- Removing moss from your tar and gravel roof

Has your tar and gravel roof grown a good crop of moss? Would you like to get rid of it?

Moss growing on a tar and gravel roof can damage the roof membrane in a very short period of time if allowed to spread over a large area. Moss develops from a spore growing down into the gravel and will retain water, freezing in the cold months causing damage to the tar membrane. Moss favours north elevations as well as shaded, well protected areas that stay damp for long periods. To kill the moss use a liquid moss spray. Apply with a low pressure garden sprayer or you may wish to use the moss killer available to adapt to your garden hose. Spray all affected areas and allow it to do its job over a period of approximately 3-4 weeks. When the moss has dried up and turned brown rake it up with a leaf rake and dispose of it in a trash bin or compost. Redistribute the gravel with the leaf rake leaving a level surface. Apply a preventative maintenance coat of moss spray to make sure you have killed the spore. Now sprinkle zinc rocks (available at your building supply store) at 2 pounds per 100 square feet onto the roof surface. This will give long term preventative maintenance to your roof as every time it rains the residual from the zinc rocks kills the moss spore.

Article courtesy of: Shell Busey