We’re on a 7 year old asphalt shingle roof. This is actually the best I have ever seen a copper or zinc strip work. This is actually copper so it matches the color of the house so you can see that it kept the moss off for about 5 rows and then it starts growing on there and you can see how heavy it (the moss) gets as the farther away from the zinc or copper strip.

This copper strip seems to be working a lot better than the zinc strips that I’ve seen. Of course underneath the trees it gets pretty bad, and this moss will actually destroy this roof. It will eat it and lift it and cause it to leak in half the time if it was maintained or was in an area where there wasn’t moss problems.

Also, in an area of debris, you can’t let this happen. This will rot out the shingles and this intersection here would be compromised if this was not maintained. Of course we are looking at the north side and you can see all the way across the roof that for the first two or three feet that copper is working really well. Then as the copper oxide runs out of energy the moss starts growing.

Roof Life of Oregon does roof maintenance on all types of roofing. This is an example of a 40 year architectural laminated shingle 5-7 years old growing quite a bit of a moss so we are going to help this client.

I’m up here in Forest Heights in Portland Oregon and we are looking at a 15 year old shake roof.

This client has used our service when the roof was 5 and when the roof was 10 and next year will be its renewal year on its 15th year actually it will be 16 next year because we waited a year after it was on. But what you will note on this roof is how heat and light reflective it is, that is the natural color of cedar when it does not have any growth on it. When the rains hit it, the resiliency of cedar and if it’s not punky and a lot growth and moss on it making it punky and soft, It’s got a hard shell on it and water runs off it quite quickly and ends up down and off and in the gutter system.

You will always see the definition of lines because the roof of course is staying rock hard. and as we scan this roof here you will note that it is also heat and light reflective. So it is not black with black fungus and moss absorbing a ton of heat which then rots and dry rots the shake. It is actually staying pretty cool, you could go put your hand on that on an 80 degree day and hold it there but a traditional black roof you couldn’t a black fungus roof that is kind of like a charcoal gray. That’s unique I’m up on a roof here looking down one of our clients. This is a tile roof that is also 14 years old. You can see they have done a solar panel system it looks like maybe a 4-6 kilowatt system, there’s also one panel over here. And this tile roof we have treated twice. This is what it looks like. This is a north side after 3 years and this is a pretty bad spring and there’s not any growth on it at all it is beautiful.

So this roof you could simply retreat and gutters are dirty, we’ll do a gutter clean on it. This is how you maintain a roof in Portland, the cleaning of the roofs are done by the products we use unless of course there is tree debris and you want your roof to look good, and to work right and to last longer and those three things we feel bring you peace of mind concerning your roof.

In the greater Portland, Oregon area we get a lot of crud on our rooftops. About half of our cleaning jobs are to remove tree debris from the evergreens towering over or nearby a home, or your neighbor’s flowering broadleaf tree that seems to reach over and upward. The other half of our cleaning efforts are spent on the roofs that get that amazing growth combo called black fungus and moss.

Portland’s combination of growth and debris eats roofs. It causes them to leak prematurely.

On composition roofs (asphalt shingles) the moss is invasive enough to get under the shingles and break the seal allowing the water to get to the nails where it can find its way into your home or rust away the fasteners, eventually leading to a bigger roof failure. In addition there are some types of moss that will eat the roofing material requiring premature re-roofing.

On Tile roofs the moss actually dissolves the concrete! When this very unsightly moss action is combined with tree debris build-up you have the perfect recipe for roof-top trouble. As it matures and decays, it feeds into the closed valleys on your roof. This has caused some major leaks in a lot of high end homes as the water is diverted out of the valley metal by a cement-like sand bar.

If black fungus is allowed to grow on a cedar shake roof it will create an environment that is perfect for the moss. Moss retains a ton of moisture and eats the wood. Wet rot is caused by retained moisture. Debris, fungus and moss are the reasons.

Cleaning the roof of these 3 culprits will add years to your roof’s life. Whenever possible keep roofs of all types free of these trouble makers by doing annual cleaning using compressed air and 3-5 yr. treatments that will cleanse current fungus and moss growth and keep potential growth at bay. Of course we use only environmentally safe, long lasting products by Dennco Chem.

Got any of these yuckies and nasties on YOUR roof? We can help. We do FREE roof maintenance inspections that will tell you exactly what is going on and how much it will cost to make it great. Click here to get started.

This homeowner physically took the time to cut enough zinc strips (1” x 2”) to cover his entire roof. Talk about a tedious endeavor! You can actually see in the picture the results this homeowner has obtained. Moss is growing along the edge of the shingles and will eventually cause them to lift allowing wind driven rain to get in. The other downside to cutting thousands of 1” x 2” zinc strips is a strong gust of wind has the ability to send thousands of little razor blades flying all over your sanctuary.

The only proven moss removal technique that we’ve come across is our method of applying Dennco Chemical’s cedar shake, tile, or composition roof cleanser. It’s guaranteed by both Roof Life of Oregon and Dennco Chemical to keep your roof moss free for three to five years. If for some reason moss grows back during your warranty period then we’ll come out and clean the roof again free of charge. Who makes guarantees like that anymore?

Call Roof Life of Oregon a (503) 925-0125 or fill out our roof maintenance estimate request form before you breakdown and perform the desperate moss removal techniques we’ve depicted above.

Unfortunately for these homeowners, moss powder is a form of zinc sulfate, which is a corrosive chemical compound that only kills moss in patches while allowing water to get underneath your shingles causing leaks. Instead of using moss powder these homeowners should have used Roof Life of Oregon’s roof maintenance program.

Roof Life of Oregon uses a sodium silicate based pH changer that takes your roof’s environment from highly acidic to neutral, slightly alkaline state. Zinc sulfate based products typically last one year and then need to be reapplied with the roof moss growing back more than ever. The zinc sulfate works as an irritant not a solution for your roof moss problem. Using Roof Life of Oregon’s roof maintenance plan you will receive a three or five year warranty backed by the manufacturer and Roof Life of Oregon. If roof moss grows back between treatment periods we will come re-treat your roof for free. How many companies make that kind of guarantee?

Help your roof life move forward not backwards with our non-invasive environmentally friendly roof moss treatment. Let Roof Life of Oregon perform a free estimate inspection on your roof by calling (503) 925-0125 or visit our roof estimate page. Save the moss powder for the amateurs and the ‘snow covered’ like roof for December.

You can see a large layer of roof moss laying on the roof underlayment of this house. Believe it or not, the roof contractor for this job is going to roof right over this roof moss without taking the time to clean it off. We’ve talked several times about the problems that can occur when roof moss gets underneath your asphalt shingles. The roof moss will physically lift up your shingles allowing water to get to your fasteners and cause a leak in your roof. What do you think is going to happen if you plant roof moss underneath a layer or asphalt shingles?

This kind of problem simply wont happen if you choose Roof Life of Oregon for your roof replacement project. If you want a cheap roof that only takes a few days to complete then we are not the company for you. If you want the best roof in Portland that comes with the only lifetime workmanship warranty in town then call (503) 925-0125 or fill out our roof replacement form.

At Roof Life of Oregon, we recognize that hand picking or scrubbing your roof would not be the most economical roof cleaning solution for you or our company. Instead we use a low pressure/high volume water system to help schluff off the moss and algae living on your roof. At first glance, the system we use looks like a pressure washer. If you were driving by while one of our treating crews were working you might think they were pressure washing the roof. The difference lies in the equipment we use and the technique our technicians use. Our cleaning trucks are comprised of custom specialty equipment and all of our technicians are trained to use the lowest amount of pressure possible during the cleaning process.

There is not doubt that pressure washing your roof will be a cheaper solution today than choosing Roof Life of Oregon’s roof cleaning process. However, if you don’t want to replace your roof 10-15 years sooner than the stated manufacture warranty (see the photo above) then choosing Roof Life of Oregon is your best long term solution for peace of mind. Roof Life of Oregon offers a free roof inspection to help you determine the current condition of your roof. Call us at (503) 925-0125 or visit our roof inspection form sheet to have one of our roof consultants give you a fair and honest roof evaluation.

Today, Patrick D. Morin shows us that this roof is not destined for failure, in fact with the suggested Roof Life of Oregon roof maintenance solution this homeowner will have his roof looking in tip-top shape.

Click here to view the embedded video.

SCRIPT

When we come up on a roof, this is a nine year old PABCO, it looks like a castle grey in color. It is well ventilated, if you look up here on the can vents, it’s well ventilated. It’s ventilated correctly; it’s just having a moss problem on the northeast side. Before it gets under the shingle we’re going to clean this off, treat it, and keep it treated every three years so that it never destroys this roof so that he can get the full 30, 40, or 50 years the manufacturer says he should get on this roof.

If you’re tired of using do-it-yourself products like zinc strips on your roof call (503-925-0125) or complete our form for a free roof maintenance inspection.

Patrick D. Morin today shows us what happens to an architectural shingle roof when it has heavy roof moss.

Click here to view the embedded video.

SCRIPT

What we do is, as you’ll see once you come away from the galvanized metal, you have this pretty heavy growth. The problem with heavy growth on an architectural shingle is this shingle’s fastener is right underneath this lip. If he lets this moss grow it’s going to get underneath the shingle and it’s going to lift that and then the water is going to come down here. Now he’s getting it soon enough, it’s getting pretty heavy, water will run down and be forced sideways before it can find its way down and then the water going sideways is going to find the fasteners and start to leak on this roof. These roofs are designed for water to run vertically down them, not to run across. Heavy moss forces water horizontally and causes roofs to fail prematurely.

If you want to prevent your roof from failing prematurely give us a call (503-925-0125) or complete our form for a free roof maintenance inspection.