Roof Moss Removal in Healdsburg, Where Dave Started
Dave Stankas first worked in Healdsburg in 1984, knocking on doors and offering to wash windows for five dollars. Today his crew clears moss and needles off roofs, cleans gutters and fits guards across town, from the historic blocks near the Plaza to the streets along Foss Creek.
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Healdsburg, CA
Who removes roof moss in Healdsburg?
Nor-Cal Maintenance does, and Healdsburg is where the business began, with Dave Stankas going door to door here in 1984. The crew brushes the moss loose, clears it off the roof and out of the gutters, and can apply a treatment to help keep it from coming back. Our Windsor office is about 7 road miles away.
Healdsburg’s houses span a wide range of ages. The Census Bureau’s five-year estimates count about 5,100 homes for 11,200 people, with a median construction year of 1981, yet 13% of them were built in 1939 or earlier, more than twice Santa Rosa’s share. Seven in ten are single-family houses. The town grew from the piece of Rancho Sotoyome that Harmon Heald bought in 1857 and was incorporated in 1867, and its 1983 survey listed more than 300 historic resources. Older roofs under big shade trees are where roof moss removal earns its keep.
Housing: U.S. Census ACS 5-year estimates. Rainfall: NOAA 1991–2020 normals for the nearest station. Distance is approximate road miles.
About Healdsburg
Why do Healdsburg roofs grow moss?
Rain and shade. NOAA’s 1991-2020 normal at the Healdsburg co-op station is 42.81 inches a year, about 11 inches more than the Santa Rosa station, and the city’s Healdsburg Ridge preserve alone holds 150 acres of oak woodland, wetland, chaparral and grassland. Shaded roofs that stay damp through a long wet winter are where moss gets started.
Healdsburg sits on the Russian River, and the river shows how big the storms get. On February 27, 2019, the USGS gauge near Healdsburg read 26.84 feet, the third-highest stage in records going back to 1937, after the town’s co-op station took 11.38 inches of rain over three days (USGS peak records). The same station collected 23.75 inches from December 26, 2022 to January 15, 2023.
Big trees are part of the town center. A coast redwood near the Plaza path was planted in 1924, and a dawn redwood at the Plaza’s southwest corner went in during 1953. The dawn redwood is a deciduous conifer, so it drops its needles every winter. Foss Creek runs north to south through the city and joins Dry Creek near the Central Healdsburg interchange on US 101.
During the Kincade Fire, the Sonoma County Sheriff ordered all of Healdsburg, along with Windsor, to evacuate on the morning of October 26, 2019. On CAL FIRE’s current maps most of the city sits outside any hazard zone, with a Moderate area on the north side, a little High, and State Responsibility Area zones at the edges.
Local rules
Does Healdsburg regulate work on roofs and gutters?
Historic design review in two districts, plus summer fire upkeep. Exterior changes in the Johnson Street and Matheson historic districts generally need Design Review by the Planning Department before work starts, and a building permit may apply as well. The fire department also runs weed abatement re-inspections in summer.
Before work on a Healdsburg roof
- On or near Johnson Street or in the Matheson district, check the Historic District overlay page first. Planning is at 401 Grove Street, (707) 431-3348.
- Before summer re-inspections, trim tree limbs at least 6 feet off the ground and remove ladder fuels. The Fire Marshal takes questions at (707) 431-3125.
- Outside city limits, Sonoma County’s fire safety ordinance, Chapter 13A, applies, and the county’s inspection form lists leaves and needles on roofs and in gutters as a violation.
- The county-wide rainwater grant for barrels and cisterns closed on August 31, 2024. The city’s water rebates page lists what is open now.
- Ask for before and after photos of the roof and gutters. Several of our Google reviewers mention getting them.
Services in Healdsburg
Which services make sense for a Healdsburg house?
Roof moss removal and gutter cleaning lead in a town that averages close to 43 inches of rain. Homes built before 1940, about one in eight here, may call for gutter repairs rather than replacement, and window cleaning is still on the list, the job Dave started with here.
FAQ
Healdsburg Questions
How did Nor-Cal Maintenance get its start in Healdsburg?
In 1984 Dave Stankas needed bus money to get home from school, so he knocked on doors in Healdsburg asking for work. A woman offered him five dollars to wash her windows. The next day he came back offering the same, and in his words everyone just kept saying yes. Gutter cleaning came next, then repairs, and he got his contractor’s license in 1999.
Does roof moss come back after it is removed?
It can, which is why we offer a treatment after the moss is cleared. One reviewer on our Windsor Google profile had moss removed and the roof treated in June 2022 and wrote four years later that there was still no sign of it coming back. Shade, trees and rain decide how fast it returns on any given roof.
Was Healdsburg evacuated during the Kincade Fire?
Yes. The fire started on the night of October 23, 2019 in The Geysers, northeast of Geyserville, and the Sheriff ordered the whole city out on October 26. Evacuation orders and warnings eventually covered most of Sonoma County, about 190,000 people. The fire burned 77,758 acres before it was contained on November 6.
Will gutter guards work under oaks and redwoods?
They can, if the guard matches the trees. Dave’s rule is that the type of debris matters most: redwood needles, oak leaves and bay leaves are acidic and rot out gutters, and the screen has to suit them. Roof pitch comes second, because water can shoot past the wrong cover on a steep roof. We carry 27 types.
Nearby
What else do we cover near Healdsburg?
Our Windsor office is about 7 road miles south on US 101, and Santa Rosa is beyond it. Geyserville and Cloverdale to the north are on the Windsor Google profile’s service area, and Calistoga to the east is on both profiles. See all service areas.
Talk to Dave's team
Moss on a Healdsburg roof?
Call (707) 940-7875 and tell us about the roof and the trees around it.