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What to do about moss on roof tiles blocking the gutters?

(68 Posts)
MaryTheBookeeper Thu 09-Jul-20 17:30:09

I've just looked outside with this constant rain to see my gutters are blocked with large pieces of moss. I have those deeply ridged, sanded concrete roof tiles. Moss loves it & grows into fat cushions which then fall into the gutters. What can I do about this? I can only think a 3-storey scaffold & get someone to physically brush the roof! But that would be super ££££. Has anyone got any better ideas?

shysal Fri 10-Jul-20 17:19:59

I use a firm called Ben's Gutters. I think they are a national company, but they phone or text when they are in my area. I think originally they put a card through my door. I don't remember the cost, but it can't have been expensive or I wouldn't have used them. They can also do minor repairs not requiring parts.
www.bensgutters.com/residential-gutter-cleaning/

shysal Fri 10-Jul-20 17:26:13

P.S. I have a 2 storey house and they use a ladder and bucket.

Nightsky2 Fri 10-Jul-20 17:34:49

Your window cleaner might be able to help. We’re on 3 floors and our window cleaner uses a pressure thingy with some kind of attachment and is going to try and remove a weed growing in the corner of our gutter next time he comes.

chyaust Tue 22-Jun-21 19:15:37

Message deleted by Gransnet for breaking our forum guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

greenlady102 Tue 22-Jun-21 19:21:14

MawB

The last time the window cleaner came he cleared the gutters for me for an extra £15 - with camera photos before and after to show he had done it.
This is a normal-sized 4 bed house but 2 not 3 storeys.
I would shop around and ask your neighbours.

my lovely windowcleaner does my gutters once a year and will do odd blockages as and when needed. I don't worrk about the moss, it doesn't seem to do any harm. a couple of my neighbours had it done a few years ago and you can't tell the difference between theirs and mine.

Amberone Tue 22-Jun-21 21:54:21

We've just had the moss cleared from our roof - we have trees around us and the moss gets very thick. We recently had a leak into the attic where moss was forcing the tiles apart - ended up with a damaged ceiling in the bedroom. The gutters were constantly overflowing and there was always a pile of moss surrounding the house. The hedgehog stuff is no good if you have trees nearby - the leaves sit on the top and the water just runs off. We had all ours taken out.

We had quotes ranging from £800 - £1200 for a 4-bed detached. The higher quotes were from roofers who all had the proper qualifications and belonged to roofing organisations and were properly insured. The others may have been okay, but I was concerned about possible damage to the roof so decided to pay the extra. None of them used scaffolding, all ladders. The moss was brushed and raked and a fungicide sprayed on.

I questioned the use of the fungicide as some say it doesn't work. Two of the roofers said the right stuff will work but it has to be sprayed when the roof is dry and above a certain temperature or it won't work. We were very lucky that the sun shone for a week before and after the job was done!

Grannynannywanny Tue 22-Jun-21 22:08:30

I don’t think there is any risk of my cousin’s husband going into business or I’d recommend you should avoid him.

He decided to clean their roof and set about it with a pressure washer. He climbed up on the roof and within seconds had blasted himself off it.

What happened next resembled a scene from a Tom and Jerry cartoon. He flushed himself off the roof and broke his fall astride a large metal barrel set up to collect the rainwater!

Ouch!!

M0nica Tue 22-Jun-21 22:42:56

You get a roofer in who will scrape off all the moss and spray it with a proprietary anti moss chemical. You can get ones that are not a danger to wild life.

We had this done about 5 years ago and our roof is still mossfree.

Do not leave moss on a roof, it can lift and damage roof tiles, letting water into your loft or attic, the constant moisture can rot the battening under the tiles and even rafters. It can also offer a substrate for other plants and grasses to grow doing further damage to the roof and tiles.

Katie59 Wed 23-Jun-21 09:02:50

Ours had a lot on one side but it’s only a bungalow, we got a local builder to rake it off with a garden rake, a days work £150.
It will need doing again in a few years, would be much more trouble with a taller house.

CafeAuLait Wed 23-Jun-21 09:34:52

We're only two stories but we had someone come with a gutter vacuum. It wasn't too expensive. That won't help with the roof but it will do the gutters.

Mishy Wed 23-Jun-21 11:26:02

I had gutter guards installed in my old house as I had moss on my rear roof, it was a type of mesh which came in lengths and just sat in the gutters so any moss which came loose just dropped off onto the patio, very cheap to buy and easy to install.

MiniMoon Wed 23-Jun-21 11:27:07

We had our ridging tiles replaced, and at the same time, the roofer scraped off the moss. We didn't have the roof treated though.
Each summer we have a maternity colony of pipistrelle bats in the roof, and I was worried that any chemicals would harm them or deter them from using our roof.

jaylucy Wed 23-Jun-21 11:29:51

Several of our neighbours had a company to clear the rooves and gutters and then a coating was sprayed on the tiles.
One was done about 10 years ago and the company have just come back and re cleaned the roof and put a new coating onto the roof.
Unless you can do it yourself or know someone that can, it would be the best idea, I reckon.
If you belong to any FB community groups, get recommendations from there.

SecondhandRose Wed 23-Jun-21 11:39:42

We had our 60 year old cleaned and sprayed with moss killer last year. Worth every penny.

Aepgirl Wed 23-Jun-21 11:49:09

My window cleaner does mine for me.

orly Wed 23-Jun-21 11:58:51

The roof ridge on our dormer bungalow is aligned North South and the east facing part of the roof had amassed a thick carpet of moss and also in the shadow of two large chimneys. A couple of years ago my husband sprayed a 5% solution of bleach on to the moss from a 5 litre sprayer (£10 at Aldi) and within a month it had completely cleared along with the ferns which had taken root at the base of the chimney pots. He did it from ground level as he can no longer climb ladders

DiscoDancer1975 Wed 23-Jun-21 12:01:36

A builder told me years ago, not to let anyone on the roof unless an emergency, water pouring in for example. It can do more damage than good. He said the birds will eat it,and anything trapped in the gutter will gradually reduce. Of course, you can have your gutters cleared if it’s really annoying. Our son did ours a few years ago, but I may ask him again if it doesn’t clear.

4allweknow Wed 23-Jun-21 12:42:42

I have lived in 100, 80, 50year old houses and never had moss on the roof. Brand new purchased in 70s no problem with moss. Last new build bought years ago and moss is a nuisance. Window cleaner sorted out gutters for £30 but clumps of moss still scattered from roof by birds. If I was going to have it cleaned it would be manually with no chemicals applied.

MaggsMcG Wed 23-Jun-21 12:45:41

.My roofer put hedgehog brush things in the gutters that stops it.

Paperbackwriter Wed 23-Jun-21 12:46:35

Do you have a local online Next Door group? Someone on there will know someone reliable who does gutter clearance. it's well worth it.

Paperbackwriter Wed 23-Jun-21 12:47:47

SecondhandRose

We had our 60 year old cleaned and sprayed with moss killer last year. Worth every penny.

Did the 60 year old consent to that? I'm imagining some poor protesting lady being hosed down..

Elvis58 Wed 23-Jun-21 13:50:10

Hedgehog runners .Long like a big bottle brush that clips in the guttering ,stops it dropping into the guttering.You do end up sweeping it of the patio or drive though but it works a treat.We got ours online 3 years ago, still going strong.

M0nica Wed 23-Jun-21 14:00:44

Yes, this is the first house we have had with a moss problem. It faces north north west and we have a row of full grown deciduous trees running along a footpath about 50 feet from the house.

I think it is the this mix of north facing, shade, and humidity that is the cause of our moss problem. We are also roofed with old clay tiles, not slate or modern concrete 'clay' tiles, and the clay substrate is more moss friendly than the alternatives.

It is only the one face of the roof with the problem and most of the older properties on the same alignment as us have the same problems. But the substance the roofer sprayed on the roof has worked. The liquid probably drained into the more porous clay tiles, a bit like a drizzle cake, so hasn't benn washed off or washed away.

Happysexagenarian Wed 23-Jun-21 14:15:28

Our roofs face north and south and both have moss on them. We don't remove it as it falls off anyway and the birds peck it off. I quite like the look of the moss, it suits the style of the cottage. But we do clear the gutters of moss and creepers once a year.

Lin663 Wed 23-Jun-21 14:49:12

I have just had my roof cleared and chemically treated today…it cost £450…