GORDON HEAD
Moss Removal in Gordon Head
Sixty-year-old subdivision trees over roofs designed for open sky. Gordon Head has the clearest example on the peninsula of shade arriving after the house did.
What's included
What you get
Every visit covers the same ground, whatever the property.
- Growth lifted off by hand and brushed clear, worked down-slope so nothing packs under the courses
- Valleys, hips and the shaded lower courses checked, not just the faces you can see from the road
- Debris cleared off the roof and taken away, and kept out of the gutters and drains on the way down
- Care taken around what is planted underneath, and around anything on the roof that should not get wet
- A plain account of the covering’s condition, with no obligation attached
- Houses, character homes, townhouse rows, strata blocks and commercial roofs
Gordon Head is the clearest illustration on the peninsula of a simple point: the shade arrived after the houses did.
Most of this area was built out between the fifties and the seventies, on ground that had been cleared. The houses were laid out for open sky, with the low pitches and wide eaves that were normal for the period. Then everyone planted, and sixty years later those plantings are full-grown Douglas fir, cedar and Garry oak standing directly over roofs that were never designed to spend the winter in shadow.
That mismatch is why a street of near-identical houses here can have wildly different roofs. Two houses built the same year by the same builder, one with a fir on the north side and one without, will not look remotely alike in February.
What the low pitch does
The roof pitches typical of this period shed water more slowly than a modern build, and they hold debris rather than dropping it.
That matters more than it sounds. Needles and leaf litter lying on a slope keep moisture at the surface exactly where growth wants it, and on a shallow pitch they stay put through a whole wet season instead of washing off. By spring there is a damp organic layer on the roof, which is the ideal starting condition.
The same pitch also means the lowest courses sit close to level above the gutter, which is where we find the heaviest growth on most Gordon Head houses. It is the strip nobody can see from the ground, and it is the strip doing the worst.
Access up the slopes
The ground around Mount Tolmie and along the older streets running down toward Cadboro Bay is anything but flat. Houses sit well above or below the road, driveways run at angles that were fine for a 1962 sedan, and setting a ladder safely takes some thought.
None of that is a problem, but it is a reason we would rather see a photo before quoting. Access on a sloped lot changes the time a job takes far more than the size of the roof does, and we would rather work that out beforehand than turn up and revise the figure.
The rental stock
A good part of Gordon Head near the university is rental or multi-unit, and those roofs tend to go longer between visits than owner-occupied houses. There is usually more to take off, and more often the growth has been established long enough to have started lifting courses.
Where that is the case we will say what we found in terms whoever pays the bill can act on, which is usually a landlord or a manager rather than the person living under the roof.
Steps and paths
Gordon Head houses often sit up off the street with a flight of concrete steps to the door, north-facing and shaded by the same trees doing the roof. Those steps are the part of the property most likely to actually put someone on the ground, and they take a fraction of the time the roof does. Worth adding while we are there.
Free estimate, Monday to Friday, insured and WCB-registered.
Gordon Head sits inside Saanich; we also work over toward Victoria and around Uptown.
How it works
How a Moss Visit Runs
Four steps, and the roof is ours from the moment the ladder goes up. You tell us what you are looking at, we price the roof in front of us, and you hear what we found before we leave.
Tell us what you can see
Your address, the roof covering if you know it, and which slopes have gone green.
A photo from the driveway is worth more than a description. North side, shaded by a big fir, growth thick enough to see from the road — that tells us most of what we need before we arrive.
We price the roof itself
Cedar, asphalt and concrete tile are three different jobs, and the quote reflects which one yours is.
Covering, pitch, height, how far the growth has spread and what stands under the eaves all move the figure. You have it before anything is booked.
The growth comes off carefully
Moss is lifted and brushed off the surface, not driven off with pressure.
We work down the slope so nothing is pushed under the courses, keep the run of water in mind the whole time, and take care around whatever is planted below.
You hear what the roof told us
Standing on a roof shows you things the lawn never will.
A course lifting at the edge, a valley holding damp long after the rest has dried, granules already thin where the growth was heaviest. You get that plainly, with nothing attached to it.
Four steps, and the green is gone.
- You send the address and a photo.
- We send back a price for your roof.
- The growth comes off.
- You know what shape the roof is in.
Send the form or call for a free, no-obligation estimate.
Got questions?
Moss removal in Gordon Head — questions
Why does Gordon Head grow so much moss?
The trees arrived after the houses did. Most of this area went up between the fifties and the seventies on open ground, and the planting from that period is now full-grown and hanging over roofs that were laid out expecting sun on all four sides.
Are the low-pitch roofs here a problem?
They hold debris longer than a steep roof does, which is what growth needs to get started. A low pitch sheds water more slowly and holds needles rather than dropping them, so the two effects compound.
Do you work around the university area?
Yes, including the rental and multi-unit housing through that part of Gordon Head. Those roofs often go longer between visits than owner-occupied houses do, so there is usually more to take off.
Is Mount Tolmie included?
Yes. The slopes around Mount Tolmie are some of the more awkward access in the area — steep driveways, houses set well above or below the road — and that is factored into the estimate rather than discovered on the day.
Can you do the front steps as well?
Yes. A lot of Gordon Head houses sit up off the street with concrete steps to the door, and those steps are shaded and north-facing more often than not. They are a short addition to a roof visit.
Customer reviews
What customers say
“They are efficient, hardworking, and reliable. I’ll definitely call them again for other services. Highly recommended!”
“Great customer service, and they came quickly..will be using again for sure”
Moss removal in Gordon Head
Tell us the address and send a photo of the shaded side, and we will get you a price.