green moss growing on wall

orange86

Hi folks,

There is green moss growing on the walls of my house. It started initially on the ground - paving stones,  for which i will use karcher pressure washer to clean in the summer.

Any ideas on how to clean the moss off the brick work and stop the stuff from re-growing?

Lorian

It's the damp weather.  I spray mine with ferrous (iron) sulphate solution I mix up. Don't make it too strong or it makes surfaces look rusty  it will be less noticeable when its dry. You could brush it off if you had the time and energy 

I've seen far worse than yours!

Keep_pedalling

It’s algae not moss.

kempiejon

washing soda crystals solution in a spray.

GrubbyGirl_2

Either patio magic or wet and forget works a treat on algae like that and once dry it's safe for pets don't bother doing it until the spring

twopenny

The stuff that cleans and stops algae growing for months. You can use a cheap brush to put it on vertical brick if it's too difficult to spray with a can.
Be generous with it though.

I've used some of my neighbours stuff which was more expensive and where i flooded it with a watering can it's stayed clean like hers.
I bought a cheaper one and it's not as good.
I'll post the tread I did on it when I can find it.

outtatune

Very dilute sodium hypochlorite will do it, brush it on, leave it half an hour, rinse off, what it doesn't kill straight away will die over the next couple of days.

orange86

Thank you all for the advice.

@g@GrubbyGirl_2 i will purchase 'Wet & Forget Mould, Lichen & Algae Remover'.  How do i apply this to the higher part of the brick wall?

Also it's so cold right now, would using Wet & Forget work if i use ?

stuart45

Your paving goes tight to the wall, which causes rain bounce at the base of the wall soaking it. It's also slightly higher than the 150mm minimum to the DPC.
Are any of the gutters dripping to wet the higher brickwork?

Section62

orange86 said:

Thank you all for the advice.

GrubbyGirl_2  i will purchase 'Wet & Forget Mould, Lichen & Algae Remover'.  How do i apply this to the higher part of the brick wall?

Also it's so cold right now, would using Wet & Forget work if i use ?

Personally I wouldn't start treating any parts of your wall with chemicals.  Algae is natural and will go by itself when the growing conditions are less favourable.  Given the amount and the height of the growth I'd expect you have (or had) a large tree (or other foliage) nearby?

The problem with treating brick walls is that unless you apply the treatment uniformly to the whole wall there is a risk of ending up with discoloured patches on part of the wall - this can be permanent and far more noticeable than the problem the treatment was supposed to resolve.  Once brickwork is damaged/discoloured it is difficult to restore it to the original appearance.

As per stuart45's post, you have some issues with the patio which may be causing/exacerbating the problem.  It would be better to deal with them as the potential source, rather than using chemicals to treat just the symptoms.

GrubbyGirl_2

orange86 said:

Thank you all for the advice.

@g@GrubbyGirl_2 i will purchase 'Wet & Forget Mould, Lichen & Algae Remover'.  How do i apply this to the higher part of the brick wall?

Also it's so cold right now, would using Wet & Forget work if i use ?

It's got algae because it's cold and wet, it doesn't work immediately that's why it's called that, it needs a few days to work but it will just come back in a few weeks simply because this is perfect weather. It also needs to be applied when it's dry. Do it in the spring and I use a 5 litre pressure spray to spray it with