This week Commonwealth Home Services was featured on Allied Title and Escrow’s blog post, How to Prepare for Selling a Home in the Spring. Protecting your home’s first line of defense, the roof, is not only a key part of getting your house ready to sell, but it is also essential in maintaining the integrity of your home.
To expand on the topic from Allied Title’s post, it is important to keep your roof clear of debris to help combat potential organic growth and increase the life expectancy of the shingles. If you see ugly black streaks caused by algae growth or green moss growing on your asphalt roof it means damage has already taken place. Asphalt shingles are made up of stone granules. Green moss actually grows though the stone granules and pushes them back and forth until the granules become dislodged. Once the granules are dislodged, your shingles no longer have protection from the elements. Eventually the shingles will crack, allow water though, and can lead to a leaky roof.
Always remember when working on a roof to follow good safety practices.
To re-mediate the issue spray the affected area with Wet & Forget following the instructions on the bottle for the proper mixture. After a few treatments black algae streaks should begin to dissipate. Completely saturate green moss making sure the spray mixture soaks all the way through so it comes in contact with the roof surface where the moss is attached. Over the next week or two the moss will begin to turn brown in color, curling up and detaching from the shingles. Once the moss begins to die use a broom to gently scrape off the clumps of dead moss from the roof.
To prevent future organic growth use a leaf blower to remove any vegetation that falls onto your roof, and a tree trimmer to cut down over hanging branches. Decomposing leaves and other vegetation can feed existing moss and algae to make the problem worse or cause new growth to occur.
For more preventative maintenance tips on how to care for your roof check out the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety’s Residential Roofs Best Practice Guide.
