Moss on roof

hivoodoodoll

When I had my survey before purchasing my house the survey recommended removing the moss from the roof. As yet I have not done this but with Autumn nearly upon us I was thinking it might be something I should think of.

Obviously I'm going to get a variety of quotes but was hoping someone could give me a rough idea on what the cost might be to remove moss from a roof and then coat the roof to prevent regrowth?

moneyistooshorttomention

What sort of method do you have in mind for this?

zaax

Why, it's doing no harm, so why waste the money, and blackbirds will chuck it off look for grubs

Chanes

We had moss on a roof once, it didn't cause much trouble but it can dislodge things, we had it scraped off and washed with moss killer after a year or so, it wasn't expensive if I recall correctly it was about £100 for a three bed detached but that was 14 years ago.

hivoodoodoll

Zaax, it can do a lot of harm which is why I was thinking of having it removed. I have already had a slight leak in my loft room that was caused from the build up of moss round the window.

Friends of mine with a similar sized property had a quote at the weekend but that was just over 2k, I think that is totally ridiculous. I was thinking it might be around £350

chrisw

hivoodoodoll wrote: »

Zaax, it can do a lot of harm which is why I was thinking of having it removed. I have already had a slight leak in my loft room that was caused from the build up of moss round the window.

Moss doesn't cause any harm to the roof at all. At worst it falls off and blocks the gutters or makes a mess on the ground below.

moneyistooshorttomention

Moss removal does seem to be a regional thing (ie a matter of regional tastes - rather than necessity). I'd never seen it being done until I moved to this region (ie from West Country to West Wales).

Hence I had my suspicions it didn't really need doing.

I asked on MSE and got a lot of responses that told me that steam-cleaning of a roof is damaging to a roof and absolutely shouldn't be done. I then googled more widely and found some more "official" type information from roofing firms stating just how bad an idea it is for those concrete tile type roofs and causes them to last a lot shorter time than they should. Conclusion = there is NO way I would have it done.

I don't know about slate roofs - but would imagine much the same applies as to reduction in "life expectancy" of the roof. Some pretty knowledgeable MSE posters were advising me not to have it done regardless of type of roof.

Anyway - do you want workmen walking around over your roof? That alone wouldn't do it any favours.

Grenage

The self-proclaimed experts will tell you that moss holds water in tile gaps, which expands when it freezes, and !!!!!!s up the roof.

It sounds reasonable, but I don't think I've ever heard of a roof that actually failed due to moss. My roof is completely covered in it.

Furts

Grenage wrote: »

The self-proclaimed experts will tell you that moss holds water in tile gaps, which expands when it freezes, and !!!!!!s up the roof.

It sounds reasonable, but I don't think I've ever heard of a roof that actually failed due to moss. My roof is completely covered in it.

Made me smile, and made me think it sounds like total bo--ocks. Tiles and slates exist to resist rain, to resist freezing, and to be able to move and flex on a roof.

Moss can come off and gradually block gutters, but why there is a current fashion for roof treatments and pressure washing can only come only be answered by the snake oil sales people who keep pushing these services.

Grenage

Furts wrote: »

Made me smile, and made me think it sounds like total bo--ocks. Tiles and slates exist to resist rain, to resist freezing, and to be able to move and flex on a roof.

Moss can come off and gradually block gutters, but why there is a current fashion for roof treatments and pressure washing can only come only be answered by the snake oil sales people who keep pushing these services.

Aye, you're not wrong; I'd be far more worried about pressure washing moving tiles and wrecking a roof.

Our new place sheds moss like it's going out of fashion. When I replaced the guttering, I put some of those plastic meshes on top - seems to help keep the bigger pieces out.

keith969

I have plenty of moss on my roof, I think it adds a certain rustic charm.