Roof cleaning and moss removal in Ringwood
Moss taken off concrete, clay and slate roofs across Ringwood and BH24 by hand, never with a pressure washer, and priced in writing after a free visit.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Roof cleaning in Ringwood means the moss scraped out of the laps by hand, the roof washed down at low pressure, and a biocide put on to the label to kill what is left. We never put a pressure washer on a roof. It strips the face off concrete tiles, drives water up under the laps and knocks the mortar out of ridges and verges.
Maybe moss has built up in thick pads across one slope and lands on the drive after every wind. Maybe the gutters overflow because the outlets are packed with it. Or someone has knocked offering to clean and coat the roof that afternoon, and you want a straight second opinion.
Thomas comes out, looks at what the roof is covered in, how we will get up to it and what sits under the eaves, and writes you an itemised price. We are roofers as well as cleaners, so a cracked tile or a loose ridge is found and shown to you, never washed over. Walls, render and drives are on our exterior cleaning page for Ringwood.
The work
Moss off Ringwood roofs, by what the roof is made of
The first thing we look at is not the moss. It is what the moss is growing on, because that decides how hard the surface can be worked. Ringwood has a bit of everything, from post-war concrete to handmade clay in the old streets.
Concrete interlocking tiles. More than half of Ringwood was built after 1945, and a post-war roof is usually concrete. Concrete is porous, so it holds moss hardest. It takes a firm hand scrape from the ridge down, working with the laps so no tile edge gets levered up, then a soft wash at low pressure to lift what is left. It is also the tile a jet wash lance ruins fastest: the coloured sand face comes off, the tile is rougher and more porous afterwards, and it greens up again sooner than before.
Clay plain tiles. Moss grips clay less, but an old handmade tile can have a soft face that flakes if it is worked hard. So a clay roof gets a light scrape and more reliance on the treatment. Lichen on old clay can often be left where it is. The differences between the two are in our post on concrete against clay roof tiles.
Natural slate. Moss lives in the joints and along the tails. Slate is never walked on. It is worked from a roof ladder hooked over the ridge, the joints cleared lightly, and a slate that slides because its nail has rusted through is refixed with a clip, never scraped off.
Fibre cement slates. Thin, brittle and coated. Older ones, made before asbestos was taken out of the product, may contain it. If we think that is what you have, we do not scrape or wash it. We stop and tell you.
Tile hanging, flat roofs and thatch. Vertical tile hanging greens up too. It is cleaned from a tower by hand and softwash, because pressure lifts hung tiles off their nibs. Moss on a garage or extension flat roof is brushed off and rinsed, never scraped, since a scraper takes the chippings off felt and cuts a rubber membrane; standing water under it is a flat roof fault in its own right. We do not clean thatch. Where a thatched roof adjoins yours, the run-off and the access are planned around it.
Treatment and gutters
The biocide, the gutters and where the washings go
Scraping and washing take off the growth you can see. The root threads and spores left in the surface of the tile are what green the roof up again. A biocide applied after the clean kills them, and the algae with them, and keeps working against regrowth for months. It needs a dry surface to go on and rain or dew afterwards to activate it, and the roof keeps clearing for weeks as the weather washes the dead growth off.
Moss and algae treatments are regulated, and the HSE authorises them: moss killers as plant protection products, algaecides under the biocides regime. Using one to its label is a legal requirement. The label sets the dilution, the surfaces and how far it is kept from ponds and drains. A contractor who cannot tell you what they are spraying is the wrong contractor.
The gutters are part of the job from the start. The top of each downpipe is blocked before the scrape so moss cannot wash into the underground drain, and valleys are cleared first. Afterwards every gutter is scooped out, flushed and run through to its outlet. A dripping joint is shown to you and priced on its own. Clearing the rainwater run by itself is on our gutter cleaning page for Ringwood.
Ringwood sits on the River Avon, which is a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. So washings full of moss and treatment are kept out of any surface water drain or ditch that could carry them towards it, following the pollution prevention guidance. Beds under the eaves are wetted and sheeted, ponds covered, and water butts disconnected until a few heavy rainfalls have run through.
What turns up
When the moss comes off and shows a repair
Moss hides things: a tile cracked for years and held in place by it, ridge bedding washed out, a worn valley, slates slipping on rusted nails. A gentle clean does not cause any of that. It was already there.
Because we are roofers, we can deal with it. Work on that part stops, we photograph it, show you and price it in writing before anything extra is touched. A slipped tile can often be refixed while we are up there once you agree. A ridge that wants rebedding or a valley that wants relining is its own job on our roofing page for Ringwood, done to BS 5534. If we find bats or droppings under a ridge or at the eaves, we stop there too and tell you, because bats and their roosts are protected by law.
Coatings. A coating is a paint or sealer sprayed on to concrete tiles after a clean to bring back the colour. It fixes nothing, and a coated roof is committed to recoating. It is not for clay, handmade tile or slate. BRE testing of sixty year old roof tiles found the great majority still met the strength standard, so on a sound roof a clean and a treatment is usually enough. Be wary of anyone who knocks, calls the roof dangerous and offers to clean and coat it on the spot; see what to do when someone knocks.
How it runs
From the first visit to the swept path
Thomas comes out, looks at the covering and the gutters, and notes what sits under the eaves: a conservatory, a pond, a vegetable bed. The site visit is free, and so is the written quote with the access, the clean, the treatment and the gutters each on their own line.
Every roof clean is work at height, and the HSE rules on roofwork are why the access is decided and priced before the day. A bungalow can often be done from a mobile tower and a roof ladder. A two storey house usually wants a tower or scaffold along the eaves. Clay, slate and fibre cement are worked from roof ladders and crawl boards, never walked on. The job stops in high wind, frost or heavy rain.
On the day, the downpipes are blocked, planting and paths sheeted, and conservatory roofs covered before a scraper goes on. Thomas tells you at the visit how long your roof will take. The moss is bagged and taken away, and the paths and drive swept and rinsed before we leave. Anything extra is photographed and priced first, and only done once you say yes.
Cost
What decides the price of a roof clean in Ringwood
Two roofs of the same size can be very different days, so a roof clean is not priced by the square metre.
Access. A bungalow at Poulner with room for a tower on the drive, a semi with a narrow side passage, and a three storey building on a town centre street with nowhere to stand but the pavement need three different set-ups. Access usually decides more of the price than the area does.
How much moss. A light film comes off quickly. Thick pads across a north slope under trees are hours of hand scraping.
The covering and the pitch. Slate, handmade clay and a steep pitch all take longer than a shallow concrete roof, because they are worked more gently and from roof ladders.
What is underneath. A conservatory, a flat roofed extension or a pond below the work means more protection. Repairs found are priced separately.
When you compare quotes, ask: what pressure goes on the roof, what the treatment is and whether it is applied to the label, whether gutter clearing is included, and who replaces a tile that breaks. Our post on what a roofing quote should include covers the rest.
Before it gets worse
Moss blocking a gutter or a valley
Moss is not an emergency, but a blocked gutter in a wet spell can become one. Watch for water pouring over a gutter, a dark streak down the wall below it, or a damp patch on a ceiling near the eaves. If a downpipe shoe or gully at ground level is blocked and you can reach it safely, clear it. Please do not go up a ladder with a hose or a pressure washer. Take a photograph of the roof and the gutter from the garden instead, and our post on roof checks you can do from the ground shows what to look for.
Scheduled work Mon to Fri, 8am to 6pm. Something urgent? Ring, and if we miss you we call back.
The one local thing
Old town roofs and estate roofs want different handling
The centre of Ringwood is a conservation area, and the New Forest District Council appraisal for it says clay tiles are the majority on its roofs, with natural slate widely used too. It also picks out the thatched cottages on Coxstone Lane and the early twentieth century houses on The Quomp and Woodstock Lane with tile hung first floors.
So if your house is in the old streets around the Market Place, expect old clay or natural slate. The clean is gentler and slower: a light scrape, more of the work left to the treatment, and any broken tile matched in clay. On a listed building the replacement has to be like for like. A gentle clean is not normally a change that needs consent, but ask the council's conservation officer before any chemical treatment. Ringwood is outside the National Park, and the New Forest property map shows which side of the line a house sits.
On the post-war streets, Poulner included, expect concrete tile, often on an open roof with room for a tower on the drive. That roof takes a firmer scrape and a treatment well, and it is the one a cheap pressure washed job harms most. On a block of flats the freeholder or managing agent orders the work, and a large job may need consulting on under section 20, so give us the agent's details and we will quote them direct.
Who you are dealing with
The company cleaning your roof
Ringwood is about 8 miles from our base in Boscombe. In BH24 we clean roofs around the Market Place, at Poulner and Hightown, and out to Hangersley, Ashley Heath and St Leonards. Ringwood's council is New Forest District Council.
We are Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. The owner, Thomas Hannen, comes out and prices every roof himself. We have a verified 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The site visit is free, and so is the written itemised quote. You can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Questions
Questions about roof cleaning in Ringwood
What decides the cost of a roof clean in Ringwood?
Access and the amount of moss decide most of it, then the covering and what sits under the eaves. That is why we come and look before putting a figure in writing. The visit and the itemised quote are free.
Is it worth having a roof cleaned at all?
It is when moss sits proud in the laps holding water, or drops into the gutters and valleys. A light green film or grey lichen on an old clay roof does little harm, and scraping it can do more damage than leaving it. We will tell you which you have.
How often does a roof need cleaning, and how long does it stay clean?
There is no calendar for it. A north facing slope under trees greens up far sooner than an open south facing one, and a treated roof stays clear much longer than one that is only washed. Moss proud in the laps again is the sign it is due.
What is the best time of year to have moss removed?
Spring and autumn, in a settled spell. Moss scrapes off most easily when it is damp but not sodden, and the biocide wants a dry day to go on and some rain after it. The treatment day moves with the forecast.
Do I need to be at home, and will you make a mess?
Not if we can reach the gutters and the garden, though we like to show you anything we found before we leave. The moss is bagged and taken away, and paths and drive are swept and rinsed.
Nearby, and next door
Roof work near Ringwood
Roof repairs in the places around Ringwood, with straight-line distances from the town, and the other work we do on Ringwood houses.
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Free quote
Find out what is under the moss before you pay to clean it
Send a photograph of the roof from the garden, and one of the gutter if moss is dropping into it. Thomas comes out, looks at the covering and the access, and puts a written itemised price in front of you.