Roof & gutter cleaning
The streaks are alive, and pressure is the wrong answer
Those black streaks running down your roof are not dirt. They are algae, they are alive, and they are eating the surface they live on. Pressure washing them off is the one thing you should never do: high pressure strips granules off shingles, cracks tiles, and can void a manufacturer warranty. So we never do it. A roof gets cleaned one way, and that is a soft wash. The full science is in our black streaks on roof guide.
Cable Pressure Washing and Solar Panel Cleaning handles roof cleaning and gutter services across Rocklin, Roseville, Granite Bay, and Placer County. Here is how each one works and what they cost.
Before anything
The roof inspection comes first
Every roof job starts with our crew on the roof before any chemical comes out. We look for broken tiles, problem areas, and the spots where growth is worst. Then we come down and show you what we found. With pictures. Before we start. Around here that inspection matters more than most places: Placer County is tile roof country, and a cracked tile is easier to show you than to describe.
You give the okay. The wash begins.
The method
How a roof soft wash works
Soft washing a roof means spraying from the top down and letting the solution travel the way water does. A surfactant helps it cling instead of running straight to the gutters. Heavy moss and algae call for a hotter mix than a house wash, up to a 6% solution versus the 1.5 to 2% we use on siding, because roof growth is rooted in and stubborn.
Here is the part that surprises people: for most roofs, there is no rinsing. We apply the treatment and leave it to work. The algae dies over the following days and weeks, and the streaks fade as weather carries the residue off. Give it a decent amount of time and the results keep improving. If moss is thick, we may agitate it gently with a broom, but that is the exception.
What it costs
Roof and gutter pricing
Our published pricing:
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Roof soft wash | $450–$700 |
| Gutter cleaning | $1.00 per linear foot ($150 minimum) |
| Gutter brightening | $150 (often discounted with other work) |
Pricing current as of July 2026.
Roof size, pitch, and one versus two stories move the roof number. The material mostly does not; tile and composition shingle wash the same way. Bundle roof or gutter work with a house wash or concrete cleaning and save about 10%, or run the cost calculator for an instant range.
Gutter services
Cleared, flushed, hauled away
Gutter cleaning clears the leaves and debris out so water drains the way it should. On most one-story homes we work from the ground; two-story gutters mean roof access. Every job includes flushing the downspouts to confirm they drain, and we clean up every bit of debris before we leave.
Gutter brightening: for the streaks washing won't fix
The black tiger stripes running down gutter faces are oxidation bonded to the paint, and a regular wash will not lift them. Gutter brightening is the fix: a dedicated cleaner applied to the gutter face, worked in with a soft-bristle brush, then rinsed. That is the whole process. Honest test first, though. If the staining comes off with a normal wash, you do not need brightening, and we will say so. Most of the time, it does not.
While we're up there
Free inspection with every solar cleaning
Booking a solar panel cleaning? Our crew inspects your roof and gutters at no charge while we are up there and tells you if anything needs attention. No upsell pressure; just eyes on a part of your home you never see.
Why us
Honest, insured, local
Cable carries liability insurance on every job. We book about three days out, your estimate arrives in writing, and every job ends the same way our house washes do: if something is not right, we make it right.
Common questions