Moss on roof

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marcros

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We have just had the overhanging trees cut back. The concrete tiled roof is covered in moss on one elevation. It previously had limited light and airflow which caused this to grow.

Does this need removing, and if so how? Is it a DIY job or a get somebody in job?
 
I'd leave it alone it's not doing any harm, unless gutters or drains get blocked.
 
pressure wash, from the top down so you don't drive water in between the tiles.
I have to do the kitchen roof every few years.

edit to add: it will be doing harm, it's holding moisture against the tiles.
 
Pressure washing it will remove the surface off the tiles it they are concrete, personally I’d just spray it with moss killer there are plenty out there if you google it.

if I kill it, will it then fall off in time? I know I may need to clean out the gutters a few times.
 
The birds do a great job of it where we are, every year.

It might be worth considering not to use some sort of chemical for the job, so worms or whatever can use it for a home, and will get those birds to pull the feather out and do their job!;)
 
how strong is your pressure washer? :)

it's recognised as one the methods for removal by most people in the industry, it's pretty unlikely to remove any of the tile surface beyond that which would be removed by general wear and tear in a year.
you can even rent an attachment that looks like a lawnmower but the spinning head shoots the water out, or use one of those patio cleaners (also for cleaning concrete).
the opposite option is chemical treatment, but washing crazy amounts of fairly harmful chemicals down the drain seems like a bad idea to me.
 
It's a nilfisk domestic one. Competent on a bit of paving and washing the car but I doubt it is classed as overly powerful.
 
I know am going against someone else's recommendation but all I can say is that I've pressure washed my kitchen roof twice in 8 years due to moss (first time it was nearly 2" thick in places) and it didn't result in any damage, so much so that when we had the main roof replaced and part of the kitchen roof removed due to a new wall passing though it the builders decided not to replace those tiles as they still had plenty of life left in them.

but I'm sure someone will tell you why I'm wrong shortly, such is the way of the forum. :)
 
Where I work the roof is cotswold stone so very prone to moss. The builders (who do a lot of preservation work on listed buildings) used a length of tile batten with a foot wide T piece nailed on the end to scrape the worst off, then ran copper wires along the ridge. Apparently the oxides prevent moss as they wash down the roof.
I was a bit sceptical but it seems to work. The jackdaws nicked the wire off the garage roof and that is terrible now, whilst the rest is OK.
 
Most moss killing potions are pretty toxic - organic compunds with tin in them I think.
Having moss on your tiles may shorten their life a bit - holding moisture where it can freeze, causing spalling of tiles.
Having moss on your roof may shorten the life of any leadwork - the moss slightly acidifies rainwater which then corrodes any lead below.
I used a length of microbore copper tubing (useless for plumbing:)) clipped to the ridge - it soon weathers down so you can't see it and it emits copper salts that tend to kill the moss. Lead also does this - next time you see a roof with lead on, you'll spot the effect.

All that said, generally moss on a roof is not a big deal!

PS Moss is much more likely on north-facing slopes and/or under trees - removing the tree may be all that's required.
 
Pressure washing it will remove the surface off the tiles it they are concrete, personally I’d just spray it with moss killer there are plenty out there if you google it.
Moss is a northern thing, I am convinced as I never experienced it when living down south. We now use plain white vinegar, cheap as chips from Aldi and works a treat.
 
Seems to me your option vary wildly as to how accessable the roof is, it is one thing cleaning a porch roof with a pressure washer, another doing the main roof of a three storey building.

I would certainly consider putting hedgehog brush in the gutter, it is not perfect but I went up a ladder to check my garage gutters the other day, having had hedgehog in all winter (previously had nothing). Whereas normally I would expect to be pulling out handfuls of sludge (from a fir tree above it) this time i simply needed to brush a few leaves off the top off the hedgehog, very little had got into the gutter itself.

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I was walking round our small village on my lockdown-permiitted exercise a few weeks back and saw someone standing on the apex of a pretty high bungalow roof with some kind of hose and gun arrangement surrounded by loads of spray. Saw the name on his van and looked it up. "Steam Cleaning your roof is a speciality...." Honestly, don't people have more important things to worry about than paying to have a steam cleaned roof. I'm a bit lax about vacuuming the carpet in the living room or cleaning the cooker.

I don't think of it as a 'big thing', except perhaps on a flat roof where it might make water back up round the flashing. We get a fair bit, only nuisance is that it occasionally blocks a gutter, seems to wash away most times, but it normally just falls over it. Can be useful for birds, bugs to eat and moss to make nests.

If it troubles you, suggest first thing to do is nothing, then a bit more focussed nothing, then maybe 2 or 3 weeks of advanced nothing, until we get a 2 week hot dry spell in summer then knock off what you can reach with something long and light, 8ft garden cane does it. The first proper heavy rain, like a thunderstorm, after a dry spell might do it for you. If it still bothers you, then try suggestions above.

I wonder how humanity coped for the few centuries of stone, slate and clay roof coverings and 2 centuries of concrete tiles before steam cleaning and pressure washers came along.
 
Thanks all. I can't see much being done on this anytime soon. The tree has been trimmed back quite substantially so I will firstly see what affect the increased light and airflow has.

I hate ladders. I can put up with them a time or two a year to keep the gutters clear and I might get some hedgehogs to put up there to eat the moss. :)
 
On the brighter side -- like lichen, it suggests low air pollution. the places I've seen most are in shady and clean air parts of the wet west of the country, with big trees nearby.

I'd leave it unless/until it's obviously a problem for gutter blocking, even then may be easier to just clear the gutter when needed.
 
I hate ladders. I can put up with them a time or two a year to keep the gutters clear
I'm like that. Gutters and woodstain on the window frames is more than enough.

Spike Milligan did a sketch about his grandmother who was afraid of the ground... What, I've heard about people afraid of heights but not the ground... Ah but my granny says it doesn't matter how high you are, it's always the ground that gets you.
 
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