Lichen removal from roof

[Richard]

Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself.

[normanwisdom]

What's wrong with lichen? Looks nice IMO.

[mogga]

Does it have a value for its insulation qualities?

[Codswallop]

"Richard" asked:

No. Moss killer will kill it but roof access would be required to apply the chemical and remove the dead vegetation.

[Mary Fisher]

I hoped someone else would say that!

Mary

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[Guy King]

The message from "Richard" contains these words:

Personally I like it. Shows the place is relatively unpolluted and generally gives the house a settle appearance. Bare squeaky roofs aren't as nice.

[Andrew Mawson]

anything

Short answer: No. anyway it can look attractive to my eyes

However if you can get someone to install a thin taut bare copper wire either side of the ridge, rain (which is slightly acidic) will form copper salts which washing down the roof will kill the lichen.

Some new builds in the countryside get roofs sprayed with cow dung solution to promote lichen growth and blend in better with older buildings

AWEM

[Broadback]

I also have growth on my roof. The problem as far as I am concerned is that it grows in golf ball size lumps, these are removed by birds and weather, (leaving lots behind) then of course this blocks the gutters and is dangerous on the paths. I removed all the ones I could reach with a pole to which I had fixed an old hoe, however that only worked to about 1/2 way up the roof, but at least the number coming down is greatly reduced.

[Mary Fisher]

That sounds more like mosses than lichen.

Mary

[HLAH]

I agree completely, lichen is nice.

H

[Phil L]

It will require cleaning off every six months if you hope to keep it away. You cannot clean it off without getting on the roof neither, so add on the cost of replacing broken tiles, gutters, legs etc and ask yourself is it really worth bothering with?

[RzB]

We had ours done about 18 months ago. See post at the time....

sign of it returning yet. It was great big balls of moss. As Broadback says - filled up the gutters and birds would also throw it all over the patio. Much better now that it's been done.

We had a local roofing company do the work. Scraped off all the moss first, then applied some chemical and then a final brushing off. Quite labour intensive.

Roy

[Phil L]

That's moss, not lichen...moss grows in balls, rolls down the roof into the gutter etc etc. Lichen is like a flat green blob (looks a bit like the droppings of a wood pigeon) like this;

[Weatherlawyer]

Actually it shows the classic signs of pollution, i.e natural vegetation. What else will grow in such an hostile environmet. It only requires minimal coal and wood smoke and some bird shit.

But the thankless and thoughtless don't deserve it. Quick someone tell him to climb up and throw diesel all over it.

[Mary Fisher]

green, brown, red ... and various shades of all of them. They are very slow growing, unlike mosses, and are very difficult to scrape off. They grow a lot on stones, I've tried scraping them off to use as dyes but gave up.

Mary

[Weatherlawyer]

We have a family of swans on this busy council estate and their pooh

-black/green and slimy, gives the pavements a generous coating of nutrimet, enabling lichens to grow strong enough to persist indefinitely on well trod routes.

Not bad for vegetarians. I wonder if the neighbours were slightly more pikey than they already are, would we have quatermasses of lichen taking over.

[Guy King]

The message from "Andrew Mawson" contains these words:

And some get spray with cow dung because they're the Nat West Bank.

[Guy King]

The message from "Phil L" contains these words:

like a Dr Who cornflake.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I didn't do that and the bloody lichen was growing before we finished the tiling..heck it grows on the cars after a couple of years.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Thats not lichen, that's moss.

I removed all the ones I could reach

Stopping moss is a question of using ordinary moss killer.

It needs a LITTLE soil, so beware of getting dirt on te roof.