Nanaimo moss removal
Moss Removal in Nanaimo, From the Harbour to Mount Benson
Shade from tall firs, damp air off the harbour and roofs from each stage of the city's growth: we take moss off Nanaimo roofs and paths by hand, matched to each house.
Customer reviews
What customers say
Great job and fair pricing! Will hire again!
The service provided by the owners of the company and the staff were beyond exceptional. The price was also very exceptable and affordable.
Why us
Why customers love our service
And why you will get the best moss removal service in Nanaimo!
Fast and efficient moss removal
We turn up on the day we said, clear the whole roof, and get off your property without stretching the job out.
Clear and quick communication
You get an answer when you call or text, a price before we start, and a straight account of what we found up on the roof.
Five-star reviews
Consistent five-star reviews from the homeowners our crew works for.
Clearing moss since 2021
Asphalt shingle, cedar shake, tile and metal roofs, and the driveways and paths below them.
- Moss lifted off the roof by hand and the courses brushed clean
- A low-pressure soft wash as standard, and never high pressure on shingles or shakes
- Treatment applied where it helps slow the moss coming back, and we tell you what was used
- Moss and debris bagged as we work and taken away with us
- A look at shingles, flashing and the roof edge while we are up there
- Houses, townhouses, strata, commercial and multi-unit buildings
Before and after
One roof, before and after
The moss on, and the moss off, side by side.
Two houses on the same Nanaimo street can grow very different amounts of moss. One has a big Douglas fir in the back yard and a roof slope that faces north; the other gets full sun all afternoon. By the third or fourth wet winter the first roof has a green cushion along every shingle edge, and the second looks almost new. So when we quote a job here, the first things we check are which way each slope faces and what is growing over it, before we think about the roof covering.
Nanaimo Moss Removal clears moss from roofs of every kind across the city, and from the driveways, steps and patios that turn slick under the same shade. Our crew has been doing it since 2021.
Shade is the main cause here
Nanaimo is drier than the west coast of the island, and its summers bring weeks with no rain at all. Moss copes with that by drying out and waiting. What lets it spread is the long wet season from October to March, combined with any spot that never quite dries between showers. In this city the spots that stay wet are shaded ones:
- Under the mountain. Westwood and the streets on the lower slopes of Mount Benson have tall Douglas fir and western red cedar close to the houses. Those trees drip long after the rain stops and drop needles that hold water on the shingles.
- North-facing slopes. Through the darkest months the sun stays low in the southern sky. A roof face pointed north can go weeks without a direct ray, and that is the face where we find the thickest growth.
- Lots built into hillsides. Long Lake, Linley Valley and the North Slope have many houses set into a grade, with one side tucked against a bank or a stand of trees. That side holds moisture.
- Under maples. Bigleaf maple leaves lie on a roof all winter and rot into a dark mat. Moss roots into that mat quickly.
Near the water
Along the harbour front and the rocky shoreline out toward Hammond Bay and Stephenson Point, the air carries more moisture, and the morning damp off the water can sit on a roof well into the day in fall. The open bluffs right on the water grow arbutus and Garry oak rather than dense fir, so the houses along them get more sun than the ones under the mountain or on the wooded streets climbing back from the bays. Their moss tends to be patchy rather than total, and it often shows up first as lichen and dark algae streaking. Streaks and lichen are a cleaning job more than a moss job, which is what our roof cleaning service is for.
How it works
Getting Your Roof Moss Removal Booked
Simple from start to finish. Tell us about your roof, get a straightforward quote, and let us do the climbing.
Tell us about your roof
A few details are all we need.
Send us your address, the number of storeys, what the roof is made of if you know, and how much moss you can see from the ground—plus any trees hanging over it.
Get your quote
We price your roof, not a generic house.
Pitch, height, roofing material, how thick the moss is and how we get up there all matter. You'll have a clear quote before we start.
We clear the roof
You stay on the ground.
We lift the moss off by hand, brush the courses clean, treat the roof where it helps, and bag the moss and take it with us. Any washing is a low-pressure soft wash, and high pressure never touches your shingles.
You know what we found
We'll let you know if we spot something.
Lifted shingles? A cracked shake? Worn granules or tired flashing? We'll give you a straightforward heads-up.
That's it.
- You tell us about the roof.
- We give you a clear quote.
- We take the moss off.
- You get one less chore to worry about.
Ready to get the moss off your roof? Get your quote and let us do the climbing.
Roofs from every era of the city
Nanaimo grew in stages, and the roofs show it. Around the Old City and the hill streets above downtown are some of the oldest houses in town, and several have been reroofed more than once. Harewood and Brechin hold a lot of mid-century homes. The north end filled in with larger subdivisions much later. That spread means we see nearly every roof type in a single week:
- Asphalt shingles cover most houses. Moss lifts the shingle edges and holds water against the granules, so it comes off by hand, working down the slope, with no high pressure.
- Cedar shakes still turn up on older homes and on some houses near the water. Shakes rot faster when they stay damp, and moss keeps them damp. Our cedar shake roofs page has the detail.
- Metal and concrete tile are less common but growing; how we handle them is on our tile and metal roofs page.
Driveways, steps and paths
Plenty of driveways in this city climb or drop at a steep angle, and a sloped strip of concrete under trees goes green and slippery every winter. Moss on a walkway is a fall waiting to happen, especially on the front steps where people arrive carrying things. Our driveway and sidewalk moss removal service clears them, and it can go on the same booking as the roof.
Why choose us
Why choose us for moss removal in nanaimo
Nanaimo is home base
The city sits in the middle of the coast we cover, so a roof in Chase River and a roof in Hammond Bay are both a short drive for our crew.
Hands and brushes only
Shingles and shakes are cleared with plastic scrapers and soft brushes. We wash at low pressure by default; higher pressure is for driveways and walkways that need it.
Clearing moss since 2021
Five years of mid-island roofs, under the same fir, cedar and maple that shade so many Nanaimo yards.
Insured, WCB, and we stand behind it
Roof work is risky, so we carry insurance and WCB coverage. If something we did is not right, we come back and put it right.
Keeping it off afterwards
Removal starts the clock again rather than stopping it. Over the following seasons spores land, find the same shade and start again. A treatment applied after the clean slows that down, and so does cutting back any branch that rests on or hangs low over the roof. Zinc strips near the ridge help on many asphalt roofs. Our moss treatment and prevention page sets out what each step does and how long it tends to last on a shaded Nanaimo lot.
The work
On the job
If you live anywhere from Cinnabar Valley to Stephenson Point, send us your address with a note on which side of the roof is green and which trees stand over it. We will come and look, then send a free quote.
Got questions?
Nanaimo moss removal FAQ
Do you work in every part of Nanaimo?
Yes. Our crew covers the south end around Cinnabar Valley and Chase River, the older streets of Harewood, Brechin and the Old City, the west side out to Westwood, and the north end through Long Lake, Linley Valley, Departure Bay, Hammond Bay and Stephenson Point. Lantzville and Cedar have pages of their own, and both are on our regular route.
Only the back of our roof has moss. Why is the front clean?
Because the back is almost certainly the side that faces north, or the side under the trees. A slope that gets little direct sun through the winter stays damp for days after each rain, and that is all moss needs. The sunny side dries out between showers, so spores land there and fail. On many Nanaimo houses we treat one face heavily and the other barely at all, and we price it that way.
Our cedar shake roof is green all over. Is it worth saving?
Often it is, but not always, and we will say which before you pay for anything. If the shakes are still thick and mostly flat, clearing the moss and letting the wood dry out can buy a good number of years. If they are split, cupped or worn thin, removal will expose that, and money is better spent toward a new roof. Our cedar shake page explains what we look for.
Which months suit a moss clean in Nanaimo?
A dry stretch between late spring and early fall. Moss that has dried out comes away from the shingles in clean sheets, and a dry roof gives safe footing; a soaked mat tears apart and leaves its roots in the granules. The treatment that follows also needs dry hours to soak in, so we book around the forecast. If a thick growth is worrying you in the middle of winter, ask anyway. We will still come and look and tell you honestly whether it can wait for drier weather.
Once it is gone, will the moss come back?
In time, yes. Spores blow in from every tree and lawn around, and the same shade that grew the first crop is still there. What a treatment and a few practical changes can do is slow it right down, so you see a little green after several years instead of a thick mat after two. Zinc strips, trimming the branches that touch the roof and a follow-up treatment are explained under treatment and prevention.
Can you clear the moss out of our gutters as well?
Yes, the moss. Clumps that wash or fall into the trough while we work are lifted out and bagged with the rest before we pack up, so they are not left to block a downspout over the winter.
Moss removal in Nanaimo
Tell us the address and we will get you a price.