Removing moss from a roof without going onto the roof

BrianD3

My house is a dormer style bungalow with a large roof area and quite steep pitch and the north east facing side has a lot of moss. I don't have the necessary ladders or inclination to go onto the roof. I was thinking about getting Algoclear (aka MossGo) and spraying the roof with a Super Soaker water gun while standing on a step ladder. Aim at the highest part of the roof and let it dribble down , then aim progressively lower until there is good coverage.

5 litres of concentrated Algoclear is priced at 45 euros, this makes 50-70 litres when diluted.

Anyone have any comments or alternative suggestions?

Thanks

dok_golf

Pay a professional to do it

Luckysasha

Did something similar recently myself. Didn’t use any fancy chemicals just got a paint scraper and taped it on to a 16 foot length of 2 x 1 timber and scraped the moss off the roof from an 8 foot step ladder. Made the mistake of trying to blast the moss off with a small power washer but it’s fairly stubborn stuff. So leave it dry and as you scrap the moss it will just roll down in to the gutters

listermint

Could be a wind up..... Unsure.


No moss won't come off with a super soaker.

If your concerned like most folks would be of getting on a roof get a professional to do it otherwise roof stays as it is with or without supersoaker

BrianD3

listermint wrote: »

Could be a wind up..... Unsure.


No moss won't come off with a super soaker.

If your concerned like most folks would be of getting on a roof get a professional to do it otherwise roof stays as it is with or without supersoaker

It's not a wind up. The super soaker is used to apply the chemicals. The moss then dies and falls off after a while - helped by wind/rain. That is the theory.

listermint

I got that part. but it was amusing because it won't work.

Moss has to be scraped off.

There are no shortcuts

Literally pissing in the wind wasting 45 euro

keano25

The theory is great.

And the part about it being a super soaker made my morning.

happyoutscan

Would a power washer work if you used a cherrypicker/telescopic and worked from the top down?

looksee

Sounds like a good way of standing in a cloud of rebounding weedkiller for a couple of hours. Does moss do any harm? I like the look of it!

Luckysasha

Moss is basically a big sponge. I know in my case the moss grows in the joints of the slates and as it gets saturated with rain it drips a constant feed of rain water down between the slates. I know in theory if your slates and roof in general are in good condition it shouldn’t matter but on an old roof like mine it’s worth a couple of hours once a year to keep the roof clear

dok_golf

happyoutscan wrote: »

Would a power washer work if you used a cherrypicker/telescopic and worked from the top down?

Yes it would, but it would work out more expensive than hiring a professional to do it. Also, some hire depots won't lease a teleporter without the appropriate pass ( can't just bring the name to mind at the minute).

brokenarms

happyoutscan wrote: »

Would a power washer work if you used a cherrypicker/telescopic and worked from the top down?

You run the risk of water getting past the tiles and felt. Could also damage flashing and pointing. Risky.

wayoutwest

This is my moss removing tool (similar to Luckysasha's one). The oval nail scrapes the vertical joints, and the 'T' bracket does the horizontal step, the face of the slate and valleys. I cut a 16 foot 2x1 in half and just used three screws to join them when i need the full length. I do the top half of roof first with the two joined batons, then do the bottom half in another sweep with the one (8' ) less unwieldy baton.
20171127_090125.jpg

Victor

Make sure to clean the gutters on the day and a few days after.

BrokenArrows

wayoutwest wrote: »

This is my moss removing tool (similar to Luckysasha's one). The oval nail scrapes the vertical joints, and the 'T' bracket does the horizontal step, the face of the slate and valleys. I cut a 16 foot 2x1 in half and just used three screws to join them when i need the full length. I do the top half of roof first with the two joined batons, then do the bottom half in another sweep with the one (8' ) less unwieldy baton.
20171127_090125.jpg

You better copyright that thing.

wayoutwest

BrokenArrows wrote: »

You better copyright that thing.

Haha - a few people have said that.to me!.....with the exessive moss growth this year i could probably sell a lot of them....and they only take about two and a half minutes to make.:D
A telescopic pole would be an improvement for the Mk2 model.

dok_golf

brokenarms wrote: »

You run the risk of water getting past the tiles and felt. Could also damage flashing and pointing. Risky.

If that happens then the state of your roof would be a bigger problem than the moss on it.

brokenarms

dok_golf wrote: »

If that happens then the state of your roof would be a bigger problem than the moss on it.

A pressure washer is not what the roof was designed for.

Pointing will be blasted right out for sure. It would also dislodge ridge tiles and lead work.

On any roof.

dok_golf

What pointing? also, the only way of dislodging ridge tile would be if you had maximun spray directed up the slope of the roof. Finally, short of a water cannon, there isn't a hope in hell of dislodging lead if it was properly put in. If it wasn't, then the houseowner would have known all about it before now.

Sorry , I had a slate roof in mind, not a tile one.

brokenarms

Gable walls will have pointing running up the whole side of the tilled roof.
This pointing is especially vulnerable as it suffer from expansion and contraction between day and night. Making it loose. A blast of water in the wrong direction will knock it out. Even pressure from above as it has very little support.
There is also pointing on the ridges of a tiled roof. Where the ridges are also layed of a bed of sand and cement and pointed in.
This bed is also very vulnerable to changing temps especially freezing and can lift and dislodges with anything other than weather. Once it moves, it will likely leak .
Lead work soakers can be cemented into chimney stacks which can be washed out with high pressure .

On wrong move with a pressure washer lance would be a costly mistake. Feel free to chance it. I would avoid .

the_pen_turner

if the pointing is that vulnerable it is probably best that you know and replace it.

IRCA

brokenarms wrote: »

You run the risk of water getting past the tiles and felt. Could also damage flashing and pointing. Risky.

Also, it's very easy to take off the top layer of the tile itself (especially old slates) which can leave them looking white in spots - personally wouldn't recommend the PW route.

Instead of MossGo (quite expensive) you could try Clorus - very cheap and esentially does the same job