Protecting Your Roof

Roof is possibly one of the most ignored part of a house or building once it’s installed.You hardly go up and inspect it up close and even if you did that not many knows what to look for or to do if something is found.

And your roof gets a fair beating all year around: rain pounding on it, sun beating down on it, winds try to blow off its shingles or tiles, branches fall on it, animals walk around it and so on.

Roofers know the ways of keeping it in good shape though most of those are done after the fact: you had a leak or parts of the roof deteriorated visibly or maybe the insurance company needed an inspection.

A less accounted factor is the moss growing on the roofs. It’s just there, occasionally rolling into the gutter system filling that up but it is largely overlooked. And you’d be surprised how a mossy roof (deemed not maintained) could cause the decline of coverage.

There are a few facts that one is better be aware if they wish to prolong their roof’s life and protect their home against roof emergencies. One of those is that the roots of the moss are cracking up the shingles one tiny crack at a time. Just like those creeper type vines that grow up the house siding, go behind and can rip the gutters off, the moss roots do the same to the roof.

Another interesting fact about moss is that it holds water. It becomes quite vibrant in the rainy season, filled with moisture and when cold comes that moisture freezes and expands and able to cause serious leaks or damages to the roof.

The greater the moss, the more other debris it will catch and hold on the roof (needles, smaller branches, cones, etc.) creating an even more favorable environment for other things to grow, too, on the roof.

You can also hear people dismissing moss in the summer time: “It’s all dead, nothing to worry about.” It sure “hibernates” – kind of like bears – during the hotter times but it’s anything but dead. It bides its time and comes back with a vengeance (if it had such emotions) when the weather conditions are right which is rather sneaky of it since in the rain and cold is when the most impossible to get rid of it.

Now the good news is that you can be proactive about the moss threat against your roof. It can be handled, removed and treated, during the warmer period of the year (spring and summer, even early fall) in Greater Vancouver Area at least. You want to “hit it while it’s asleep” so to speak.

I have developed a method, a specific service, to handle roof moss which involves just the right moss killing agent (hydrogen peroxide based, not chlorine) that is safe for the environment (plants, animals, building material and humans). This I can’t stress enough because I spent many years searching for a product like this so I can recommend moss treatment with a clear conscience to anybody. That search has luckily ended many years ago and we have a very successful track record now with our hydrogen peroxide based miss killer. Another factor in our method is the roof friendly removal of the moss. There are many different moss (150 or so type) but we look at it from a practical viewpoint and determine how to remove the most of – never does all of it come off. We have different tools and approaches for the many different situations.

Sometime it takes weeks (two visits) to do a proper job, other times it can be done in one day. It’s always customized to the needs of the roof.

But the main thing is that you can do something about it. The elements are what they are but preventing the moss from destroying your roof is something you can (and should) do something about. Why not add another five, ten or maybe more years to the life of your roof that is right above your head?