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PaulS wrote:

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Lichen can really dig in and grab shingle granules with it when it comes off the roof. Moss lets go a lot easier. So far, lichen is the most troublesome for me.

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Lichen is by far the worst. There is lichen on my parent's shed. It has been sprayed, seen big storms, been hosed and finally brushed (after hosing to soften it) . It still will not let go. I didn't brush hard though; I'd rather have dead lichen shingles than no granule shingles :D

Moss WILL come off with time. It they can't wait at all, you might have to brush it, but it will come off pretty good.

-- Edited by Midtown on Thursday 15th of April 2010 04:34:58 PM

Have you guys seen damage to shingles after the rain washes the moss away?

I did a nasty job last month. Called the customer to follow up and she told me that the moss was still on her roof. After returning to her house, some of the moss was still stuck to the shingles like glue. It was brown and dead, so I told her to give it more time. However, she had a few "spots" on her roof where moss was and had washed away. But these spots also had fewer stones on the shingles. Could the moss cause this type of damage to the shingles?

follow up call by phone or stopping by to interface with the customer again? bang on the neighbors doors and point out the great job you did?

Bruce Weber wrote:

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Have you guys seen damage to shingles after the rain washes the moss away?

I did a nasty job last month. Called the customer to follow up and she told me that the moss was still on her roof. After returning to her house, some of the moss was still stuck to the shingles like glue. It was brown and dead, so I told her to give it more time. However, she had a few "spots" on her roof where moss was and had washed away. But these spots also had fewer stones on the shingles. Could the moss cause this type of damage to the shingles?

 

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Yes, even when you let it fall off some granule loss will occur.  Not using mechanical agitation prevents some granule loss that's why we let the rain do it.  Some competitors may propagate that the reason is we are lazy or we want to save time and make more money, but the truth is simple.  We want to leave solution on the roof as long as possible and we want to prevent as much granule damage as possible.  The wind and rain have been found to sheer the fungus or moss at the root level, leaving the dead root in the shingle and the shingle more intact.  You will notice on badly infested roofs that the moss and lichen will fall off after the granules have become loosened and there will be spots on the shingles with no granules before you even start to work on it.