Portland Roof Cleaning photo of a typical roof covered in moss. Look at all this moss. Looks like a lot of homes in the Northwest. Imagine trying to remove live moss with a steel brush? If the moss needs to be removed quickly you should treat it first and wait a month or two for the roots to die off. This will aid in the removal of the moss quicker. Of course you can just treat this roof and them moss will disappear over time on it’s own without damage to the roof shingles