Roof moss removal

[fredbloggstwo]

Hi all

We are going to have a first floor extension put on the house which includes a new part to the roof. I am thinking about doing something to get rid of the moss that grows on the existing roof (while the guys are up there) and to prevent it growing on the new part.

Zinc or Copper ribbon seem to be the thing to use, but will either of these remove the existing moss over time or am I into a major exercise to clean it off first and then prevent it growing back?

Also which one, Zinc or Copper, is the most effective and eco friendly

Thanks, Mike

[Weatherlawyer]

What is nurturing the growth?

If it is a tree then is it growing too close to the foundations of your house? If it is water ingress, what is trapping it?

[Gel]

Moss Killer is now banned by powers that be' However Jeyes Fluid sprayed on top, will kill it dead. You'd need to scrape/hose off.

fredbloggstwo wrote:

[fredbloggstwo]

I do not know what is nurturing it. It seems to be a natural phenomenon in this area as all of the houses are affected. There are certainly no trees in close proximity to the house.

Mie

[Broadback]

I am more that happy to leave the moss on mine, however the birds are not. every morning there are dozens of moss balls (pun intended) on my paths. this is the first year it has happened, I suspect it has something to do with the fact that we have had no heavy rain here since before Aaron Pilot got his wings.

[mark]

Copper is best.Fix a single strand along the roof above the moss and through time it will kill it off.Best source for copper wire is a bit of 2.5 single core and strip the insulation off.Or you could spend big bucks on copper ridging to do the same thing. regards,Mark.

[The Medway Handyman]

The 'professional' roof treatment companies use big mofo pressure washers to clean it first. You would have to hire something with at least a 9hp diesel or petrol engine to get enough welly to do the job properly.

[John]

I seem to recall reading of this creating serious problems to many types of roof tiles. - removing the looser aggregates and rendering them more porous.

John

[keith_765]

If its a concrete tiled roof of more than 15 years its the cement degrading and releasing the sand and gravel. If its a hand made clay tiled roof, its the air pocket that fill up with dirt over the years, or it could be a combination of the two plus a low pitch roof. If you decide to pressure hose it off, don't point the hose up the roof or you will flood the roof underneath. Come off quite easily with a garden hoe and a builders stiff yard brush. Then you will have to do this again next year.

[Roly]

Oddly enough, I was intending to do exactly that to my garage roof later this week. However the roof is corrugated. Clearly, the copper wire needs to follow the contours, so as to lie in the valleys and contact any rain water, but what's the best way of fastening it ?

[Weatherlawyer]

Got any pictures? I had a bit of a spat on another newsgroup about the effects of wood and coal fuels as opposed to the more common central heating fuels on the flora of roofs and gutters.

The only other thing I can think of that will supply enough nutriment for life on a roof is an abundance of bird dung. There has to plenty of misty rain too of course. With roofs, little and continual is to be desired.

Or not as the case may be.