A guy asked me yesterday what would happen if he just left the moss on his roof. He was wondering if moss was harmful or would do any damage if left untreated. Great question. Moss will retain water, root itself into the shingles and eventually all the way through them and into the wood below, and it will grow in the cracks lifting and seperating the shingles. Moss will compromise the life of your roof no question.
Question: Is moss harmful if left alone?
by JNR Industries | Sep 15, 2010 | Roof Cleaning | 1 comment
Roof Cleaning- Let me break it down for you so you don’t have to do a ton of research. I have cleaned hundreds or roofs for moss and have done multiple tests to see what works the best for the long run and what is to be the safest and most effective method for your roof. I am an expert in running a composition roof cleaning business as I have been doing this for 7 years.
First of all we us a hand brush on 99% of the roofs, and pressure wash with a gentle tip on 1%. I have my water pressure down to less then 1000 psi so it wont harm your roof what so ever. I can put my hand in front of it as it cleans with mostly water volume. Pressure washing has gotten a bad wrap on roofs because of roof cleaning knuckle heads that dont know what they are doing or they dont care. On some roofs, certain types of moss has to be washed off with water because the brushes wont work, plus the water removes the black mold and algae which the brushes will not. we guarantee 95-99% of the moss removed, followed by a high powered air cleaning of the roof and gutters and finally a treatment to kill all the cells, the roots and to keep it from growing back. The best way to keep the roof free of moss is, once it’s removed, to have annual treatments so that it does not return. Some people chose to just pay someone to scrape or pressure wash when the moss comes back but that is the wrong way to think and I will only remove the moss on a roof once. There is no reason that we cannot keep the roof free of moss by doing regular treatments with gutter cleanings. I recommend treatments at least once a year. we keep you on an annual email list and let you know when it’s time for a roof treatment. .
I like to tell all of my customers that roof and gutter cleaning is a messy job, but we do a good job of cleaning up the patio’s, driveways, walkways, siding, windows and basically anything that needs to be cleaned. What we will not do (not included in the bid) is pull fragments of moss and other compost debris out of the bushes or lawn and heres why. The stuff that comes out of the gutters will easily be picked up with a lawn mower and it is just compost that will break down just like any other compost and become part of the soil. Its stuff that naturally falls from the sky anyway and your roof and gutters just happened to catch it in large amounts. Cleaning gutters with buckets is unrealistic, is very dangerous and time consuming. Trust me when I say that we do an awesome job with cleanup and will leave your house and walks cleaner then when we got there. We are in the cleaning business.
Id like to talk about people that are hurting the roof cleaning business and giving it a bad name. Both customers and other roof cleaners. There are other roof cleaners out there that are riping people off in a number of ways. Some will do a treatment only, take your money and run. The moss is still up there doing its damage its just a different color and will come back to life in about 6 months, ive seen it. Plus its still looking as ugly as ever. There are roof cleaners that are bidding super low prices, prices so low that there is no way a reputable company can stay in business for. I have been doing this for 7 years and have never seen a low bidding company stay in business for longer then one or two years. Its just not possible. I charge 350.00 for a small size house with a roof that I can stand on and here is how much it costs me to do a roof job. The treatment is 40.00, the brushes are 25.00, gas is 10.00 and taxes are 1/3 of the profit. I dont want to get into all my expenses but I pay my workers well and I pay all of my bills and insurance premiums on time. The low bidder roof cleaner is not only hurting himself, but every one else. You get what you pay for and I have seen those guys destroy roofs, but by the time you notice, its too late and you cant find the guy because he’s out of business and has a different phone #. I see it all the time and so do my other roof cleaning associates. I know a lot of other good roof cleaners in the area and I dont look at them as competition but as associates. I look at the idiots of roof cleaning and the super low ballers as competition.
Next id like to talk about the customers that hurt the business. I have had people call me and say they have a steep roof with a lot of moss and they have found a company to do it for 190.00 and they are calling me to try and get a lower bid then that. Its crazy. I have a minimum 450.00 for roofs which me and my guys will be roped off with harnesses and hook ladders. Another thing customers will do is act like they are in a big hurry when I talk to them or they wont do any research on me and my company. In my eyes if your going to spend some good money with a business maybe figure out about their methods. I have had customers demand ridiculous things and Ill tell them, I dont do that, its not my job and it was not included in the bid plus it says everything you need to know right in my website. Did you go to my website and read it? I love my customers and I am only talking about a very small percentage. We dont work for free, no one should have too.
We are in this business for the long haul and will maintain your composition roof so you get as much life out of it as you can. When we put you on our annual treatment list it’s really a good deal especially for the people who don’t want to get up on the roof because we take care of other maintenance issues like your gutters, flashing, pipe jacks, sealing top nails, chimney flash, etc. We take before and after pictures of everything we do so you know exactly what you are getting. If this all sounds good, call me and we can talk about it. I do free estimates. 503-432-9093