Black roof stains
 

My roof has a bunch of ugly black stains all over it. I hear companies like instabrite advertise that they can get rid of them. What detergent/chemical should I use?

Wet and forget. heed the directions. It creates a neutral environment so mold/mildew and like cannot grow. I only know about it havent used it yet. goodluck. Also if you have to replace your roof use shingles with copper in them

Paul read reply to Bobs thread. I have removed those stains from lots of roofs. Call me if you like.
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If you want I'll do it for you or help whatever it'll take an hour.
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I don't know the actual how-to, but my father lives in Yarmouth and had his roof replaced last year. The contractor looked at a house nearby and pointed out the black stains. He said it can be taken care of by putting strips of zinc along the top of the roof. I don't know if it's true, just something I heard. My brother works out on Long I sland and he said they do it there, too.

Thx for the help, looks pretty easy to get rid of
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What do you mean? I have the same black spots?

Thanks

A few threads down by tattoobob titled moss on roof.
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got it.
Thanks

Put the wet and forget on today. We'll see how it looks in 6 months.

What did you use? Should be gone now....:uhuh:

I did you "wet and forget". It looks a little better but not all gone. I read somewhere that it takes up to 6 months for the full effect of the stuff to work. I'll prob. put it on again in like Sept/Oct.

I don't see much improvement since I put the wet and forget on. I'll try again in early fall.

I'm a little confused by this thread.What type of roof,asphalt or shakes?What caused the stains?I wouldn't just put chemicals on your roof without knowing type of roof and cause of staining.

Btw Paul if you elaborate I may be able to help.Tell me what type of roof and is it staining or moss/algae?

I have an asphalt roof. Prob. gets about 3 - 4 hours of sun a day. I have black stains, which I'm assuming is mold. There were a few spots that get very little sun and those areas had some actual moss. I think the wet and forget killed the moss but I did try to knock it off when I on the ladder spraying on the wet and forget so a lot of it prob. just washed away with the rain.

One or more sections of the roof covering appear stained. An algae known as Gloeocapsa Magma is the most likely culprit and this algae affects nearly 80 percent of the homes across the United States. Gloeocapsa Magma is a species of algae that causes black streaking and discoloration on asphalt/fiberglass shingles. The black staining you see on many roofs is caused by the life cycle of algae and fungus spores that land on houses via wind or wildlife. While this algae can grow just about anywhere, it prefers humid environments. A preferred food source of this algae is limestone which is used as "filler material" by most shingle manufactures. Higher quality shingles are manufactured with preventative measures such as copper or zinc containing granules. Several methods exist to prevent and clean infected areas. Installing zinc or copper strips near the roof ridge can prevent further algae growth.

Take a photo Paul and post it. Forget that stuff you used. Trust me the only way to rid of it is strong bleach and a surfactant.
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I'm old school.If you have an asphalt roof I would say go with Jomax and bleach(as per instructions).Pre-soak any bushes/wood siding with copious amounts of water and spray the solution on the roof and then rinse from the top down.Post soak your shrubs/wood and you should be all set.If you have algae/moss you might have to do some scrubbing but not to much as you don't want to scrub the granules off.

Or what Slingah said.To which I'm sure he would agree Jomax and bleach.

The 1st. picture is over the garage and you can see some yellowish moss along with the black mildew. The garage is a detached and unheated. The roof actually looks better now that I think of it. I should have taken pictures b/f I started:)

from other thread
 

Use bleach or liquid pool shock(sodium hypochlorite) and T.S.P. or Jomax in a pump up sprayer.
Wet roof FIRST and all surrounding plants, bushes, grass etc. with plain water...then apply mix to roof. Let the chemical do the work. Sometimes a second application is needed.
Don't be afraid of the bleach....it will NOT hurt asphalt shingles and is the ONLY thing that will work.

bleach is 6% sodium hypoclorite
liquid pool shock is about 12% sodium hypoclorite
I buy pool shock at Ocean State Job Lot to do all my exterior cleaning.

http://www.squidoo.com/roof-cleaning...-black-streaks

I'll give it a couple more weeks to see if it gets better than if not, I'll try the shock. I appreciate the help!

Slingah - Basswipe.

I used the shock last night on the roof over the garage. Frankly, it looks brand new. I have to go get more to finish the garage and the rest of the front roof.

Thanks for all the help!!!!!