Here in the northeast we get moss, but not typically as heavy as you guys. We have done some roofs that are completely covered with a thick bed of moss, with no brushing or scraping. It takes a pretty strong mix and double the Green Wash, and most of all customer patience. i have do roofs that have taken 6-8 months to be completely clean, especially in the Fall going into the winter months. I set the customers expectations, and make a note in the paperwork if it doesn't come off, we will come back and retreat it.  I have not had an issue yet. People are usually pretty good and we educate them on the proper and safe way to clean their roofs. I also tell them..that they have lived with it for a number of YEARS , what's a few more months.

Hi Spencer, and welcome. You guys in the northwest have totally different issues with moss than the rest of the country.

I have seen some pictures by Brandon Vaughn, who is in Oregon, and there are roofs that you can't see because of the moss coverage.

The rules are to kill it and let it weather away. Your guidelines seem reasonable to me considering your circumstances.

I am in the mid Atlantic and see more lichens than moss. Either way, we kill it, make sure it is totally white in color, then walk away.

That your customer understands you're doing what's best for them and their roof makes walking away easy.

Love to see some pictures of your work.

Wow, Brandon! You guys live in a different world for sure! I love your pictures!

Brandon Vaughn wrote:

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Hey Spencer, great to see a fellow NW'er on here. We have many roofs in the area that have heavy moss on it. In fact, when a roof comes along that is has only G.M. on it - I'm ecstatic.

6-8 months is pretty standard for heavy moss.  Your spot on for needing to brush off the larger pieces.

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Wow Brandon, you saving one of those for your Revolution? <grin>

See you there...

vic

Thanks for the comments gents. I've had some great success with softwashing in general. In fact it has become my go to for commercial projects after we tackled the local movie theater. I had one of my employees pressure washing the surface and it just wasn't working on the textured cement. In four hours he managed to get one small section of the panels completed and there were five panels in total. I took the truck back to the shop filled it with a 50 gallon batch of 2.5% and Terra Clean and came back. Within five minutes of dwell time it was ready for rinsing. It worked so fast and effectively I nearly threw my pressure washer away. In fact we had to softwash the portions he had previously done because the rest of the building was brighter. The lesson I learned was that there is a time for pressure washing but this was not it. 

As for the softwashing in general I'll upload some pictures and let them speak for me.

I have not had a single client who was disappointed with a roof cleaning yet. It can be hard to compete with the "instant satisfaction" guys who pressure wash roofs or use abrasive brushes to scrap debris off.

One last question. Is there a time efficient way to remove loose debris from a roof (leaves, branches, needles, etc) without getting on the roof and blowing it off?