Should I clean moss off my roof?

[WeeDangerousSpike]

I'm sat in the garden idly looking at my roof (rock and roll, I know!). There quite a lot of moss on it, and lichen.

I'm inclined to leave it be, it seems a good little ecosystem up there - bugs and stuff, birds eating them, etc.

It's a concrete tiled roof, if it was slates I think I'd be a little concerned it might get between and push them apart, but can't see that being an issue with tiles.

Is there any reason particularly I should clear it off?

I had a quick Google and a roofing company have an faq that - horror of horrors - it can encourage bugs and birds and they'll poo on the roof. I have to say I've never looked at someone's roof and thought 'oh, how slovenly, they have bird poo on the roof!'

I appreciate it may clog the downpipes and gutters etc if it comes loose, but we have one of those hedgehog things in the gutter so I don't think that's an issue.

Is there some major complication that I've not thought of that requires me to get up there every third Saturday with the yard broom?

I’m vaguely recalling reading something about risk of damage if the moss is wet and heavy frost or something. I made DH go up on our dorma and scrape it off, took him hours!

www.surewise.com/home-emergency-cover/how-to-get-rid-of-roof-moss/

If left unchecked, moss and algae can take years off your roof's life. Moss's roots trap damp in roof tiles, which leads to rot and erosion. It can also cause the tiles, shingles, etc. to raise, which allows in more moisture and which also makes the tiles vulnerable to strong winds

depends how mossy we are talking.. it holds a lot of water so makes your roof wet for the majority of the time which, if its getting in-between any tiles and onto the timber will rot your roof structure.

I find that birds scrabble about in it for the insects and knock it off which would be OK in itself if it didn't mean my patio and drive are consequently covered in soggy chunks of moss.

I've been meaning to get someone to deal with it for me.

I've just been and looked at the other side, which is worse. I think I am going to have to do something about it, which is a shame - the sparrows and blackbirds have a lovely time rooting through it all, it seems a real shame.

At least it's a bungalow, we can probably do it ourselves.

You can remove a surprising amount with a hosepipe. I managed to get most of it off the roof and out of the gutters by turning up the water pressure. Bird poo sometimes has seeds in and I had plants growing in the gutters.

I am sure I read somewhere it is best to leave it be. I am in Wales and so it rains a lot, all the roofs (rooves??) in my road are mossy and I have never seen anyone clean it off.

Worth a read:

www.nfrc.co.uk/article/2012/09/07/moss-on-your-roof-advice

Also:

roofcoatingscam.com/in-the-press/

How do you turn up your water pressure?

I'd leave that be rather than risk causing any damage but it's a good time to check your gutters, particularly if you've recently had snow.

Two of my neighbours have been known to get up on their roof with a power washer - scary to watch and makes quite a mess below.

The crows clear ours off! They're going for it at this time of year. I'd wait a bit and see whether you have little helpers, then have a closer look after in case. But I've never done it. It rains moss round these parts as soon as it warms up, not just on our front yard either!

Bloody hell I'd not pressure/power wash it! Surely if anything would get water through the tiles to the timbers it would be that!!

Ideal @pinkearescow, I think that answers that. I definitely got the feel from the roofing Co website I landed on that they were grasping for reasons (bird poo?!) to charge for a service.

We've not had any snow @PickAChew, on fact I think the last time it was significant enough to notice (maybe 3 inches!) was about 5 years ago. Can I ask why snow, particularly, would mean checking the gutters? I'm just curious...

I will keep an eye on it though, if it gets progressively worse it might need a bit of tittivating.

It’ll just grow back, so hardly worth the bother. There is quite a lot on my kitchen extension roof, but once we get some hot weather it will dry out and fall off. I’m always finding moss chunks on the patio.

Elton John did. He sang about it. He sat on the roof and kicked off the moss

@VanGoghsDog

How do you turn up your water pressure?

I used the stopcock under the sink. Its no different from heavy rain because I was standing on the ground with the hosepipe. I wasn't on the roof.

@weedangerousspike as snow melts, it tends to slide down the roof and drag a lot of debris with it, including lumps of moss and loose tiles. A lot of it ends up dumped the gutters.

We had a bug dump of snow a couple of weeks ago - a house in view of ours now has dislodged roof slates and a newly renovated house had a load of guttering fall off! A load of crap off our roof is now on the decking at the back of the house, so we definitely need to get up there and check things out, some time soon.

The stopcock doesn't change the water pressure. It's on, or off. That's it.

It will just grow back if you scrap it off. You would need to kill it.

OK, well ours does.

50:50 mix of laundry strength liquid chlorine bleach and water. Apply with a sprayer (those big one with the hand held wand) let it work for 1 hour in dry conditions and then scrap it off/clean it off. You could also use a vinegar solution.

Ours is covered and the crows are flinging it off. We're also missing a couple of roof tiles right in the middle at the top and they've taken to pecking at and flinging bits of that down too... wondered why stones were flying past my kitchen window.

Leave it be. It rarely causes a problem.