Over the past few years, we’ve noticed a significant increase in the amount of calls that we’re getting from homeowners due to their insurance companies mandate. Under certain criterion (with or without notice) field inspections are taking place and roofs with moss and or lichen colonies are often resulting in a requirement to address it, or face cancellation of the insurance policy.
We’ve spoken with a number of branch managers and independent insurance office owners and the rationale seems to be the same across the board; the insurance companies are in the business of mitigating risk, and they see great risk with moss and lichen colonies. Both of these growths cause granule loss and they retain moisture, often causing the edges of shingles to lift up, thus breaking the bond that would otherwise keep them secure. This could very well lead to a roofing failure and subsequent leak. In the eyes of the insurance company, they’re attempting to head off potentially sizable claims. We’ve been privy to a number of these letters and unfortunately, they’re not always very polite about it.
Here lies another dilemma with this entire process; many homeowners have shared with us that they’ve called they local insurance office for guidance, and have been told to ‘just rake it off of there’. ‘Use a push broom and brush it off of there’. These are horrible suggestions and cause even more damage to the shingles! The four major shingle manufacturers in North America (GAF, CertainTeed, TAMKO and Owens Corning) will tell you that physical agitation should never be used on asphalt shingles as it dislodges the granules. The very granules that protect the shingle substrate from UV rays and adverse weather. Instead, the moss and lichen colonies are chemically treated where they are killed instantly. From that point on, they simply decay and decompose until the root system severs, at which point the dead mass simply falls safely away from the shingles without causing any additional damage.
Once American-ProTech has treated your roof due to an insurance company mandate, we provide you (or your insurance agent) with a formal letter of certification. In this letter, we ensure that the agent understands the time delay and that we stand behind the results 100%. Simply said, this certification gets you off of the hook with your insurance company as the moss and lichen weathers away.
Please keep in mind that stains and streaks caused by algae are eliminated instantly with our shingle manufacturer approved process. It’s only moss and lichen that have a delayed response and that’s to ensure the integrity of your roof.
Please call 571 250 9650
571 250 9650 or click here if you’d like more information, a consultation or a no obligation quote. We’re American-ProTech, the regions leading roof cleaning experts.
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