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.