Barrel tile is everywhere in Miami, and it is the roof most often damaged during cleaning. The damage almost never comes from the cleaning itself. It comes from how the crew gets around on the roof.
Why barrel tile breaks
Barrel tile is brittle and curved, and it was never designed to be walked on like a sidewalk. Step on the wrong part of a tile and it cracks under your weight. A crew that treats a barrel-tile roof like a shingle roof, walking it freely, will leave cracked and chipped tiles behind, and you may not notice until the next hard rain finds the gap.
The second way it breaks is pressure. High-pressure water cracks and lifts tile and drives water under it, straight toward a leak.
How it should be cleaned
The right approach keeps people off the tile as much as possible. Most barrel-tile roofs are soft washed from a ladder at the eave or from the ground with long-reach equipment. The cleaning solution does the work, so there is no need to blast the surface or walk across the field of tile. Where access truly requires stepping on the roof, it is done carefully and on the strongest points of the tile, not casually.
The result is a roof that comes back clean without a pile of cracked tiles as the hidden cost.
What to ask before anyone climbs up
Two questions. First: are you walking the tile, or working from the ladder and ground? Second: what pressure are you using? If the plan is to walk the whole roof and hit it with pressure, that roof is going to lose tiles. Here is how we clean tile roofs, with staying off the tile as the default.
Common Questions
Why does barrel tile crack during cleaning?
Barrel tile is brittle and was not made to be walked on casually. The cracks usually come from a crew walking the tile wrong or using high pressure, not from the cleaning solution itself.
Can a barrel tile roof be cleaned without walking on it?
Usually yes. Most barrel tile is treated from a ladder at the eave or from the ground with long-reach equipment. Walking the tile is minimized, because walking barrel tile is how barrel tile breaks.
Should barrel tile be pressure washed?
No. Pressure cracks and displaces the tile and forces water underneath it, where it causes leaks. Barrel tile gets soft washed with low pressure and a cleaning solution.