Roof cleaning and moss removal in Teesside

Why moss is worth dealing with

Moss on a roof is not just cosmetic. It holds moisture against the tiles through every Teesside winter, and the freeze-thaw cycle that follows cracks tile faces and shortens the roof's working life. Moss also sheds: it rolls into gutters, blocks downpipes, and turns a £10 moss problem into a damp problem at the wall head. Dealing with it properly is maintenance, not vanity.

The correct method: scrape, then treat

Professional roof cleaning is a two-stage job. First the moss is scraped from the tiles by hand, profile by profile, which removes the bulk without any pressure on the tile surface. Then a biocide is applied at low pressure, killing the remaining growth and spores at the root. The treatment keeps working for months: residual blackening and lichen continue to fade through the following seasons as the biocide does its work and the weather rinses the roof clean.

Why never pressure washing

Concrete roof tiles carry a protective surface layer and granule finish. A pressure washer strips both, leaving tiles porous, thirsty and ageing faster than before, and the force drives water under laps and into the roof space. Any contractor who proposes pressure washing your roof is proposing to shorten its life. The scraped-and-treated method costs more in labour and less in everything else.

Prices and what moves them

Roof cleaning runs £8 to £15/m², so a typical semi's roof quotes £500 to £1,200. Access moves the price most: roofs reachable from a tower cost less than those needing specialist access. Heavy moss loading, three-storey height and complex roof shapes all add. Every quote is written after a proper look, not guessed from the street.

Teesside's moss map

Moss loads heaviest where roofs stay damp: the shaded, tree-lined streets of Acklam, Nunthorpe, Yarm and Guisborough, and anywhere north-facing. Coastal roofs around Redcar and Saltburn grow lichen as readily as moss in the salt-damp air. The concrete-tile roofs of the 1960s to 80s estates across Stockton and Billingham, now fifty years old, are the ones where moss removal most clearly extends service life.