Moss on the roof, what do you use?

[Stinkerbelle]

I use zinc sulfate also and it works very well for me. I spread a line of the powder along each side of the ridge and any hips, as well as another horizontal line every 12' or so measured down the slope. I do it in the fall before a rain, once a year, and it keeps the moss off. I buy mine at Wilco or Coastal Farm. I haven't tried it on the lawn, but I think I'm going to. I have some major moss in the lawn this year.......

 

[Member 34319]

Good thread thanks guys! New house in my sights and no knowledge of moss abatement being from Nevada, this thread is a helpful source of knowledge and tips. Much appreciated.

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

Train your slugs. true story

??? really??? don't they burn and shrivel up on a hot roof? If they could be trained I'd train the slugs and snails out of my yard.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

"tide" brand powdered laundry detergent. has to be tide.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

I was also going to point out that a variety of insects can feed and gather water from moss.

A house thoroughly treated with insecticide can still bare carpenter ants as well as others due to the food and water sources found in moss varieties.

I can only assume the same goes for dead unremoved moss. In my industry its a definite variable.
(Have only seen it and treated for with live green moss not with dead)
Food (moss ) for thought.

 

[PiratePast40]

Moss in the yard is a bit different issue. Once things dry out and you get direct sun on that area, healthy grass should crowd out the moss. But if you do decide to kill the moss, you should follow up by replanting grass in that area.

 

[deen_ad]

<Why there aren't any school shootings in Israel! Teacher with long gun slung over her shoulder!!!

For grass lawns I use Moss Out. It comes in a 2 gallon jug and you fill up a hose end sprayer to a garden hose and blast away at the recommended flow rate.
The lawn moss will turn black overnight, if not sooner.

The old Moss Out would kill the moss almost instantly. I remember my dad using it on their lawn. The new stuff takes far longer and doesn't work as well.

Deen
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"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one and don't have it, you'll probably never need one again!"

 

[MarkAd]

This is a truly from God, I just notice moss starting on my roof and have thinking of what to use on it.
I thank God for you folks,

 

[Provincial]

moss-b-ware

sprinkle it on the highest points of your roof so when it rains, it will wash down over the rest of your roof. I've been using it each fall for years and no moss since 2002. Neighbors roofs all around me are toasted with moss as they do zero maintenance. Stuff works.

BTW, careful up on that roof.

jbett98 noted in post #8 above, and the OSU report confirms that Moss-b-ware is Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate, and it is available in bulk for a fraction of the brand name cost

 

[nastybynature]

I just mix 1 part bleach with 1 part water and pour it on. <shrug>

 

[Martini_Up]

jbett98 noted in post #8 above, and the OSU report confirms that Moss-b-ware is Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate, and it is available in bulk for a fraction of the brand name cost

roger that!

Thanks for directing me backwards to where the good information is.

now i have to figure out where to put the 50# of powder...

maybe i'll start a moss-b-ware empty container refill business on CL. "Refill your empty moss kill shaker - $3.99 each or two for five!!" haha!

 

[Jax11]

I've done powdered laundry soap a few times and from my understanding it's the same agents in moss be gone.

 

[Boomer50]

I have cleaned up a few mossy roofs, done a lot of reading about it, and talked to other roofers. First: NO to pressure washers! Those can erode the heck out of your shingles, yet still leave live moss roots.

Second: copper ridge flashings or even bare copper wires stretched across the ridge also work as well as galvanized/zinc-plated ridge flashings, BUT both can eat the heck out of your aluminum rain gutters by electrolysis where any raw metal is exposed from under the paint, such as the nail holes and pop rivets. This is the main reason aluminum gutters "rot." "Tarring" the inside of the (clean) rain gutters is a good idea; use latex foundation sealer, or even spray can automotive undercoating if you can find it cheaply.

Third, you gotta remove the big clumps of moss, tearing them off of their roots, which are unlikely to revive soon as there is just not much nutrition for them up there. The best way is with a stiff push broom on a DRY DAY, which does not much tear up the shingles. On asphalt shingles I found it easy to first lightly drag a dull hoe sideways across the roof, which scraped off the clumps of moss and made brooming as a last step easy.

Finally, as the man said, BE CAREFUL up there on the roof, especially if it is wet or if you are spraying anything! A wet roof is slippery, and a sprayed wet roof is worse! And especially do not step on any cord, rope or hose, as these function as roller bearings to shoot you off of the roof. Don't ask me how I know that!

 

[Salps]

And make sure someone else is home watching or checking on you often.

 

[AMProducts]

Helping my buddy remove moss from his roof last summer... the instructions on the can (don't remember the product) required a dry roof for application. We did most of it with push brooms and detail work with BBQ brushes, took all day, but we got it. I remember his incredulity over the requirement the roof be "dry before applying".

One thing I'm rather curious about now is whether other zinc compounds might have good use for this, like zinc stearate, I use huge quantities of it as a drawing lube, it's hydrophobic so if it could be applied, it might keep the water and thus the moss off.

 

[marty8587]

I heard this recipe, buy have not tried it yet, but with a brand new roof, I'll be doing something.

4 gallons water
1 gallon bleach
1 cup TSP

Mix up and saturate with a pump sprayer.

I also heard that Tide no longer has TSP in it and no longer works on roofs.

 

[cmica]

throw pennies up there

 

[greydog111]

Last year I spend good 2days cleaning my roof. Not looking forward to do that this year.

what treatment/product do you guys use?

Zinc powder or granules.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I use laborers.

 

[Ligito]

Just toss some of that zinc powder/pellets up there during ideal conditions and you're good to go. I had some moss issues a couple years ago on my roof. Me not being a scrawny twink like most NWFA males I just tossed the pellets up there by hand so I didn't have to go crawling around on the roof.

So, you are just a lazy NWFA twink?