Another roof ? How do I get lichens off roof?

[Von]

Hi. I need some help from the TBN brain truss. I have lichens growing on my roof on the north side only. How can I remove them without damaging the shingles? (Attached is a photo of them). Will a pressure washer damage the shingles? or is there some sort of chemical that will kill them and remove whats there? My wife is getting on my back on this, so any help will be of great. Thanks.

 

[manganos]

Pressure washing a roof can cause damange and WILL take some of the grit off the shingle. Premature wear is another word for it

 

[DVerbarg]

Von,

Do a search on google or other search engine for "roof fungicide". There are commercial products out there that will do the job. Since your areas are rather small you might also be able to use bleach but I'm not a proponent of washing large amounts of that into the soil.

Believe there are also some products that can be used to treat an area to help deter fungus growth.

 

[bmabe]

A landscaper friend of mine was over recently and commented on my lichen-covered roof. Said to put a strip of copper (flashing or whatever) "up roof" of the lichen and let the rain and copper work on it for awhile - claims to be a definite cure.

Anybody ever try this out?

Barry Mabery

 

[AndyR]

When I had a problem with lichen and moss on the pavers behind my previous house, the paver dealer said to use Lysol/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif Sounds strange but it worked - maybe it would do your roof.

 

[beenthere]

A light bleach solution will work. Also the copper strip will work over time, and keep it from reoccurring.

 

[Inspector507]

Heard that a copper wire stretched across the roof will work too.........but never tried it myself.

 

[Redfisher]

I seen a show on tv (so it must be true /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif)
That showed what looked like a copper strip that goes under your top rain cap shingles half way,So when it rains the water runs over the copper? and it kills the stuff growing on your roof. The show was called just ask Jon Eakes.Dont know if you get that show down your way.

 

[JediCropFarmer]

Pressure washing a roof can cause damange and WILL take some of the grit off the shingle. Premature wear is another word for it

yes, this is why softwashing is becoming very popular. pressure washing can damage the tiles you need to scrape the moss off using a roof scraper https://roofscraper.co.uk/ my husband was a roofer for 20+ years and he would never pressure wash a roof if there is any preexisting damage then the roof will get destroyed

 

[YanmarFever]

Try a large box of tide laundry soap, just sprinkle on the roof, it kills moss and those lichens too.
I used it for many years then I used the metal strip on top.