Seven Northeast Ohio Companies Advertise a Roof Warranty. Two of Them Tell You What It Is.

Almost every exterior cleaning company in Northeast Ohio advertises a warranty or a satisfaction guarantee. Very few of them tell you what it is. We went and read the sites — seven of the largest companies working Stark, Summit and Cuyahoga counties — and found exactly two that publish a length and what happens if growth comes back. The longest readable term in this market is one year. Here is the table, and here is how to read any warranty in four minutes.

By Matthew J. Farmer · Updated September 11, 2026

Matthew J. Farmer is the owner of SurfaceWorks ProWash, an exterior cleaning and surface restoration company in Canton, Ohio. He previously worked as an insurance claims specialist, negotiating property damage claims with insurance adjusters — establishing that the carrier paid for the damage, and that a claim captured everything the policyholder was entitled to. He earned the Haag Certified Inspector credential from Haag Engineering during that work, and no longer carries it. Haag's certification program trains inspectors to assess and document roof damage using Haag's forensic field methodology. His certification covered wind and hail damage specifically.

9 minute read

What the companies around here actually publish

This is not a survey of the industry. It is the seven largest exterior cleaning companies working Stark, Summit and Cuyahoga counties, read on the same day. For each one the question was narrow: does the site state a length and say what happens if growth comes back? A badge, a headline or a line in a comparison table is a claim. It is not a term.

Roof warranty and guarantee claims published by Northeast Ohio exterior cleaning companies, read 11 September 2026
Company	Where	What the site says	Terms you can read?
The Pressure Company ⁷	Greater Cleveland	"6-Month Spot-Free Warranty… If any organic growth reappears within six months, we will return to treat the affected areas at no additional charge."	Yes — six months
Perfect Power Wash ³	Norton, several NEO offices	"we offer a one-year warranty on our roof treatment that starts on the date of your original service"	Yes — one year
Roof Juice ⁶	Cortland and Akron	"3 Year GUARANtee!"	No — no page defines it
Advanced Pressure Washing ¹	Canton	"All of our work comes with a full warranty and a 100% satisfaction guarantee"	No — no length stated
Exact ProWash ²	North Canton	"Roof Cleaning Warranty" as a row in a comparison table; "WE GUARANTEE 100% SATISFACTION!"	No — no page defines it
All-Star Power Cleaning ⁴	Fairview Park	"Satisfaction guaranteed. If something is not right, we come back."	No — no length stated
NORTHCOAST Painting & PW ⁵	Canton	"Satisfaction Guaranteed… Your property isn't done until you're happy with the results."	No — no length stated

Two of the seven publish something a customer can rely on. The Pressure Company states a length, a trigger and a remedy in one paragraph — six months, organic regrowth, they return and treat the affected areas at no charge. ⁷ Perfect Power Wash states one year on the roof treatment, running from the date of the original service, though the page does not say what the remedy is or what is excluded. ³ Everyone else advertises a warranty without publishing one.

What counts as a term

Two things, and they have to be on a page you can reach before you buy: how long it lasts, and what happens if the growth comes back. Without both, there is nothing to hold anyone to — not because a company is dishonest, but because there is no sentence to point at when you are standing in the driveway a year later.

One result deserves to be said carefully. Roof Juice publishes "3 Year GUARANtee!" on its home page — the longest number anywhere in this market. ⁶ We could find no page on that site defining it: no length-plus-coverage statement, no conditions, nothing about what happens if growth returns. That is not an accusation. They may well honour three years generously. The point is only that the longest number in Northeast Ohio and the longest readable warranty in Northeast Ohio are not the same thing, and only one of the two is something you can weigh before you spend money.

Ours, next to the market

It only means anything in comparison, so here it is beside what the table above shows.

What a homeowner can actually find out before buying, read 11 September 2026
What you can find out	The Northeast Ohio market	SurfaceWorks ProWash
Is a length published at all?	No — five of the seven	Yes, on the page, beside the price
Longest readable term	One year ³	Two years against black streaking
On a maintenance plan	—	Three years
What happens partway through	Nothing stated — there is no stated term	Nothing. No step-down, no percentage, no prorated schedule.
Are the exclusions named?	No	Yes — two, named below and printed on your estimate
Where you read the terms	Ask, or nowhere	The same page as the offer
Largest number advertised	Three years ⁶ — with no page defining it	Two years, defined

Two years is not a round number chosen to beat somebody. On a shaded north slope in Stark or Summit county, regrowth is ordinarily a year-two to year-three event — the reason why is further down this page — so two years is the first term that actually reaches the risk instead of ending in front of it. Maintenance plan members carry three, because a plan member's roof is looked at every autumn and a warranty costs little to extend when somebody is already on the property.

Our published terms, in full — nothing here lives in a separate document
What is covered	How long	What happens
Black streaking on a complete roof soft wash	2 years — 3 years for maintenance plan members	The affected area is re-treated at no charge, with no cost share at any point in the term
The roof result itself	60 days	Roof work keeps improving for four to six weeks as treated growth releases; if it has not come around by 60 days, we re-treat it
Workmanship on every other surface	14 days	If we missed something, we come back and re-clean it

What it does not cover, said plainly

A cleaning warranty covers cleaning. It does not cover conditions that cleaning cannot correct — oxidized or chalked finishes, concrete that has already broken loose at the surface, failed paint or stain, or rust with an active source still feeding it. On the roof specifically, heavy overhanging tree cover and areas where water pools rather than draining are excluded, because both keep re-seeding growth no matter how well the roof was cleaned. We identify every one of these on the walkthrough and tell you before any work begins, because finding them afterwards helps nobody. If it is not going to come clean, we do not charge you for it.

The five-year warranty you will see online is not from around here

Search roof cleaning and you will meet a five-year spot-free warranty, in nearly identical wording, on company after company. Nobody in the table above offers it. It is worth understanding anyway, because it is what you will find if you search past the first page — and because reading one teaches you how to read all of them.

Three published "5-year" roof cleaning warranties, read in full — none of them in Ohio
Company	Where they work	Fully covered for	Years after that
Softwash Ranger ⁸	Northern New Jersey, NY, CT, PA	24 months	Company pays 50% of the original quoted price, before discounts
Premier Softwashing ⁹	York, Pennsylvania	12 months	Company pays the first 50% of the original quoted price
Clearview SoftWash ¹⁰	Northern California and Texas	12 months	Company pays 50%; the homeowner pays the other 50%

The five is how long you can call them. It is not how long you are covered. Softwash Ranger will "maintain a spot-free absence of dark molds and mildews" for "a period of 24 months from the original date of cleaning," and then "for years 3 through 5" treats recurring growth with the contractor "paying the first 50% of the original quoted price, before discounts." ⁸ Clearview's is the same shape with half the front end — 12 months, then the property owner "paying a prorated amount of 50%" through year five. ¹⁰

Look at the second column against the third and the tell appears. The same months and the same percentage are offered in northern California, in Texas and across northern New Jersey. Premier's document says why: it is a SoftWash Systems contractor warranty, a template distributed through a national network of member companies. ⁹ A warranty is supposed to be a bet on how long a result will last, and roof algae is a warm, humid-climate organism that establishes first on shaded and north-facing slopes — the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association says so plainly. ¹² A dry Central Valley summer and a humid Great Lakes one are not the same input, so 24 months cannot be the same answer in both. That number is not travelling because somebody measured. It is travelling because it is printed on the form.

Which matters here for a specific reason. On a shaded north slope in Stark or Summit county, visible regrowth is ordinarily a year two to year three event, not a year one event — tree cover, slope orientation, humid summers that run right through the growing season, and low-pitch planes that stay damp. A warranty that fully covers month one through twelve is covering the period least likely to need it. If you want the biology rather than the timeline, we wrote that up separately — what black streaks, moss and lichen are doing to a roof.

How to check anyone, including us

You do not have to distrust a company to read its warranty properly. You need four answers, and all four are in the document — or the document does not exist, which is itself the answer.

Question 1

How many months are fully covered?

Not how many years the warranty is named after. Find the sentence with a number of months in it. That number is the warranty.

Question 2

What happens the day after that?

Look for a percentage. If the company pays a share and you pay the rest, the coverage has ended and a discount has started. Those are different products.

Question 3

What is the trigger?

"Spot-free" and "returned to its prior condition" are very different standards. One is met by visible growth; the other can require the roof to look as bad as it did before you paid.

Question 4

What is excluded?

Overhanging limbs, pooling water, roof-mounted equipment, certain species, partial cleanings. Exclusions are not sneaky — they are the actual shape of the promise, and a company that names them is telling you more than one that does not.

The Ohio rule that is on your side

Homeowners sometimes assume federal warranty law backs these promises up. For a service it does not. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act governs written warranties on consumer products, and the Federal Trade Commission's own interpretation is explicit that "warranties which apply solely to a repairer's workmanship in performing repairs are not subject to the Act." ¹¹ Roof cleaning is a service. There is no federal floor under any of this.

What does apply in Ohio is the Consumer Sales Practices Act, and it gives you a practical test. Material exclusions have to be disclosed close to the offer itself — on the same screen, for something advertised online. A guarantee badge with no terms anywhere on the site is exactly the situation that rule exists for. You are entitled to read the limits in the same place you read the promise.

What to do with this

Before you book, whoever you book with, open the warranty. Find the number of months. Find the percentage. Read the exclusions. If you cannot find any of the three, you have learned something too. Four minutes of reading tells you more about a company than any badge on a truck.

See the warranty and the price on the same screen

Ours sits next to the number rather than behind a request. Put in your address and you will have an itemized estimate in about two minutes — get your estimate now. Or read the full terms of service and what everything costs first, and come back when you are ready.

Request an Estimate Call 234-410-9200

Related Questions

Do you guarantee your work?

Yes, on two different timelines, because roof work does not finish on the same clock as everything else. On any surface other than a roof: if you are not satisfied with something we cleaned, tell us within 14 days and we will come back and re-clean it at no charge. Fourteen days rather than a week on purpose — most people do not look properly until the following weekend, and a rain in between makes anyone doubt the result. On roof soft washing: 60 days. A roof keeps improving for four to six weeks after the visit as the treated moss and lichen lose their grip and release with rain and weather. Judging a roof at two weeks would be judging it half-finished. If it has not come around within 60 days, it gets re-treated at no charge. What the guarantee does not cover is anything cleaning cannot correct: oxidized or chalked finishes, concrete scaling where the top layer has already broken loose, failed paint or stain, and rust with an active source still feeding it. Those get identified on the walkthrough and stated before any work begins, so nothing on that list is a surprise afterward. Separately from all of that, there is a warranty. The guarantee above asks whether we did the job right; the warranty asks whether it stayed clean. Black streaking on a roof we soft washed is warranted for two years — three if you are on the maintenance plan — and washed siding can carry a twelve-month regrowth warranty, included free with the plan. Two conditions are excluded from the roof warranty and we point them out before the work rather than after: heavy overhanging tree cover, and areas where water pools rather than draining. Both re-seed growth continuously no matter how well a roof was cleaned. What the roof warranty covers, and how it compares to the five-year ones you will see online, is set out in [how to read a roof cleaning warranty](/learn/roof-cleaning-warranty-what-five-year-really-means). Roof pricing is on the [roof soft washing page](/services/roof-soft-washing). You can get your own number right now: the [instant estimate](/instant-estimate) prices your property from the address in about two minutes, and what you accept is what you pay.

My roof still has some streaks a week after you cleaned it. Did it not work?

Almost certainly it did, and this is the single most common question about roof work. Algae rinses away relatively quickly. Moss and lichen do not — they anchor into the shingle surface, so they are killed rather than removed, and then they release gradually over roughly four to six weeks as rain and weather work the dead growth loose. A roof one week out is partway through that, not finished. Scraping or pressure-washing them off instead would take shingle granules with them, and granules are the roof's UV protection. That trade — a faster result for a shorter roof life — is not one worth making, and every major shingle manufacturer specifies against it. The guarantee is built around that timeline: 60 days on roof soft washing rather than the 14 that applies elsewhere. If the roof has not come around by then, it gets re-treated at no charge. What the roof warranty covers, and how it compares to the five-year ones you will see online, is set out in [how to read a roof cleaning warranty](/learn/roof-cleaning-warranty-what-five-year-really-means). Roof pricing is on the [roof soft washing page](/services/roof-soft-washing).

How long before black streaks come back after a roof cleaning?

They should not come back for years, and there is a warranty on it. Black streaking is algae, and a soft wash kills it at the root rather than rinsing it off the surface. If black streaking returns on a full roof soft washing within two years, the affected area is re-treated at no charge. Two conditions are excluded because they re-seed growth continuously no matter how well the roof was cleaned: heavy overhanging tree cover, and areas where water pools rather than draining. Both get pointed out before the work rather than after. What the roof warranty covers, and how it compares to the five-year ones you will see online, is set out in [how to read a roof cleaning warranty](/learn/roof-cleaning-warranty-what-five-year-really-means). Roof pricing is on the [roof soft washing page](/services/roof-soft-washing). The [maintenance plan](/maintenance-plan) is built for exactly this: an autumn visit, next year's price held, and a longer roof warranty.

I have seen five-year roof warranties online. How does yours compare?

Not one company in Northeast Ohio offers that five-year structure — it is a national template, and it is worth reading before you compare it to anything. In every version we have read in full, "five years" means twelve to twenty-four months of actual coverage followed by a bill for half the original price for every re-treatment through year five. The five is how long you can call them. It is not how long you are covered. What is actually offered around here: we read the sites of the seven largest exterior cleaning companies working Stark, Summit and Cuyahoga counties on the same day. Six advertise a warranty or a guarantee. Two publish terms you can read — a length and what happens if growth comes back — and the longer of those two is one year. Ours is two years against black streaking, three on the maintenance plan, with no cost share at any point and the two exclusions named on the page. Whoever you book with, open the warranty first: find the number of months, find the percentage, read the exclusions. What the roof warranty covers, and how it compares to the five-year ones you will see online, is set out in [how to read a roof cleaning warranty](/learn/roof-cleaning-warranty-what-five-year-really-means). Roof pricing is on the [roof soft washing page](/services/roof-soft-washing).

Is roof cleaning safe for my roof?

A roof-cleaning method should match the roof material and condition. SurfaceWorks ProWash evaluates the roof before service and uses a low-pressure approach for applicable roofing materials rather than high pressure on standard asphalt shingles.

How do you get moss and lichen off a roof?

Moss and lichen are treated with a low-pressure soft wash solution that is left to work on the growth, not scraped, blown, or pressure-washed off. Lichen in particular anchors into the shingle surface, so it releases gradually over the following weeks with rain and weather rather than vanishing the day we leave. Scraping or high pressure would take shingle granules with it and shorten the roof’s life, which is why we don’t use them. Dislodged growth ends up in the gutters, which is why roof soft washing includes clearing out the trough and flushing the downspouts rather than treating that as an add-on. Leaving packed debris in place would just let it wash back out over everything that was cleaned. The gutter clean-out is free with a roof soft wash and 25% off added to a house wash, and the rate is published on the [pricing page](/pricing). More on what the gutters do to a roof in [black streaks, moss and lichen](/learn/roof-moss-lichen-algae-damage).