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Bruce Weber · Jun 24, 2014

Cleaning heavy moss off a roof in Rochester, NY

Guest

Good job Bruce!

There are still some clowns out there who physically remove moss and lichen before it has let go of the shingles. You know why!Because they think the customer needs their butt kissed and the contractor needs a paycheck,..they don't want to sell the job for what it is,..which is a neglected roof with no instant miracles to be had,..unless you get a guy without work and they sell it as a finished product by the time they leave. Customer isn't educated on roof cleaning enough to know the difference between properly and improperly cleaning a growth covered roof so the out of work roof cleaner sells it,..and peels off lichen and moss leaving needless granule loss,...BUT,..they get a check!! And that's all that matters to them.

Jeff

RCIA Founder

Nice roof cleaning Bruce, is Pittsford a suburb of Rochester ?

Advantage Roof Cleaning · Jun 30, 2014

"Mother nature washes the dead moss off the roof." Bruce, how long did it take mother nature on this roof?

Bruce Weber · Jul 1, 2014

Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa FL (813) 655-8777 wrote:
Nice roof cleaning Bruce, is Pittsford a suburb of Rochester ?

Hi Chris, Pittsford is a suburb of Rochester. We clean many roofs in this town.

Dave...it took about 3-4 months for the dead moss to come off this roof. This homeowner had large oaks around the house.

Guest

Hey Dave,..I can't answer for him in this case. But here's the thing with moss,..it can sometimes be washed away and with a high volume rinse,...but if it's sticking very much there isn't much choice but to leave it go away on it's own. Lichen in particular REALLY attaches itself to granules,..and if it's picked off it will leave exposed asphalt laminate,..which will now start drying and cracking due to the UV rays. These jobs need to be sold for what they are,..they are jobs that are based on customer neglect,..it's their fault the roof is in the condition it's in,...if they want instant results they can call someone else and then that person can deal with them when they end up with patches of missing granules from using force to remove the moss or lichen that wasn't ready to let go yet.

I tell these customers,..with as much respect as I can,...that,.. if they cared about having a clean roof so bad and they want it all removed by the time I leave,.... they wouldn't have let it get that way to begin with. It's their fault not ours.

Jeff

Bruce Weber · Jul 2, 2014

Raystown Roof Cleaning Central PA 1-800-236-0322 wrote:
Hey Dave,..I can't answer for him in this case. But here's the thing with moss,..it can sometimes be washed away and with a high volume rinse,...but if it's sticking very much there isn't much choice but to leave it go away on it's own. Lichen in particular REALLY attaches itself to granules,..and if it's picked off it will leave exposed asphalt laminate,..which will now start drying and cracking due to the UV rays. These jobs need to be sold for what they are,..they are jobs that are based on customer neglect,..it's their fault the roof is in the condition it's in,...if they want instant results they can call someone else and then that person can deal with them when they end up with patches of missing granules from using force to remove the moss or lichen that wasn't ready to let go yet.

I tell these customers,..with as much respect as I can,...that,.. if they cared about having a clean roof so bad and they want it all removed by the time I leave,.... they wouldn't have let it get that way to begin with. It's their fault not ours.

Jeff

You are right, Jeff. This homeowner had to be educated in the right way to clean a roof. It took years to accumulate that much moss, but it only takes a few short months to come off. Some of the bigger chunks of moss blew off when I removed loose debris with our backpack blower before cleaning.

We see alot of damage to roofs by lichen. A few weeks after we have cleaned a roof with lichen, we see missing stones under where the lichen was. We were called back on one job last year. The homeowner saw "spots" on his roof. These spots were areas where the lichen was, and once the rain removed the dead lichen, you see the black asphalt.

The longer the homeowner waits to clean off the moss, lichen and algae, the greater the damage. It will also cost the homeowner more money to clean their roof if they have heavy moss, lichen and algae.

Guest

Right on Bruce,...And again,..great job on the selling and the work!!

Jeff

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum "Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum
"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"