Longwood, Florida · Seminole County
Longwood soft washes shingle and tile roofs for the neighborhoods living under its mature live oak canopy — from the Markham Woods Road estate corridor to Sweetwater Oaks to the 1870s Historic District. Shade and leaf litter are exactly what grow moss on a roof, not just the black algae streaking every Central Florida roof eventually gets.
The problem
Black-streak algae (Gloeocapsa magma) shows up on every roof in this climate eventually. Moss is the tree-canopy problem specifically: it needs the shade and standing moisture that oak and pine cover provide, and once it takes hold its root structure works into the shingle instead of just staining the surface.
The fix
One method, applied differently depending on what's on the roof. No pressure washer touches your roof surface.
Two sides of one small city
Longwood splits cleanly along its two ZIP codes, and the split matters for how a roof gets dirty.
East toward Wekiwa Springs State Park and the Wekiva River: Sweetwater Oaks, The Springs, Alaqua Lakes, and Sanlando Springs sit under heavy tree cover with lake- and river-adjacent humidity. Shade plus moisture is exactly what accelerates Gloeocapsa magma and moss recolonization.
West and closer to the historic core: older, denser in-town lots including the Longwood Historic District. Drier than the river side, but this is also where the city's oldest roof stock sits — some of it dating to the 1870s–1880s.
Service area
Real subdivisions, not a citywide guess — see the full list and what's different about each one.
Two things worth reading before you book anyone
The science of Gloeocapsa magma vs. moss, and why Longwood's east side regrows faster than its west side.
Read the guideWhat Florida Statute 720.3035 actually requires before a mandatory-HOA community like Sabal Point or Alaqua Lakes can force a cleaning.
Read the guideCommon questions
The black streaks running down a shingle roof are colonies of a windborne algae called Gloeocapsa magma. It feeds on the limestone filler in asphalt shingles and thrives in Central Florida's heat and humidity — Seminole County averages about 53 inches of rain a year against a 38-inch U.S. average, with relative humidity generally in the 72-77% range. It spreads fastest in shaded, moisture-retaining spots, which describes a lot of Longwood's ground under mature oak canopy.
Algae and moss are cosmetic first, but left alone they hold moisture against the roof surface, and moss in particular can lift shingle edges over time. Regular soft washing keeps the roof looking like the rest of the neighborhood, can matter at resale and for HOA compliance, and costs a fraction of a full roof replacement — Orlando-area soft washing typically runs $300–$1,400 depending on roof size and condition, against a shingle roof replacement that runs many times that.
A soft-wash solution formulated to kill Gloeocapsa magma at the root, rinsed off at low pressure, is the standard approach. It removes the existing colony rather than just bleaching the visible stain — the difference between a roof that stays clean and one that looks fine for a few weeks and streaks right back.
Central Florida roof cleaning runs roughly $0.20–$0.75 per square foot depending on method and roof type — soft washing specifically about $0.30–$0.50 per square foot, with asphalt shingle around $0.20–$0.40, concrete or clay tile around $0.25–$0.50, and metal around $0.20–$0.35. Most Orlando-area jobs land in the $300–$1,400 range. These are researched market estimates for the greater Orlando area, not a quote — your actual price depends on roof size, pitch, and condition, so ask for a written number before any work starts.
Reviews
This section is ready and deliberately empty. We would rather show nothing than invent a testimonial. Real reviews will appear here as Longwood customers leave them, and you are welcome to ask for references before you book.
Call or email for a written estimate. We'll ask what's on the roof, roughly how big it is, and whether it's tile or shingle before we ever show up.