Moss is not just a cosmetic problem. It holds water against the tiles, breaks off and blocks your gutters, and in a hard frost it can lift and crack the tiles it is sitting on.
Bring a tired roof back to life and stop moss causing damp and blocked gutters.
Why moss is worth dealing with
A tile roof is designed to shed water quickly. Moss growing across it acts like a sponge, holding moisture on the surface long after the rain has stopped. That keeps the tiles wet, and wet tiles in a Cheshire winter mean repeated freeze-thaw cycles working away at them.
The second problem is what happens when the moss comes away. It washes down the slope into the gutters, blocks the outlets, and the guttering overflows down the wall. A lot of the damp we get called out to look at starts as a moss problem three or four years earlier.
How we clean a roof
We scrape and brush the bulk of the moss off by hand where the tiles will not take pressure, and use controlled pressure washing where they will. Which approach we take depends on the age and condition of the covering: an old, soft tile will not survive being blasted, and there is no sense cleaning a roof if you damage it in the process.
Once it is clear we flush out the gutters and downpipes properly, because that is where all of it ends up. A biocide treatment can be applied afterwards to slow the regrowth.
Assess what the tiles will safely take
Remove moss by hand or by controlled pressure washing
Clear gutters, outlets and downpipes of the debris
Check for tiles that were already cracked underneath the growth
Optional biocide treatment to slow regrowth
What cleaning will and will not fix
Cleaning makes a tired roof look dramatically better and removes a genuine cause of damage. What it does not do is fix a roof that has structural problems, and we will not pretend otherwise.
One useful side effect is that stripping the moss back exposes what is underneath. Cracked and slipped tiles that were hidden under the growth become visible, and we will point those out to you rather than cleaning over the top of them.
Good to know
Roof cleaning questions
Will pressure washing damage my tiles?
It can, on older or softer tiles, which is why we assess the covering first and clean by hand where pressure isn't appropriate. There's no point cleaning a roof if you shorten its life doing it.
How often should a roof be cleaned?
It depends on how shaded the roof is and whether there are trees nearby. A north-facing roof under trees will need it far more often than a south-facing one in the open. If moss is visibly holding water or filling your gutters, it's time.
Do you clear the gutters as part of it?
Yes, always. All the moss you take off the roof ends up in the gutter, so clearing them out afterwards is part of the job rather than an extra.
Other services
What else we do
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New Roofs & Re-Roofing
A new roof is one of the biggest investments you'll make in your home. We install new roofs and carry out full re-roofs across Cheshire and the surrounding areas, using high-quality materials and expert craftsmanship so yours is built to last.
