moss in gutters

[Eric]

Hi, I have one trouble spot where every year a fist sized clump of moss grows and forces water in the gutter to be redirected to the side, thereby going into the crack of my clay roofing tiles and leaking through the roof. My thought is to get a strip of zinc about 2"x6"x.125" and lay it in the gutter at the trouble spot. Where can i get some zinc strips? Do you think it will work ok? BTW: I'm located in the "Great Northwet" (Seattle area), the moss capitol of the world. Thanks Eric

[Phisherman]

Moss does not like any kind of metal ions (I'm thinking your gutters are not metal). I would suggest cleaning the area twice a year (by hand) and using an anti-moss or moss-killer. You could try making a spray yourself with Mule Team Borax (1/4 c.) dissolved in a pint of warm water.

[Barney]

Phisherman had writtennews: [e-mail]:

Zinc strips can be bought at most hardware stores. The trick is to get rid of the moss first as noted above and the zinc will limit the return. There is no total prevention but zinc does work. I live on Vancouver Island and think we take your title away. The wet coast but wetter.

[Ronald Carter]

In a previous posting, Usenet was endowed with the following text from Eric :

Try using some anti-fowling paint used on boat hulls to resist microbial growth on the hulls. Should work for gutters, don't you think?

[willshak]

On 12/7/2004 1:42 PM US(ET), Ronald Carter took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

Well, anti-fowling paint should certainly keep chickens and turkeys off the gutters, don't you think? :-)