Laundry Soap On Roofs Is A No-No

Archive for the ‘Moss’ Category

Copper / Zinc Strip Failure – Moss in the Portland Area

June 15th, 2011 by John Carter

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.

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Posted by John Carter Posted in Debris, Moss, Roof Cleaning, Roof Maintenance, Roofing | No Comments »

Moss Prevention Done Right – Properly Maintained Roofs in Portland

June 10th, 2011 by Patrick Morin

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.

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Posted by Patrick Morin Posted in Moss, Roof Maintenance, Roofing | 2 Comments »

Roof Cleaning – Portland’s “Must Do” Home Maintenance Task

May 18th, 2011 by Patrick Morin

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.

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Posted by Patrick Morin Posted in Moss, Roof Cleaning, Roof Maintenance, Roofing | 1 Comment »

Desperate Moss Removal Techniques

October 5th, 2010 by Jesse Liebman

We’ve examined several moss removal techniques on this blog including the use of moss control powder, zinc strips, and laundry soap for moss removal. Today we’ll take a look at a technique our roof consultant Pat Harrington recently found on a roof he inspected.

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Posted by Jesse Liebman Posted in Moss, Roof Maintenance | No Comments »

Moss Powder: Zinc Sulphate to Kill Moss?

September 15th, 2010 by Jesse Liebman

The summer season is the busiest time of the year for home exterior work, but for many homeowners that also means it will look like Christmas with their ‘snow covered’ roofs. This snow looking compound is moss powder designed to cure roof moss, but instead kills your roof.

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Posted by Jesse Liebman Posted in Moss, Roof Maintenance | 1 Comment »

Roofing Over Roof Moss

August 16th, 2010 by Jesse Liebman

We see some pretty crazy things when we’re driving from house to house and always take time to look at other Portland roofing contractors work. recently we drove by and saw this Portland roof getting ready to be replaced. The entire roof has been loaded and is ready to be worked on which means whatever is currently on this roof is going to get a layer of felt and asphalt shingles placed over it.

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.

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Posted by Jesse Liebman Posted in Moss, Roof Replacement | No Comments »

Power Washing Your Roof

August 10th, 2010 by Jesse Liebman

Not all roof cleaning services are created equal and some may actually cause irreparable damage and harm to your roof. Your roof was not designed to handle the intense pressure generated by a pressure washer. You can see via the photos below, the type of damage that can be caused to your roof when you pressure wash it. So why would a roof company pressure wash your roof? Because the moss and algae living on your roof is a living breathing organism that has become quite attached to your asphalt or shake shingles.

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.

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Posted by Jesse Liebman Posted in Algae, Moss | 2 Comments »