How To Clean Roof Tiles and Remove Moss From Your Roof

Ensuring you have clean roof tiles is incredibly important to the health of your roof and the structural integrity of your home. Here we will provide you with the information you need to decide whether or not you’re able to clean your own roof tiles. If you need assistance with roof cleaning in Essex, here at Blitz we provide expert roof and gutter cleaning services.

How To Clean Roof Tiles

So what is the best way to clean a roof? It is obviously a high risk job to complete yourself given the height of most roofs. You need to have a clear understanding of how to clean roof tiles and specifically how to clean roof tiles in the U.K. You can use two different methods to clean your roof tiles.

The first method you can use is the manual method of using a trowel or stiff brush to remove the moss, algae and dirt away from the tiles. This is a simple but very effective method of removing anything off of your tiles that shouldn’t be there. A top tip for doing this kind of job is to do it in drier conditions as during wet or damp conditions (or just after these kinds of conditions), materials like moss, algae and dirt materials tend to stick to roof tiles when the tiles or roof in general is damp or wet. A stiff brush tends to remove more of the dirt that can stick to tiles than a trowel does. That is how you would commonly clean your roof tiles yourself without a pressure washer.

You will need a ladder to clean your roof tiles as it is not recommended that you stand or walk on your roof tiles for safety reasons but also for the health of your roof tiles. Walking or standing on your roof tiles can result in damage to them which can be expensive to replace or repair. Ultimately it is best to hire a professional who has the insurance, tools and knowledge to be able to carry out the job safely and properly.

DOES PRESSURE WASHING ROOF TILES DAMAGE THEM?

So does pressure washing your roof tiles damage them? It is so commonly agreed that the easiest way to clean your roof tiles (or almost anything with a solid surface!) is to pressure wash them. However pressure washing your roof tiles can lead to some serious damage to your roof. The strength of the water stream can result in the stripping of the granular finish of your roof tiles. This granular finish is designed to wear down after many years so if you prematurely strip off this finish through using your pressure washer to clean your roof tiles.

This begs the questions, should you wash your roof tiles, or can you jet wash your roof tiles? The answer isn’t overly clear due to the wide range of opinions out there, however many manufacturers  do not recommend using a pressure or jet washer to clean your roof tiles and if you choose to do so, it could render any manufacturer’s guarantees invalid.

There is also an additional risk of flooding to your building as the power from a pressure washer can lead to cracks or movement of the tiles. This will allow water to seep through the moved tiles or cracks and flood your loft.

REMOVING MOSS FROM ROOF TILES

Most people want to know how to remove moss from their roof. The best way to do this would be to use the trowel or stiff brush method mentioned above to get the worst of it off, and a chemical solution that can help clean moss and algae growth in order to prevent regrowth. These are known as moss killers, fungicide and anti-moss treatments. This, however, shouldn’t be done until the majority has been scrapped off of the tiles, this is so that the chemical can work properly and kill off all of the mould, algae and moss can grow again. This is the best way to stop moss from growing on your roof.

It is important that you cover up any grass or plants that could be hit by excess spray from the chemicals as these chemicals are designed to kill all living organisms, not just specifically the organisms that the chemical says it will kill. It is also very important that you ensure the chemical cannot run off into any drinking water sources. Doing this regularly should stop moss growing on your roof. The best time of year to remove moss from your roof would be in the summer when the moss is actively going as this makes it easier to maintain.

Call our team of roof cleaning specialists on 0800 112 3337 today! As well as roof cleaning, we also offer conservatory roof cleaning and gutter cleaning and repairs, providing you with a full roofline service!