As a licensed Architect in NJ and NY, who has recently retired from a large-scale Construction Management firm in NYC, I am very familiar with various building trades and the properties of materials. I also pride myself in having a trained “eye” as well as the experience of interviewing and selecting the most appropriate trade contractors for our projects. Upon my initial contact, TruCLEAN sent out a “point person” to view the exterior of the house and photograph the various roof silhouettes and visible conditions. Based on these photos, augmented by GoogleEarth imaging, they were able to very quickly generate a competitive cost quote to clean our 11-year old cedar shingle roof on our circa-1930’s Tudor style home in Summit, NJ. Our house is located on a sloping site and is two-stories high at the street elevation and three-stories in the rear terrace. While our roof is not that large in total surface area, it does have a very steep pitch, along with cross-gables, two dormers windows and three shed roof appendages. The cedar shingles had lost their original soft honey color and had weathered to a dark gray/green color over the past decade, due to the shade from the surrounding tall oak trees, and constant moisture, which promoted the extensive growth of fungi, mold and mildew. Other roof cleaning contractors, surprisingly either did not visit the house prior to submitting a cost estimate or once they saw the house, were intimidated by the extent of the mold and mildew and declined to offer to perform the work, since they were not confident that they could accomplish what I wanted. As important, TruCLEAN was the only roof cleaning contractor to proactively provide me with a copy of their all-important current Certificate of Liability Insurance, something that many homeowner’s overlook at their own risk when hiring contractors to work in and/or on their house. As someone in the A/E/C industry, I certainly appreciated Gregg Giordano’s willingness to consider and ultimately accommodate my wishes in finalizing the Scope of Work for this residential roof cleaning project. I also was grateful for his taking the time to answer all of my questions, discuss the pros & cons of alternative cleaning ideas, methods and approaches, allowing us to settle on what actually made the most sense for our wood roof and its existing condition. His recommendations based on his team’s time-tested experience, have resulted in a beautiful cedar shingle roof that has now been thoroughly cleaned, restoring it to its original beauty, using the following procedures: Like most homeowner’s I was initially concerned that the various landscaping planting and shrubs around the house might be adversely affected by exposure to the cleaning solution. The TruCLEAN technicians provided and installed TYVEC tarps as protection covering over all of the shrubs located around the house’s foundation. They also constantly wetted with water prior to and during the application of the SoftWash solution on the house roof. They also “bagged” designated roof gutter downspouts that dislodge at grade, to catch the initial run-off of the SoftWash solution to prevent harmful soil absorption, and disposed of the filled bags afterwards. As agreed, the TruCLEAN team of three experienced technicians, applied their SoftWash cleaning process to all of the cedar wood roof shingles to kill the accumulated fungi, lichen, mold, mildew spores and moss. TruCLEAN’s SoftWash liquid solution consists of a customizable proportion of sodium hypochlorite (SH), as the active fungi removal chemical compound, diluted with water (H2O), along with SLO MO SOFTWASH FOR SH, a very thick, concentrated, non-hazardous surfactant that increases the dwell time, minimizing the initial runoff of the solution, allowing it to better permeate into the cedar shingles, enhancing its effectiveness. Using appropriate extension ladders of varying heights, with corkers and stand-off stabilizers, as necessary, the TruCLEAN team applied the SoftWash solution by gently power spraying it using minimal pressure to reach, cover and saturate all cedar roof shingles, letting it be absorbed into the wood shingles for as long as deemed necessary, repeating the process on certain tough areas, as needed. After a short time and noting the visible progress of the cleaning action, the TruCLEAN team then began to continuously spray with low-pressure water, all roof shingles, neutralizing the chemical action of the SoftWash solution and dislodging and rinsing away all of the dead algae. Even when wet, it is visibly discernable that the cedar roof shingles have returned back to their natural color. After the cleaning process has been completed and the cedar shingles have dried out, the TruCLEAN team returned to our house for the final step of applying either a citric acid or an oxalic acid-based wood brightener solution to all of the cedar roof shingles. This final step acts as a topical wood preservative, resulting in enhancing the natural honey color and grain appearance of the cedar shingles, helping them retain that appearance for a longer period as the wood weathers naturally. Ultimate, my wife and I are most pleased with the final result of this cleaning. Aesthetically, the finished work makes the cedar shingle roof an even more attractive focal point of the house, complimenting the overall style and architectural details of our home. We have received a number of compliments from friends and neighbors who have seen the cleaned roof and agree with our sentiments. If interested, I would be pleased to speak with any of your prospective clients to relay my positive working experience with Gregg and his most talented, experienced, polite, and energetic team members. I commend all of them for the professionalism, expertise, and efficiency. Particularly, their sensitivity to protection of our property, as well as their flexibility to diagnose and deal with unexpected conditions and additional client requests and leaving the property cleaner than they found it. It was obvious that Greg and his team take pride in the high quality of their work and are eager to accommodate, if not exceed, the expectations of a demanding client. Alexander V. Bergo, AIA November 5, 2019