Removing Moss from Roof

[Pistom]

Evoluzione said:

Your link is peppered with 'it might' 'it could'. There has been no hard evidence provided that this happens. Because it doesn't.
If it did there would be thousands of houses with cracked and failing roofs yet there aren't.
I spent many, many years in the building trade in the private sector, I never once saw a roof damaged by moss.

Believe what you like - you've already demonstrated an inability to read and comprehend so I'm not sure how much I'd trust your powers of observation on a roof.

Moss holds water - concrete roof tiles can become permeable and with that permeability comes increases moisture absorption. Concrete has high compressive strength. low tensile strength. Freeze/thaw puts tensile stresses into tiles. What do you think happens eventually? Does it happen if the moss is not there? Yes but it takes a hell of a lot longer.

Perhaps you are right and I have the only concrete roof tiles in the world which have started to break down this way. I guess the manufacturer is making it up too. The thousands of roofs which are replaced every year are no doubt conmen who have made it up to create work for themselves.

I'll bow to your "years in the building trade" over science your average teenager would understand and get back to scraping moss off my roof this weekend in the knowledge that I'm not doing it to extend the life of my roof - I just enjoy doing it.

[Aluminati]

Pistom said:

Evoluzione said:

Your link is peppered with 'it might' 'it could'. There has been no hard evidence provided that this happens. Because it doesn't.
If it did there would be thousands of houses with cracked and failing roofs yet there aren't.
I spent many, many years in the building trade in the private sector, I never once saw a roof damaged by moss.

Believe what you like - you've already demonstrated an inability to read and comprehend so I'm not sure how much I'd trust your powers of observation on a roof.

Moss holds water - concrete roof tiles can become permeable and with that permeability comes increases moisture absorption. Concrete has high compressive strength. low tensile strength. Freeze/thaw puts tensile stresses into tiles. What do you think happens eventually? Does it happen if the moss is not there? Yes but it takes a hell of a lot longer.

Perhaps you are right and I have the only concrete roof tiles in the world which have started to break down this way. I guess the manufacturer is making it up too. The thousands of roofs which are replaced every year are no doubt conmen who have made it up to create work for themselves.

I'll bow to your "years in the building trade" over science your average teenager would understand and get back to scraping moss off my roof this weekend in the knowledge that I'm not doing it to extend the life of my roof - I just enjoy doing it.

With all due respect, you’re talking out of your arse. I’ve been replacing all forms or roofing for coming up to 40 years, and none were accelerated by moss. I also spend upwards of a million a year with Marley, and you will find their website is aimed at domestic mugs....like you.

[Pistom]

Aluminati said:

With all due respect, you’re talking out of your arse. I’ve been replacing all forms or roofing for coming up to 40 years, and none were accelerated by moss. I also spend upwards of a million a year with Marley, and you will find their website is aimed at domestic mugs....like you.

OK, Im happy to dismiss Marley's view despite them being a leader in roofing material technology. They're talking out of their arse too.

You and the the lad who struggles with reading are both coming at this from the point of view that you've never seen it therefore it doesn't exist.

We have a roof here which only has degradation in areas where there's moss and other older houses in the area have had their roof tiles replaced and we're told it's for the same reasons we're starting to see on my roof.

My explanation for this is in line with the manufacturer's.

What's yours?

[ARHarh]

If you read the internet there are loads of sites telling you how bad moss is, and how it will destroy your roof and then kill your pets etc. They are all written by companies that remove moss from roofs or sell roof tiles. Its the same with septic tanks the only web sites which tell you of the dangers of not emptying septic tanks are written by the companies which empty septic tanks. Probably the same with a lot of other stuff as well. All roofers I have spoken to say moss is not a problem. I tend to believe them rather than some words on the website of moss removing company.

[Vasco]

Pistom said:

Aluminati said:

With all due respect, you’re talking out of your arse. I’ve been replacing all forms or roofing for coming up to 40 years, and none were accelerated by moss. I also spend upwards of a million a year with Marley, and you will find their website is aimed at domestic mugs....like you.

OK, Im happy to dismiss Marley's view despite them being a leader in roofing material technology. They're talking out of their arse too.

You and the the lad who struggles with reading are both coming at this from the point of view that you've never seen it therefore it doesn't exist.

We have a roof here which only has degradation in areas where there's moss and other older houses in the area have had their roof tiles replaced and we're told it's for the same reasons we're starting to see on my roof.

My explanation for this is in line with the manufacturer's.

What's yours?

To an outsider it just sounds like you have some poor quality buildings.

[bennno]

We purchased a huge bungalow from probate that was covered with the stuff, compounded further by long guttering runs. moss had blocked 3 of 4 uprights and saturated the walls as a result, with internal mould, it was causing gutters to overflow in to upvc soffit boards and to saturate internal walls + every time it pissed down the gutters overflowed and the drive was covered in moss / mud that just made a mess.

In our circumstance it took a weekends hire of a ali scafford tower and about 3-4 wire brush / scrapers and then 2 lots of wet and forget to remove it plus the litchen from the roof for the next 5 years (and counting).

Each to their own, but there can be a big difference between its a bit of moss and it wont do any harm, to theres a load and as in our case it was impacting the property. So act as you each individually feel is appropriate.

Edited by bennno on Friday 5th March 09:04

[Evoluzione]

Pistom said:

Aluminati said:

With all due respect, you’re talking out of your arse. I’ve been replacing all forms or roofing for coming up to 40 years, and none were accelerated by moss. I also spend upwards of a million a year with Marley, and you will find their website is aimed at domestic mugs....like you.

OK, Im happy to dismiss Marley's view despite them being a leader in roofing material technology. They're talking out of their arse too.

You and the the lad who struggles with reading are both coming at this from the point of view that you've never seen it therefore it doesn't exist.

We have a roof here which only has degradation in areas where there's moss and other older houses in the area have had their roof tiles replaced and we're told it's for the same reasons we're starting to see on my roof.

My explanation for this is in line with the manufacturer's.

What's yours?

So you're still dismissing the word of two experienced professionals and still have no case evidence of what you claim happens.
If it really was happening then someone would have done a case study on it showing the mechanics of what is happening with pictures etc, but there just isn't.
It isn't a matter of what WE believe as we are armed with facts, it's not belief. It's more a case of what YOU believe as what you are quoting there is akin to religion.
You are that man mentioned earlier who picks the stones out of his tyre treads every weekend.

Here is a reasonable stab at explaining it: https://inspectapedia.com/roof/Roof_Moss_Removal.p...
If you read it carefully it's all about shingles and not tile or slate.
That's possibly where all this hocuspocus stems from.

[Pistom]

Evoluzione said:

Here is a reasonable stab at explaining it: https://inspectapedia.com/roof/Roof_Moss_Removal.p...
If you read it carefully it's all about shingles and not tile or slate.
That's possibly where all this hocuspocus stems from.

Dear God - I'm starting to feel like Victor Meldrew. You're not going to let this one go so I better had. I really have better things to do than educate you over something you don't want to learn.

I ask for an explanation relating to deterioration of roof tiles and you give me one relating to shingles!

I won't be coming back to this thread now. All I was doing was sharing my real life experience and putting a plausible explanation to it - using science that a child would understand.

A cursory glance on Google brought this up. http://buildingdefectanalysis.co.uk/roofing/frost-... It talks about freeze/thaw action as a result of moisture being retained - let's think of a material which might do that? Moss maybe?

If I could be bothered, I'll take some photos of my own roof over the weekend but I'd probably be accused of photoshopping it.

You've not seen it therefore it can't exist - fine. I have no issue with you basing your understanding of the world purely on what your eyes have seen.

Maybe I should start a new religion - I'll give myself the name of Moses!! Oh no - Mosses

[ARHarh]

Pistom said:

Dear God - I'm starting to feel like Victor Meldrew. You're not going to let this one go so I better had. I really have better things to do than educate you over something you don't want to learn.

I ask for an explanation relating to deterioration of roof tiles and you give me one relating to shingles!

I won't be coming back to this thread now. All I was doing was sharing my real life experience and putting a plausible explanation to it - using science that a child would understand.

A cursory glance on Google brought this up. http://buildingdefectanalysis.co.uk/roofing/frost-... It talks about freeze/thaw action as a result of moisture being retained - let's think of a material which might do that? Moss maybe?

If I could be bothered, I'll take some photos of my own roof over the weekend but I'd probably be accused of photoshopping it.

You've not seen it therefore it can't exist - fine. I have no issue with you basing your understanding of the world purely on what your eyes have seen.

Maybe I should start a new religion - I'll give myself the name of Moses!! Oh no - Mosses

Its interesting there is not a lot of moss on the roof in that article. Do you think maybe someone had been pressure wasing it in recent times??

[silverthorn2151]

silverthorn2151 said:

This is pretty typical of the front roof slopes. This does block outlets and cause dampness.

And post cleaning.

[BreakingBad]

I see your moss and raise you...



Started reading this thread because we are in the process of buying the house belonging to this roof - even the surveyor said he’d not come across a roof with more (this is not necessarily the worst part)!

I’m all for grass roofs and eco benefits but this is just mank! Anyway, the roof and dormers need overhauling and improvement due to various issues - rotten timber and water penetration being just two - and the moss is going to have to go to be able to accomplish that. Being in Cumbria, it may take a while, waiting for it to dry out so a workable solution is needed.

[silverthorn2151]

Steam cleaning, per my post above, does not use a huge volume of water, important if you already have leaks.