pitch | +10¢ |
| 9/12 pitch | +15¢ |
| 10/12 pitch | +20¢ |
| 11/12 pitch | +25¢ |
| 12/12 pitch | +30¢ |
Anything 6/12 and under carries no pitch charge at all. Steeper than 12/12 keeps going the same way — 5¢ for every further 1/12.
What that looks like on a roof
A 2,600 sq ft two-story reached by a double pull, steep enough at 9/12 to need staging. Both add-ons apply.
| Wash, 2,600 sq ft of roof | 60¢ | $1,560 |
|---|---|---|
| Two-story access | 10¢ | $260 |
| 9/12 pitch | 15¢ | $390 |
| Total | $2,210 |
Questions
The ones we actually get asked.
Will this break my tile?
Not the wash itself. Soft washing runs at roughly garden-hose pressure — the solution does the work, not force. Footing is the real risk on clay tile, and we walk it accordingly. If a tile does break, we replace it at our cost before we leave, and you will see it in your photos.
How long does it stay clean?
Typically a few years, and longer than a roof that was pressure washed. Killing the growth at the root is the difference: blasting removes what you can see and leaves what regrows.
Is it safe for my plants?
Yes, with the prep. Beds get soaked with plain water before we start — a plant already full of clean water cannot take up much of what lands on it afterwards — and everything is rinsed again when we are done. Say the word if you have anything unusual — a koi pond, a vegetable bed, a prized specimen — and we will plan around it.
Do you have to be on the roof?
Yes. A tile roof cannot be cleaned properly from the ground, and anyone promising otherwise is about to do a worse job of it. We work the courses that carry weight, spread the load with boards, and stay off anything the tile will not take. If we break one, we replace it.
What if it rains?
We reschedule. The treatment needs dwell time to work, and rain during that window means you paid for a rinse. We would rather move you than do it twice.
Do I need to be home?
No. We need access to an outside tap and the gate, and you get the full before and after set whether you were here or not. Plenty of our customers are at work the whole time.
Find out what your roof costs to bring back.
A minute to ask, a free 30-minute look to confirm it, and a written number before anyone books a day. No obligation at any point.
Get my free estimateOr call 737-234-9249