Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

mikepas · Exterior Cleaner

Toughest job so far, for me

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Looks Good Mike

Bryan P · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I would have rinsed too under those circumstances. Nice work.

Chris Mozick · Approved Exteior Cleaner

Looks great! 95% of the time we always rinse just because I like immediate results. Thank

Cleanupcrew · Veteran Member

That came up well.

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Here's the thing with moss,.there are a few different types,..some types will roll right off,..or even come off with a leaf blower,..other types are VERY attached to the shingle,..like Lichen,..when you physically remove Lichen it is almost always going to leave a black spot where it was growing. If you allow it to fall away naturally it will leave the spot much more intact.

@Mike,..you can tell the customer it will take months to fall off,..as long as you sell it that way. I agree,..you can't just spray it and walk away without the customer understanding this. I've done roofs that were so infested that if I would have physically removed the growth the roof would have looked really bad due to granule loss.

@Chris,..Instant results are nice for sure,..but that can't always be achieved with respect to the customers property,..removing embedded moss and lichen from shingles isn't "rinsing",..it's ripping,..sometimes it will come off easily,..if you have to work at it,..you'll likely be doing damage.

In the case here, the roof wasn't that infested and probably didn't hurt anything,..but keep it in mind for the next time on how you sell your moss and lichen jobs,...if you remove alot of moss and lichen from a heavily infested roof,.and leave alot of granule loss,..you could be looking at an issue with the customer. Unless of course this too is discussed with the customer. Some may not care.

Jeff

mikepas · Exterior Cleaner

Your right Jeff there was black spots where the Lichen was growing. The Lichen must loosen the granules or dissolve them over time.

This roof was about 15 or more years old it had hairline cracks in the shingles only happens after many years in the elements.

Thanks Guys for the responses

Mike

Fred W · Guru

Jeff Wible wrote:
Here's the thing with moss,.there are a few different types,..some types will roll right off,..or even come off with a leaf blower,..other types are VERY attached to the shingle,..like Lichen,..when you physically remove Lichen it is almost always going to leave a black spot where it was growing. If you allow it to fall away naturally it will leave the spot much more intact.

@Mike,..you can tell the customer it will take months to fall off,..as long as you sell it that way. I agree,..you can't just spray it and walk away without the customer understanding this. I've done roofs that were so infested that if I would have physically removed the growth the roof would have looked really bad due to granule loss.

@Chris,..Instant results are nice for sure,..but that can't always be achieved with respect to the customers property,..removing embedded moss and lichen from shingles isn't "rinsing",..it's ripping,..sometimes it will come off easily,..if you have to work at it,..you'll likely be doing damage.
In the case here, the roof wasn't that infested and probably didn't hurt anything,..but keep it in mind for the next time on how you sell your moss and lichen jobs,...if you remove alot of moss and lichen from a heavily infested roof,.and leave alot of granule loss,..you could be looking at an issue with the customer. Unless of course this too is discussed with the customer. Some may not care.

Jeff

++++1

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

mikepas wrote:
Your right Jeff there was black spots where the Lichen was growing. The Lichen must loosen the granules or dissolve them over time.
This roof was about 15 or more years old it had hairline cracks in the shingles only happens after many years in the elements.

Thanks Guys for the responses

Mike

Mike,..the lichen doesn't dissolve the granules,..if anything it feeds off the base material the granules are attached to,..but the larger issue is it roots into the network of granules,..and that can cause them to loosen,...but what mostly happens to the granules is ripping the lichen off before it's ready,..the attached lichen hangs on to the granules when you're removing physically removing the lichen,. and .you're also removing granules by giving "instant results"

**Keep in mind,.granules are there for more than appearance,.....,first and foremost they are there to protect the asphalt underlayment from the UV rays of the Sun and other weather conditions,..and when you see black spots,.that is the underlayment,...and now the Sun will begin to dry those areas out and the underlayment will begin to shrink and crack prematurely. That is why it's important to to keep the granules intact,..and to tell the customer the issues with instant results cleaning. I like the phrase,..it's not a perfect World,..and I always tell them if it was taken care of in it;s early stages they wouldn't have to wait for results. Letting them know in a respectful manner that it's their neglect as to why they are where they are with their roof.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Saturday 27th of May 2017 04:55:40 AM

SprayWash · Approved Exterior Cleaner

nice job going the extra mile!