Removing Moss after Softwash

[scottish cleaning service]

Softwashed a roof about 3 months ago and said I would come back and brush off the moss once it had dried up. Connected a scrubbing brush with a brush socket fitting from an old brush. Plugged it into my extreme 18 pole and away I went. 3hrs it took me because all the moss was on the lower edge of the tiles. Just move brush horizontal along each row and then collected the moss from the gutter and swept up. Roof came up great because it had flat smooth tiles on it. ?

 

[ched999uk]

Softwashed a roof about 3 months ago and said I would come back and brush off the moss once it had dried up. Connected a scrubbing brush with a brush socket fitting from an old brush. Plugged it into my extreme 18 pole and away I went. 3hrs it took me because all the moss was on the lower edge of the tiles. Just move brush horizontal along each row and then collected the moss from the gutter and swept up. Roof came up great because it had flat smooth tiles on it. ?

Be careful as I have been told that using hypo as a weedkiller means it's use requires pa1 and pa6! I haven't found an official source of the info yet!

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Be careful as I have been told that using hypo as a weedkiller means it's use requires pa1 and pa6! I haven't found an official source of the info yet!

I did the City&Guilds Course with Michael Conway and I found it very interesting but I hear he has since passed away.

 

[Pjj]

Softwashed a roof about 3 months ago and said I would come back and brush off the moss once it had dried up. Connected a scrubbing brush with a brush socket fitting from an old brush. Plugged it into my extreme 18 pole and away I went. 3hrs it took me because all the moss was on the lower edge of the tiles. Just move brush horizontal along each row and then collected the moss from the gutter and swept up. Roof came up great because it had flat smooth tiles on it. ?

With respect I think you have done the job the wrong way round , we scrape the roof first removing moss then apply hypo mix and that’s it it doesn’t need touching again

 

[Pjj]

Be careful as I have been told that using hypo as a weedkiller means its use requires pa1 and pa6! I haven't found an official source of the info yet!

My understanding is you only need the pa 1 and pa6 if using weed killers not hypo we did the courses years ago and sure that’s what was said.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

With respect I think you have done the job the wrong way round , we scrape the roof first removing moss then apply hypo mix and that’s it it doesn’t need touching again

I want a nice sunny day so the moss is desperate for a drink. So when I spray it, the moss instantly absorbs it and kills all the cells. Its like weedkiller, one wants a nice hot day and you spray on the dry leaves. Then the plant absorbs the chemical through the whole plant and kills all the cells. Never heard of a gardener removing all the weeds then spraying the place they were infesting.

1. Identify the area of weeds to be treated. ...
2. Choose a still, dry day when rain is not expected for at least 6 hours. ...
3. Spray the weeds that you want to kill, taking care not let the water run off onto plants that you want to keep. ...
4. Leave the weed to die down completely before carefully removing with a trowel.

I maybe wrong but that's the way I have always been taught. ???

 

[ched999uk]

My understanding is you only need the pa 1 and pa6 if using weed killers not hypo we did the courses years ago and sure that’s what was said.

I think you are correct but I'm trying to find out from official sources, as someone suggested to me that if you are using hypo as a weedkiller - i.e. using to pre treat moss etc before PW or scraping then you need pa1/6 post treatment is fine though. Seemed a bit weird that same chemical can come under different regs depending on what you are using it for but I am looking to find a definitive answer.

 

[K in Kent]

I think you are correct but I'm trying to find out from official sources, as someone suggested to me that if you are using hypo as a weedkiller - i.e. using to pre treat moss etc before PW or scraping then you need pa1/6 post treatment is fine though. Seemed a bit weird that same chemical can come under different regs depending on what you are using it for but I am looking to find a definitive answer.

I understand the point you're making but the law relates to the ptofessional use of pesticides and hypo isn't one. I know its a bit of a grey area that can be interpreted in different ways but hypo isn't a pesticide

 

[K in Kent]

I want a nice sunny day so the moss is desperate for a drink. So when I spray it, the moss instantly absorbs it and kills all the cells. Its like weedkiller, one wants a nice hot day and you spray on the dry leaves. Then the plant absorbs the chemical through the whole plant and kills all the cells. Never heard of a gardener removing all the weeds then spraying the place they were infesting.

1. Identify the area of weeds to be treated. ...
2. Choose a still, dry day when rain is not expected for at least 6 hours. ...
3. Spray the weeds that you want to kill, taking care not let the water run off onto plants that you want to keep. ...
4. Leave the weed to die down completely before carefully removing with a trowel.

I maybe wrong but that's the way I have always been taught. ???

Dealing with garden weefs and roof cleaning are not the same thing but if you like doing the same job twice you carry on

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Dealing with garden weefs and roof cleaning are not the same thing but if you like doing the same job twice you carry on

A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation,
Moss is a simple plant with shallow roots.
Its just the same thing so all you do is spray the chemical when it is growing and then the plant dies. After a few months the moss breaks away from the roof tiles because there's nothing to hold it on.
I was good at two subjects in School, Arithmetic and Biology because I loved them both. Why do people complicate things rather than take the simple procedure.
All I see is a roof garden full of a plant called moss and best way to eradicate it is to spray it. I spray my roof every year now with hypo and it still looks brand new. One doesn't need to be Percy Thrower to know this. ?

 

[Baldmonkey]

I'm with @Pjj and @K in Kent, doing it the way your doing it will require more solution due to the contamination still being present and it absorbing more and having to do two visits is just bonkers.
I personally prefer bio-cide over hypo for roofs but that portion is just personal preference.

 

[K in Kent]

A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation,
Moss is a simple plant with shallow roots.
Its just the same thing so all you do is spray the chemical when it is growing and then the plant dies. After a few months the moss breaks away from the roof tiles because there's nothing to hold it on.
I was good at two subjects in School, Arithmetic and Biology because I loved them both. Why do people complicate things rather than take the simple procedure.
All I see is a roof garden full of a plant called moss and best way to eradicate it is to spray it. I spray my roof every year now with hypo and it still looks brand new. One doesn't need to be Percy Thrower to know this. ?

We're going to have to agree to differ but your patronising tone is somewhat misplaced :
I know a weed is basically an unwanted plant growing wild, or the definition you've used which you've copied direct from Wikipedia (I've also looked into all this in the past and done several RHS courses).
And yes, moss is a simple plant.
And so you've 'softwashed' a roof, i.e. sprayed hypo on it and gone back 3 months later to remove the moss. You haven't softwashed a roof at all. You've just sprayed about some hypo and I find it inconceivable that after removing the moss it won't need spraying again to remove all the algae etc under the moss.
As @Baldmonkey says it will need extra solution. Of course it will. And all that thirsty moss sucking up the hypo mix when are you going to do the actual roof cleaning part?

If you're happy with your method good luck to you but it's you complicating the issue and feeling oh so smug about your labour intensive, expensive and long drawn out way of doing things.
I'll just stick to turning up, scraping the moss, spraying the roof, doing a proper soft wash. Job done, get paid, move on and forget about that one...or am I over complicating it by doing it all at the same time????