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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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Lichen removal from roof
Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything
on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. |
#2
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Lichen removal from roof
Richard wrote: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. What's wrong with lichen? Looks nice IMO. |
#3
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Lichen removal from roof
On 6 Oct 2006 03:31:20 -0700, "normanwisdom"
wrote: Richard wrote: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. What's wrong with lichen? Looks nice IMO. Does it have a value for its insulation qualities? -- Get away from it all http://www.travelfreebies.co.uk/thomson-holidays.htm Late deals, mega cheap flights and bargains |
#4
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Lichen removal from roof
"normanwisdom" wrote in message ups.com... Richard wrote: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. What's wrong with lichen? Looks nice IMO. I hoped someone else would say that! Mary |
#5
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Lichen removal from roof
"Richard" asked:
Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. No. Moss killer will kill it but roof access would be required to apply the chemical and remove the dead vegetation. |
#6
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Lichen removal from roof
The message .com
from "Richard" contains these words: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, Personally I like it. Shows the place is relatively unpolluted and generally gives the house a settle appearance. Bare squeaky roofs aren't as nice. -- Skipweasel Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. |
#7
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Lichen removal from roof
"Guy King" wrote in message ... The message .com from "Richard" contains these words: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, Personally I like it. Shows the place is relatively unpolluted and generally gives the house a settle appearance. Bare squeaky roofs aren't as nice. -- I agree completely, lichen is nice. H |
#8
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Lichen removal from roof
Guy King wrote: The message .com from "Richard" contains these words: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, Personally I like it. Shows the place is relatively unpolluted and generally gives the house a settle appearance. Bare squeaky roofs aren't as nice. Actually it shows the classic signs of pollution, i.e natural vegetation. What else will grow in such an hostile environmet. It only requires minimal coal and wood smoke and some bird ****. But the thankless and thoughtless don't deserve it. Quick someone tell him to climb up and throw diesel all over it. |
#9
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Lichen removal from roof
"Richard" wrote in message oups.com... Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. Short answer: No. anyway it can look attractive to my eyes However if you can get someone to install a thin taut bare copper wire either side of the ridge, rain (which is slightly acidic) will form copper salts which washing down the roof will kill the lichen. Some new builds in the countryside get roofs sprayed with cow dung solution to promote lichen growth and blend in better with older buildings AWEM |
#10
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Lichen removal from roof
Andrew Mawson wrote:
"Richard" wrote in message oups.com... Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. Short answer: No. anyway it can look attractive to my eyes However if you can get someone to install a thin taut bare copper wire either side of the ridge, rain (which is slightly acidic) will form copper salts which washing down the roof will kill the lichen. Some new builds in the countryside get roofs sprayed with cow dung solution to promote lichen growth and blend in better with older buildings AWEM I also have growth on my roof. The problem as far as I am concerned is that it grows in golf ball size lumps, these are removed by birds and weather, (leaving lots behind) then of course this blocks the gutters and is dangerous on the paths. I removed all the ones I could reach with a pole to which I had fixed an old hoe, however that only worked to about 1/2 way up the roof, but at least the number coming down is greatly reduced. |
#11
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Lichen removal from roof
"Broadback" wrote in message ... I also have growth on my roof. The problem as far as I am concerned is that it grows in golf ball size lumps, That sounds more like mosses than lichen. Mary |
#12
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Lichen removal from roof
Broadback wrote:
Andrew Mawson wrote: "Richard" wrote in message oups.com... Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. Short answer: No. anyway it can look attractive to my eyes However if you can get someone to install a thin taut bare copper wire either side of the ridge, rain (which is slightly acidic) will form copper salts which washing down the roof will kill the lichen. Some new builds in the countryside get roofs sprayed with cow dung solution to promote lichen growth and blend in better with older buildings AWEM I also have growth on my roof. The problem as far as I am concerned is that it grows in golf ball size lumps, these are removed by birds and weather, (leaving lots behind) then of course this blocks the gutters and is dangerous on the paths. Thats not lichen, that's moss. I removed all the ones I could reach with a pole to which I had fixed an old hoe, however that only worked to about 1/2 way up the roof, but at least the number coming down is greatly reduced. Stopping moss is a question of using ordinary moss killer. It needs a LITTLE soil, so beware of getting dirt on te roof. |
#13
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Lichen removal from roof
The message
from "Andrew Mawson" contains these words: Some new builds in the countryside get roofs sprayed with cow dung solution to promote lichen growth and blend in better with older buildings And some get spray with cow dung because they're the Nat West Bank. -- Skipweasel Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. |
#14
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Lichen removal from roof
Andrew Mawson wrote:
"Richard" wrote in message oups.com... Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. Short answer: No. anyway it can look attractive to my eyes However if you can get someone to install a thin taut bare copper wire either side of the ridge, rain (which is slightly acidic) will form copper salts which washing down the roof will kill the lichen. Some new builds in the countryside get roofs sprayed with cow dung solution to promote lichen growth and blend in better with older buildings I didn't do that and the bloody lichen was growing before we finished the tiling..heck it grows on the cars after a couple of years. AWEM |
#15
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Lichen removal from roof
On Fri, 6 Oct 2006 13:42:35 +0100, "Andrew Mawson"
wrote: However if you can get someone to install a thin taut bare copper wire either side of the ridge, rain (which is slightly acidic) will form copper salts which washing down the roof will kill the lichen This is a myth. |
#16
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Lichen removal from roof
"marvelus" wrote in message news On Fri, 6 Oct 2006 13:42:35 +0100, "Andrew Mawson" wrote: However if you can get someone to install a thin taut bare copper wire either side of the ridge, rain (which is slightly acidic) will form copper salts which washing down the roof will kill the lichen This is a myth. Oh no it isn't !!!!!!!! AWEM |
#17
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Lichen removal from roof
In article ,
marvelus writes: On Fri, 6 Oct 2006 13:42:35 +0100, "Andrew Mawson" wrote: However if you can get someone to install a thin taut bare copper wire either side of the ridge, rain (which is slightly acidic) will form copper salts which washing down the roof will kill the lichen This is a myth. Nope. There was a brilliant example next door to my grand parents. Their bare phone wires passed over the roof of next door bungalow. There was a very straight line across the roof some ~5' under the phone wires were any drips would land. From that line all the way down the the gutter, the roof was completely clear of moss and lichen. Above that line, it was covered in both. That was the first time I noticed the effect, long before I ever read or heard about it anywhere else. -- Andrew Gabriel |
#18
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Lichen removal from roof
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#20
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Lichen removal from roof
On Fri, 6 Oct 2006 13:42:35 +0100, "Andrew Mawson"
wrote: Some new builds in the countryside get roofs sprayed with cow dung solution to promote lichen growth and blend in better with older buildings As do the walls of the council offices when you **** off the local farmer. -- |
#21
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Lichen removal from roof
In article ,
Matt writes: On Fri, 6 Oct 2006 13:42:35 +0100, "Andrew Mawson" wrote: Some new builds in the countryside get roofs sprayed with cow dung solution to promote lichen growth and blend in better with older buildings As do the walls of the council offices when you **** off the local farmer. I recall a whole village being done, when the farmer had forgotten to switch off the muck spreader as he drove it back through the village to the farm buildings. -- Andrew Gabriel |
#22
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Lichen removal from roof
Richard wrote:
Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. It will require cleaning off every six months if you hope to keep it away. You cannot clean it off without getting on the roof neither, so add on the cost of replacing broken tiles, gutters, legs etc and ask yourself is it really worth bothering with? |
#23
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Lichen removal from roof
"Phil L" wrote in message
.uk... Richard wrote: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. It will require cleaning off every six months if you hope to keep it away. You cannot clean it off without getting on the roof neither, so add on the cost of replacing broken tiles, gutters, legs etc and ask yourself is it really worth bothering with? We had ours done about 18 months ago. See post at the time.... http://tinyurl.com/p7h68 No sign of it returning yet. It was great big balls of moss. As Broadback says - filled up the gutters and birds would also throw it all over the patio. Much better now that it's been done. We had a local roofing company do the work. Scraped off all the moss first, then applied some chemical and then a final brushing off. Quite labour intensive. Roy |
#24
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Lichen removal from roof
RzB wrote:
"Phil L" wrote in message .uk... Richard wrote: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. It will require cleaning off every six months if you hope to keep it away. You cannot clean it off without getting on the roof neither, so add on the cost of replacing broken tiles, gutters, legs etc and ask yourself is it really worth bothering with? We had ours done about 18 months ago. See post at the time.... http://tinyurl.com/p7h68 No sign of it returning yet. It was great big balls of moss. As Broadback says - filled up the gutters and birds would also throw it all over the patio. Much better now that it's been done. We had a local roofing company do the work. Scraped off all the moss first, then applied some chemical and then a final brushing off. Quite labour intensive. Roy That's moss, not lichen...moss grows in balls, rolls down the roof into the gutter etc etc. Lichen is like a flat green blob (looks a bit like the droppings of a wood pigeon) like this; http://www.pixero.com/bilder/downloa...and_lichen.jpg |
#25
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Lichen removal from roof
"Phil L" wrote in message .uk... That's moss, not lichen...moss grows in balls, rolls down the roof into the gutter etc etc. Lichen is like a flat green blob (looks a bit like the droppings of a wood pigeon) like this; http://www.pixero.com/bilder/downloa...and_lichen.jpg There are many kinds of lichen, from whitish scaly stuff through yellow, green, brown, red ... and various shades of all of them. They are very slow growing, unlike mosses, and are very difficult to scrape off. They grow a lot on stones, I've tried scraping them off to use as dyes but gave up. Mary |
#26
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Lichen removal from roof
Mary Fisher wrote: "Phil L" wrote in message .uk... That's moss, not lichen...moss grows in balls, rolls down the roof into the gutter etc etc. Lichen is like a flat green blob (looks a bit like the droppings of a wood pigeon) like this; http://www.pixero.com/bilder/downloa...and_lichen.jpg There are many kinds of lichen, from whitish scaly stuff through yellow, green, brown, red ... and various shades of all of them. They are very slow growing, unlike mosses, and are very difficult to scrape off. They grow a lot on stones, I've tried scraping them off to use as dyes but gave up. We have a family of swans on this busy council estate and their pooh -black/green and slimy, gives the pavements a generous coating of nutrimet, enabling lichens to grow strong enough to persist indefinitely on well trod routes. Not bad for vegetarians. I wonder if the neighbours were slightly more pikey than they already are, would we have quatermasses of lichen taking over. |
#27
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Lichen removal from roof
Mary Fisher wrote:
"Phil L" wrote in message .uk... That's moss, not lichen...moss grows in balls, rolls down the roof into the gutter etc etc. Lichen is like a flat green blob (looks a bit like the droppings of a wood pigeon) like this; http://www.pixero.com/bilder/downloa...and_lichen.jpg There are many kinds of lichen, from whitish scaly stuff through yellow, green, brown, red ... and various shades of all of them. They are very slow growing, unlike mosses, and are very difficult to scrape off. They grow a lot on stones, I've tried scraping them off to use as dyes but gave up. Pressure washing does the trick. Ive got some on a stone patio that looks like I slaughtered someone and let the blood dry. Its bright crimson. Got it all off, and bugger me it rained and there it was again.. Mary |
#28
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Lichen removal from roof
The message k
from "Phil L" contains these words: Lichen is like a flat green blob (looks a bit like the droppings of a wood pigeon) like this; http://www.pixero.com/bilder/downloa...and_lichen.jpg Or yellow. http://www.skipweasel.pwp.blueyonder...ges/lichen.jpg Looks like a Dr Who cornflake. -- Skipweasel Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. |
#29
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Lichen removal from roof
Phil L wrote:
Richard wrote: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. It will require cleaning off every six months if you hope to keep it away. You cannot clean it off without getting on the roof neither, so add on the cost of replacing broken tiles, gutters, legs etc and ask yourself is it really worth bothering with? Can with a pressure washer. |
#30
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Lichen removal from roof
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Phil L wrote: Richard wrote: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. It will require cleaning off every six months if you hope to keep it away. You cannot clean it off without getting on the roof neither, so add on the cost of replacing broken tiles, gutters, legs etc and ask yourself is it really worth bothering with? Can with a pressure washer. from close range, but not from a ladder at gutter height. |
#31
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Lichen removal from roof
Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything
on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. Do you actually mean lichen? I suspect you are troubled by the ball shaped growth of moss which is quite a different thing. Peter Crosland |
#32
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Lichen removal from roof
Richard Wrote: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. Why would you want to "clean" your roof and make it look like it went up 5 minutes ago ? I had a flyer through the door the other day offering to clean and seal my roof before all manner of terrible things happened, all caused by the s**t and crud thats been up there quite happily for the last 50 years. It really is a load of bo**ocks, a totally "invented" problem which preys on the fears of the less well informed, I personally know of one older chap who paid three and a half grand to have his roof "cleaned and triple sealed" whatever the hell that is supposed to mean, all because he was led to believe that his roof was being destroyed by the moss and dirt on it. This is a totally invented problem so dont get suckered in. -- Nick H |
#33
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Lichen removal from roof
"Nick H" wrote in message . .. Richard Wrote: Our house roof appearance is being spoilt by lichen, is there anything on the market to remove it, and any good techniques for spraying it without venturing onto the roof itself. Why would you want to "clean" your roof and make it look like it went up 5 minutes ago ? I had a flyer through the door the other day offering to clean and seal my roof before all manner of terrible things happened, all caused by the s**t and crud thats been up there quite happily for the last 50 years. It really is a load of bo**ocks, a totally "invented" problem which preys on the fears of the less well informed, I personally know of one older chap who paid three and a half grand to have his roof "cleaned and triple sealed" whatever the hell that is supposed to mean, all because he was led to believe that his roof was being destroyed by the moss and dirt on it. This is a totally invented problem so dont get suckered in. A build-up of mosses and deposited dirt can be a problem on a flat roof where it can't get washed down by rain. We had such a one on the school which I (with others!) governed, it cost us a lot of money. I agree with everything else you said, if it's on a sloping roof. Mary -- Nick H |
#34
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Lichen removal from roof
In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes: A build-up of mosses and deposited dirt can be a problem on a flat roof where it can't get washed down by rain. We had such a one on the school which I (with others!) governed, it cost us a lot of money. What harm did it do? My parents have a wonderful moss growth on a flat roof, underneath a tall TV aerial where it gets fed with copious quantities of pigeon poo. -- Andrew Gabriel |
#35
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Lichen removal from roof
"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message ... In article , "Mary Fisher" writes: A build-up of mosses and deposited dirt can be a problem on a flat roof where it can't get washed down by rain. We had such a one on the school which I (with others!) governed, it cost us a lot of money. What harm did it do? The roof, while nominally flat, became uneven. Water puddled and because of the moss didn't dry quickly, in colder months not at all. Moss invaded the seams (I think overlapped rather than butted) and there was gradual water ingress to the layers beneath. Round the 'bubble' rooflights it was much worse.. That's it put very simply, The surveyors' reports ran to very many pages. The complications meant re-roofing - with a slope for peace of mind :-) It was probably badly built in the first place, it was only about fifteen years old when the ceilings showed damp. The old, Victorian, brick built and slated roofed school had none of those problems but it wasn't large enough when it (a Junior) school had to take in children up to 13. The new building was forced on us, we didn't want it. The theory that flat roofs don't hold water is good. The actuality is often different. Moss will grow, it can roll off sloping roofs and block gutters but that's the worst harm, I suspect. There's nowhere for it to roll on a flat roof, it simply builds up, layer on layer. Mary |
#36
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Lichen removal from roof
In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes: "Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message ... In article , "Mary Fisher" writes: A build-up of mosses and deposited dirt can be a problem on a flat roof where it can't get washed down by rain. We had such a one on the school which I (with others!) governed, it cost us a lot of money. What harm did it do? The roof, while nominally flat, became uneven. Water puddled and because of the moss didn't dry quickly, in colder months not at all. This sounds like the support underneath collapsed, which I doubt you can blame on the moss. Strawboard was commonly used from the 1960's through to the 1980's. A cold night causes condensation to form on the back of the felt, which then rots the strawboard causing dips and puddles to form. Initially the roof stays waterproof, but eventually the felt fails due to stretching. -- Andrew Gabriel |
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