Moss Treatment Kelowna

Extend the Life of Your Roof and Avoid
Damage to Your Shingles

Moss can be quite harmful to your asphalt roof shingles. Moss and lichen feed on the limestone in the shingles and slowly erode the roofs integrity. Moss holds moisture against the surface of the roof and if not addressed can shorten the life of the roof by up to 10 years.

 

Rather then “Blast away” or “Scrape” moss off your roof, Next Level will treat your roof with a liquid solution that will kill it 100% right down to the roof. The treatment is so effective that we will warranty the service for up to 5 years. Rather then replace your roof with brand new shingles, Next Level’s roof cleaning process may be able to extend the life of your roof for a fraction of the cost of a new roof. Fill out the form below and have an expert from our team come out to your property and assess the roof!

Kelowna roof moss removal before and after

Watch this Video Below to See Our Process In Action!

Our moss treatment process begins by protecting your plants and pre-wetting any areas that could be exposed to overspray. We gently remove some of the thicker moss with a soft broom and use a blower to clear the roof of debris.

 

After a thorough cleanup, we treat the roof with our effective liquid solution, which is carefully applied by our trained technicians. With this process, the remaining moss will gradually decompose and weather down with the rain over the next few weeks, leaving your roof looking clean and healthy.

When moss begins growing on an asphalt roof, it imbeds its roots into the shingles, and so proper removal is essential in order to avoid any unnecessary damage.

 

Here’s a few things to keep in mind when removing moss on an “Asphalt Roof”:

 

  • Never allow anyone to use a pressure washer to remove moss from your roof. A pressure washer  damage your shingles by removing more of the shingle grit. Using a pressure washer on the shingles can also void your shingles warranty. 
  • Never allow anyone to scrape down the moss with a wire brush. A wire brush will remove much life from the roof, removing the shingle grit and voiding your roof warranty. 
  • Make sure whoever is treating your roof knows how to protect your landscaping. Overspray or too strong of mix can destroy plants, shrubs, and lawns. When a roof is treated its important to dilute and detour the run off from the gutters, making sure it doesn’t run onto your garden or lawn in one spot. Be careful of overspray onto vehicles, or the siding of your home. 
It depends what type of roof you have! Moss is particularly very harmful for Asphalt and Cedar Shake roofs . The reason is that the moss feeds on the limestone in the asphalt shingles and actually eats away and begins to erode your shingles. If left, the moss can actually cut the life of your roof shingles by as much as 10 years. Moss also collects moisture and traps it against your shingles and if allowed to continue to grow can begin to curl your shingles, and cause mold, rot, and bacteria growth. Moss is not as harmful to a concrete tile roof, as these roofs are a lot stronger and harder to erode. Many of our customers have still chosen to get the moss removed from their concrete tile roof for aesthetic reasons and to prevent unnecessary moisture buildup.
A popular approach to preventing moss is by applying strips of zinc to your roof. These strips are usually 2-3 inches in diameter and stretch across the peak of the roof on each side. When the rain water combines with the zinc strips the zinc oxide is rinsed down the roof and will kill the moss, lichen or algae below the strips. Zinc oxide is toxic to moss, lichen, and algae. Zinc strips definitely help but aren’t a perfect solution. For one, the zinc strips can be an eyesore as many homeowners don’t like the look of them on the roof. Another reason is that zinc strips don’t protect the entire roof. Over the years,  being on multiple roofs with zinc strips, we have found that they only prevent moss a few feet below the strip. To ensure proper protection on the entire roof you would have to install a zinc strip every 3-4 feet down the roof line. 
Fortunately moss growth is quite slow. It usually takes a few years for moss to develop on your roof to the point in which you would see it. In order to protect and prevent moss damage to your shingles, we recommend having it treated every 3-5 years. Our Next Level roof cleaning offers a 5 year limited warranty. For the first two years, if moss returns we will re-treat the entire roof for free. On years 3-5 the roof cleaning is 50% the cost for a retreatment, so if you do see some moss returning by then you are able to have the roof re-treated for half the cost, to prevent it from ever coming back. In damp, or high moss areas, we recommend having the roof treated every 3 years as this will prevent moss from every regrowing to a stage that harms the shingles.

We follow the only process that the Asphalt Roof Manufacturers recommend, which is to softwash the roof or “treat” it with a liquid solution that will completely kill the moss. Proper precautions are taken to prevent damage and control overspray.

 

  1. We start with our plant protection process in which we go around the home and pre-wet all plants and areas that could be exposed to overspray. We look at where the gutter downspouts flow and bag them if necessary.
  2. We softly broom down some of the thicker and heavier moss. (less is more as we don’t want to get too abrasive with the roof, but we do want to remove some of it if possible as this will make treatment easier)
  3. We use a blower to blow off the roof and as much of the moss as we can.
  4. A full cleanup is done and usually gutters are cleaned (we always recommend having your gutters cleaned if the moss is thick and clumpy as some of it will broom down and we don’t want it to clog the downspouts)
  5. The roof is then treated with our liquid solution. One technician usually operates the spray while one follows below on the ground keeping plants and property wet and diluted to any overspray. 
  6. We water all plants before, during, and after.
  7. The remaining moss on the roof is now dead and over the next few weeks will begin to decompose and weather down with the rain. In approximately 6-8 months, the remaining moss will be gone.

Pets and children should be inside the home while the treatment process is underway to avoid any overspray. The treatment we use is similar to a chlorine treatment you would put into a swimming pool. In concentrated form it can be dangerous, but when handled properly in the right application it’s completely safe. Although the treatment is quite diluted and we want to avoid getting it on your skin or breathing the fumes in an enclosed space. The overspray can also stain clothing. Our technicians will wear a respirator, skin protection, and safety glasses for this reason. After the treatment is applied to the roof, all areas below the roof line are completely diluted with water ensuring that the solution is neutralized and safe. Pets and children are then free to go outside as the product is neutralized, diluted and is 100% biodegradable.

The NEXT LEVEL Difference

MOSS FREE FOR LONGER

We offer a 5 Year limited warranty against the return of moss, lichen, and algae.

INCREASE THE LIFE OF YOUR ROOF

Our roof treatment costs less than 1% of the cost of a new roof

ASPHALT ROOF MANUFACTURER APPROVED

The only method recommended by the ARMA

Request a Moss Treatment Quote Below

Jasmeet
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    Extend the life of your roof with Certified Moss Treatment 

     

     

    Is moss bad for my roof?

    This is a question we get all the time. A lot of people are unaware that roof moss is more than just an eyesore for your property. In fact moss is actually a living bacteria commonly referred to in the science world as “Gleocapsa Magna“.

     

    Rising humidity and temperatures combined with more and more bacteria spores promotes their spread with these favorable conditions. Fiberglass shingles today are made a bit different then the paper, asphalt, ceramic shingles of the 1980s. Starting in the 90’s shingles began being made with limestone as a filler in the asphalt. These shingles hold moisture and organic “bacteria food” material longer (especially on the North-side of the roof in the Midwest of the USA). The bacteria are airborne. Moss if left to feed and grow can cause substantial destruction to roofs causing shingle decay and loss of reflective power. Over time, the Gloeocapsa magma breaks down the shingles by feeding off of the limestone granules embedded in the shingles. This decreases a roof’s ability to reflect ultra-violet rays of light and shortens the life of the roof by up to half.

     

    How do you get rid of it?

    Improperly cleaning a roof can irreversibly damage the shingles and void the roof manufacturer’s warranty. You should never let anyone pressure wash a roof or use a wire brush to remove the moss. Both these methods will remove years of life from the roof by removing much of the shingle grit.

     

    Here are some photos of roofs that some cleaning contractors used a wire brush(left side) or a pressure washer (right side) to remove the moss. As you can see a lot of the shingle grit has been brushed off.

     

    Our Method

    Next Level Window Cleaning uses only professional detergents and non-pressure techniques recommended by roof manufacturers to safely and gently kill the growth on your roof preventing further damage. Rather than BLAST or SCRAPE off the moss we treat it with our solution to kill it 100% right down to the root. Using a pressure washer or a wire brush will only remove the surface moss but does not penetrate down to the root like the liquid solution. This is also why we recommend treating the ENTIRE ROOF – even the parts without visible moss. Spores from the moss, lichen, and algae can begin to form under the shingles and these spores can easily become airborne and re-spread after cleaning which can cause the moss to return quicker. By treating the entire roof we are able to warranty our service for 2 years from the time of cleaning.

     

    What to Expect?

    It would be really great if we could just squirt a little detergent on your roof and years of growth would simply evaporate. Unfortunately thats simply not how it works. We offer a long term solution to a long term problem. So here’s what you should expect:

     

    Once we treat your roof, all growth will be dead, causing no further damage to the shingles. However, the growth will take some time to weather down safely from your roof. Black streaks turn light brown or disappear when treated, and typically rinse down within a few rains. Moss turns white or light brown. However, because moss has roots, it takes longer to rinse from the roof. Lichen turns white or tan when treated. Lechen have even heartier roots and take the longest of all to disappear, sometimes several months or longer.

     

    Why Not Simply Rinse the Growth From the Roof When We Clean It? 

    There Are Several Reasons:

     

    1.) Because some growth has roots in the shingles, granules would be removed along with the growth, much like pulling weeds in a garden.
    2.) We prefer to allow the detergent to neutralize on the roof to minimize the risk of damage. This typically happens in 12-24 hours.
    3.) Rinsing the roof at the time of service requires more pressure and waterflow and increases the risk of dislodging shingle granules and damaging the roof. As well the product is not allowed the normal 12-24 hours of dwell time to reach down and penetrate to the roots.

     

    Your Roof May Not Need To Be Replaced

    Why spend 10 times as much to replace a roof that still has years of life left when you could just have it safely restored back to its original beauty and effectiveness? If your roof has black stains, dirt, leaves, lichen, or moss, Next Level has the solution for you!

     

    When’s the best time to treat the moss?

    The best time to treat moss, algae, or lichen is as soon as possible. As soon as you can see it on the roof the damage has already begun. Unfortunately even with our softwashing solutions there’s no way to 100% avoid the damage that moss can bring to your roof. The picture below shows some lichen that was softwashed off of an asphalt roof. As you can see there are still some after effects from the root system. In bad cases like this the roots have  already been able to grow for so long that they actually create mini “craters” in the shingles from eating away the granules. Contact a professional from Next Level Window Cleaning today and we are happy to set up a roof cleaning appointment for you as soon as possible.

    Jasmeet
    Latest posts by Jasmeet (see all)