Home › Projects › Gutter Cleaning and Moss Removal in Tacoma
High Point Gutter cleaned the gutters and downspouts on a single-story Tacoma home whose roof was carrying heavy moss across every slope. The visit combined four services: a full gutter and downspout cleaning, a roof blow off, manual moss removal by hand, and a zinc sulfate treatment to slow regrowth. The roof is old, and that shaped how the crew worked on it.
| Location | Tacoma, WA |
| Service | Gutter and downspout cleaning with roof blow off, moss removal, and moss treatment |
| Property | Single-story home with an aging asphalt shingle roof and moss across all slopes |
| Condition found | Dense moss growth spanning the full roof surface, heaviest in the shaded shingle courses |
| Moss removal | Manual removal using a dull-edge blade and short bristle brush |
| Moss treatment | White powdered zinc sulfate monohydrate |
| Roof blow off | Full roof cleared of loose debris with gas blowers |
| Project investment | $1,100 to $1,900 |
| Timeline | Assessed March 13, serviced March 25, closed out March 26, 2026 |
The situation
The property was assessed on March 13 and serviced on March 25, 2026. The roof is a simple single-story layout, which is the good news. The bad news was the surface. Moss had spread across the full roof, not in isolated patches on a shaded north slope but through the shingle courses across the whole plane, growing up out of the seams between shingles.
What High Point found
Up close, the growth was established rather than superficial. The moss was rooted in the seams between shingle courses and had spread along them, which is what the close-range photo below shows: continuous lines of growth following the shingle edges across the field of the roof.
The other finding was the roof’s age. The crew noted after the visit that the roof is old, and that it limited how aggressively the moss could be worked off without damaging the shingle surface.
What we recommended and why
The job was quoted as four services in one visit.
Gutter and downspout cleaning. The core service: hand-clearing the gutters and flushing the downspouts. On a roof shedding this much organic material, the gutters are where it ends up.
Roof blow off. Loose debris cleared from the roof surface with gas blowers, so material sitting on the shingles does not simply wash into the gutters that were just cleaned.
Manual moss removal. The moss was removed by hand using a dull-edge blade and a short bristle brush. High Point’s scope specifies dull tools deliberately. The goal is to lift the growth without scraping granules off the shingle surface.
Moss treatment. A white powdered zinc sulfate monohydrate formula was applied afterward. This is a treatment rather than a removal: it is applied to the remaining growth and to the surface to slow regrowth, and it washes away gradually with rain over time. High Point’s standing recommendation is to pair removal with treatment, because removal alone leaves whatever is still rooted in the seams to grow back.
The scope also flags the alternative honestly. For heavy moss buildup, it notes that a soft wash may be the better solution. On this roof the manual approach was used, and the crew stayed within what the aging shingles could take rather than working the surface harder to get a cleaner result.
How the project was completed
One technician handled the property on March 25, 2026, and the job closed out the following day. The work sequence was blow off, manual moss removal, gutter and downspout cleaning, then treatment. Doing the roof before the gutters matters: clearing moss and debris down off the roof first means the material lands in the gutters, and the gutters are then cleaned last.
Project cost range
This project fell in the $1,100 to $1,900 range for the gutter and downspout cleaning, the roof blow off, the manual moss removal, and the zinc sulfate treatment together.
The moss removal was the largest single component, and that is the pattern on most jobs like this. Cleaning gutters is priced by the size of the system. Removing established moss by hand is priced by how much roof is covered and how carefully it has to be worked, and on a roof where the growth spans every slope that is a lot of surface. A cleaning-only visit on the same house would be a fraction of this. This range reflects the scope of this completed project and is not a current quote.
What homeowners with similar roofs should know
Removal and treatment do different jobs. Removal takes off what is growing now. Treatment works on what is left and slows what comes back. Paying for removal alone on a roof with growth rooted in the seams usually means paying again sooner.
The age of the roof sets the ceiling on how clean it can get. On this project the technician worked within what the shingles could take rather than pushing for a spotless surface. If a contractor promises to make an old mossy roof look new, ask what tool and what pressure they intend to use to do it.
Book the roof and the gutters together. The moss and debris coming off the roof land in the gutters, so cleaning the gutters first and the roof second means doing the gutters twice.
Related questions
How much does gutter cleaning and moss removal cost in Tacoma, WA?
This combined visit fell in the $1,100 to $1,900 range and included gutter and downspout cleaning, a roof blow off, manual moss removal, and a zinc sulfate treatment. The moss removal drove most of that, because the growth covered every slope. A gutter cleaning on its own is far less. This range reflects this completed project and is not a current quote.
What is the difference between moss removal and moss treatment?
Removal is physical: on this roof the crew lifted the moss by hand with a dull-edge blade and a short bristle brush. Treatment is a white powdered zinc sulfate monohydrate applied afterward, which works on the remaining growth and washes away gradually with rain. High Point recommends pairing them, since removal alone leaves rooted growth behind.
Can moss be pressure washed off an asphalt shingle roof?
High Point used manual removal with dull tools on this roof specifically to avoid stripping granules from aging shingles. For heavy buildup the job scope notes that a soft wash can be the better option. Which approach fits depends on the roof’s condition, and it is worth asking a contractor to explain their choice before work starts.
Why clean the roof before the gutters?
Everything cleared off the roof surface travels down into the gutters. On this visit the blow off and moss removal came first and the gutter and downspout cleaning came after, so the gutters were cleared once, at the end.
How long did this service take?
One technician completed the roof and gutter work in a single visit on March 25, 2026, and the job closed out on March 26.
About this project
This project documentation was prepared by High Point Gutter from the job records and photos from our crew, September 2026. Technical review by Ben Metsker, Manager, High Point Gutter.
High Point Gutter provides gutter and downspout cleaning in Tacoma and across the Puget Sound region, along with roof cleaning and moss services. Seeing moss along your shingle seams? We can assess the roof and tell you whether removal, treatment, or both is the right call for its condition.