Roof Moss - is it worth having it removed?

[Too Late]

We live with some big trees around the house and we are prone to some moss on the roof. Our house was built in the 1960's and has never had a roof clean. The neighbors have just had it done and it looks like a brand new roof

It got me thinking if we needed to do our roof.
Has anyone had their roof cleaned?
Is it worth doing?

Thanks
Toolate

[J6542]

My house is around similiar age to yours and I cleaned my roof last summer. I spent 2 days scraping off the old moss and spraying on a moss treatment. It looks far better now. But with the tiles now being 50 odd year old it could really do with a reroof.
Whatever you decide dont let the gypos up there with a pressure washer

[HairyMaclary]

Don't do it. s around here shook down a mate to jet wash his roof. Loads have had it done.. He lives on a leafy lane in a 60s house. Big concrete tiles.

They cracked tiles all over the place and didn't tell him. Now he's got a load of ceilings that need skimming and a roof that needs fixing.

Unless the moss is causing an issue just leave it there.

[Wacky Racer]

I did mine myself, but I am fortunate to have some very good industrial ladders and roof ladders. It came off fairly easily with a stiff brush, I just let it all slide into the gutter and then cleaned the gutter out (Taking care to block the drain at the bottom of the downspout so moss would not get in there.)

That lot took about a day to shift.

The roof looks like new now, but it's not a job for anyone without a head for heights.

Our next house will be a bungalow...

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

I had some roof work done. As a throw away line the roofer said to me don't even think about cleaning the moss off.

(I'm assuming he was a straight up guy & not plotting for future work )

[RizzoTheRat]

If you have a roof with crossed axies so you have a gully, it's worth cleaning moss out of there, I had enough of a build up it was forming a dam and the puddle for deep enough to come through the tiles.

Our window cleaner cleared it with a vacuum cleaner with a very long pipe on the end of a pole

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Monday 26th October 20:02

[Last Visit]

Did mine last year on the section that is tiled. Used a ladder and a brush to gently agitate any more lumps. Most were not that well secured so came away quite easily. The most stubborn were on the mortar around the ridge tiles. We also had a fair amount of lichen too so I sprayed the whole roof afterwards with Wet and Foget, doing exactly what it said on the tin. Looks great now.

[Robertj21a]

Builders and roofers I've spoken to said to just leave it alone. Don't hose it, treat it, or let the Travellers anywhere near it.

[J6542]

Its fine to treat it, but you should do it in the summer after a few days off no rain and really soak it. A friend off my dads had a new pantile roof put on 25 years ago, and he sprays his roof every 2nd summer and it still looks like new, with no moss at all. His neighbours on both sides got done about 15 years ago but they don’t spray their roofs and both are covered in moss.

[PositronicRay]

Plenty around here have had it done, often OAP bungalows.

Looks a bit carp and patchy especially one 1/2 of a semi. What's wrong with a bit of moss? Who wants a 'new' looking roof anyway?

ETA, Considering roof cleaning? Maybe you need a hobby.

Edited by PositronicRay on Monday 26th October 21:01

[hongkongdonkey]

A guy down the road from me power washed his roof last summer, spent ages on it. 6 months later he had the roof replaced.

[rufmeister]

Interesting to hear the various views on this, we scrape and treat roofs in our business.

We make roofs not only look amazing again, but offer a warranty against regrowth.

There are certainly many cowboys out there, we are t one of them!

[RichB]

My neighbour had this done to his roof earlier in the year and although it looks clean he had replace probably a dozen broken tiles. I'm not surprised though, the laid ladders all over the roof and scraped it with garden hoes. Seemed pretty harsh to me. They hosed it with patio cleaner to finish so it will be interesting to see how many years it is before the moss grows back.

[bristoltype603]

rufmeister said:

Interesting to hear the various views on this, we scrape and treat roofs in our business.

We make roofs not only look amazing again, but offer a warranty against regrowth.

There are certainly many cowboys out there, we are t one of them!

Sorry to hijack the OP's thread but how would you tackle a pyramid style roof? So only a meter or so ridge on to which you can place a roof ladder.
Quite steep too (1 in 3 I think?). My local roofer said he'd fall off if he tried...
Otherwise a normal 2 storey detatched house.

[Bodo]

Copper or zinc fitted to the full length of the ridge will first kill any existing moss or algae on your roof, and then prevent it from growing, as their oxide is biocide, and washed down with every rain for decades. Simple and relatively cheap.

[BoggoStump]

Bodo said:

Copper or zinc fitted to the full length of the ridge will first kill any existing moss or algae on your roof, and then prevent it from growing, as their oxide is biocide, and washed down with every rain for decades. Simple and relatively cheap.

How would you fit it to the top of the roof?

[rufmeister]

bristoltype603 said:

Sorry to hijack the OP's thread but how would you tackle a pyramid style roof? So only a meter or so ridge on to which you can place a roof ladder.
Quite steep too (1 in 3 I think?). My local roofer said he'd fall off if he tried...
Otherwise a normal 2 storey detatched house.

We use scaffold towers or cherry picker for access, never stood on a roof in 10 years.

[alorotom]

a good friend used to own (possibly still does) the northern franchise for AquaShield that were on watchdog numerous times for damage to roofs and internals after jet washing and "treating" - its expensive and does lasting damage and the people he used to hire, you wouldn't let them butter toast never mid get on a roof and jet wash it. It wasn't nicknamed aqua-sniff for nothing.

[paulwirral]

BoggoStump said:

Bodo said:

Copper or zinc fitted to the full length of the ridge will first kill any existing moss or algae on your roof, and then prevent it from growing, as their oxide is biocide, and washed down with every rain for decades. Simple and relatively cheap.

How would you fit it to the top of the roof?

Drill and plug the ridge tiles and screwed down into them , put it on the very peak of the ridge tiles for best results , a bit like an old fashioned lightening conductor.
It is worth keeping the roof clean of heavy moss growth to keep the drainage channels clear . .

Edited by paulwirral on Tuesday 27th October 10:30

[pquinn]

Next door had it done a few weeks ago, tiles look very a different colour now.

Which is hardly a surprise given the massive amounts of tile coloured stuff that ended up everywhere, pretty sure they just blasted all the surfacing off the tiles and they're back to the substrate.

Wouldn't bet on it surviving the winter.