Your Neighbours
on the Roof

If you have lived in Agassiz through one autumn, you know the fog. It rolls in off the Fraser and Harrison rivers, filling the valley floor like water in a bathtub. Some mornings it burns off by noon. Others, it just thins slightly and hangs there all day, a cool grey blanket that keeps everything damp. From October through April, your roof may not fully dry for weeks at a stretch.

That persistent dampness is not cosmetic, it is structural. Shingles that never dry develop moss underneath their edges. Moisture wicks into the decking through microscopic gaps. Algae colonies establish and start digesting the limestone in your shingle granules, stripping away the UV protection that keeps your roof alive. An Agassiz roof can age two years for every one year on a roof in Abbotsford or Chilliwack, simply because it stays wet so much longer.

We specify materials for Agassiz conditions specifically: algae-resistant shingles with copper granules, synthetic underlayments that will not absorb moisture the way felt paper does, enhanced ridge ventilation that pulls humid air out of the attic before it condenses, and zinc strips along ridgelines that wash anti-microbial ions down the roof with every rain. We live with this fog too. We build roofs that can handle it.

Agassiz receives substantial rainfall, the kind of sustained, wind-driven rain that finds every weakness in a roofing system. A shingle lifting one millimetre at the edge? Rain will find it. A flashing lap sealed with caulk instead of properly overlapped? Give it one November storm. A vent boot that has hardened and cracked from summer UV? December will announce the leak at two in the morning.

Because we roof in this weather, we build for it. Ice and water shield on every valley, every eave, every penetration, not because code requires it everywhere, but because we know where Agassiz rain concentrates. Step flashing done right, not the lazy way. Drip edge installed properly at the rake and eave. Pipe boots rated for BC's UV-to-rain cycle. These details do not show up in a quote line item, but they are the difference between a roof that lasts and one that leaks in year three.

Drive through any Agassiz neighbourhood and look at the north-facing slopes. You will see moss two to three inches thick on roofs that were clean just a couple of years ago. The combination of shade from the surrounding mountains, valley-floor humidity, and organic debris from the heavy tree canopy creates a perfect nursery for moss, algae, and lichen.

Moss is not just ugly. Its root structures (rhizoids) work under shingle edges and physically lift them, creating channels for water. A mature moss mat holds water against the roof surface like a sponge, adding weight and keeping the decking perpetually wet. We have stripped roofs in Agassiz where the moss mat weighed more than the shingles underneath it.

We offer professional moss treatment, low-pressure chemical application that kills growth without blasting granules off your shingles (pressure washing destroys shingles, full stop). Zinc ridge strips provide long-term prevention. For new installations, we use algae-resistant product lines designed for the Pacific Northwest climate. Annual maintenance keeps it under control. Call us before the moss wins: 604-728-0146.