Roof Cleaning; A Customer of Mine was quoted £4000!

« **on:** February 28, 2008, 05:21:47 pm »

A customer of mine, an elderly lady, was canvassed and quoted £4000 for the cleaning of her roof.

It's a terraced house approximately 14 feet in width and the roof is covered in moss.

When she said she couldn't afford 4K, the price was dropped to 2K (sounds a bit rogue trader(ish) to me), so she declined in the face of a hard sell. I mean I bet she could get her house re-tiled for about 6K; maybe?

So she's asked if I can do this. I can't... yet; maybe!

I know a little bit about the subject, the roof has to be pressure washed, and then some 'coating' has to be applied to prevent the moss growing back, but do any of you lads do roof cleaning as an add-on?

I told her I'd find a bit out about the subject and if I can't do it, try and find someone who can; someone whose not a cowboy.

What - if anything - can you tell me about the subject?

« **Reply #1 on:** February 28, 2008, 05:48:44 pm »

They did a load of houses in monmouth about 8wks ago looks a good job.

But heck thats good monney.

Roy

« **Reply #2 on:** February 28, 2008, 05:51:51 pm »

you dont pressure wash! a tiled roof :

water gets underneaf the tiles and from the pressure can come through into the loft.

your sposed to use water and brush off the moss you mite think it wont come off but thats what the roofers do!! how do i know?? my brother is one

« **Reply #3 on:** February 28, 2008, 06:09:09 pm »

i think ive seen the guys you're talking about Tosh.

It is ok to pressure wash if you know what you are doing. I've done this type of thing, but only on a low roof, and once. But i haven't painted it after.

The guys i think you are talking about do it all with a pressure washer.

If you brush it it will not get clean enough to paint.

I'd be happy to sub for you to pressure wash it, then you could paint it after me.

« **Reply #4 on:** February 28, 2008, 06:26:53 pm »

so to use a pressure washer properly you have to get onto the roof

otherwise you jet wash from the bottom of the roof all water is just going to go under the tiles

« **Reply #5 on:** February 28, 2008, 06:32:21 pm »

yep.
using a ladder to get on the roof, then a roof ladder to move up and down the roof.

... short of that, you will need scaffolding, or a cherry picker, which will pump the price up way too much.

« **Reply #6 on:** February 28, 2008, 06:35:42 pm »

Dave,

I assume that's the method; Wor Lass has seen this done; but not me. I'd guess it needs to be pressure-washed from the top downwards; using the washer at an angle so the water doesn't get underneath the tiles.

Rich,

If you're confident you can do the job, I may take you up on your offer, once I find out more about what's involved to do a good job.

« **Reply #7 on:** February 28, 2008, 06:39:49 pm »

great.

If you want to give me the address, i can have a look at it, and give you a definate price. my email is richard@leeksons.com and you know my phone number.

Let me know!

Cheers

Richy

« **Reply #8 on:** February 28, 2008, 07:14:52 pm »

One of my customers neigboors had this done, a fair sized 4 bed detached, they paid £5000!!!

3 spotty teenagers did the work in a day! I can't remember the name of the company but they are a large double glazing business who do this as a sideline. They presure washed it and then sprayed it with some kind of anti fungal spray, looked ok but had stripped all the colour off of the tiles!

« **Reply #9 on:** February 28, 2008, 07:21:24 pm »

I have a friend who power washes and he has some sort of roof tool that allows the washer to clean the roof with pullies or something, the nozzle of the power washer is a spinning type so it gets the whole surface area, Luke

« **Reply #10 on:** February 28, 2008, 07:22:33 pm »

my god

i had my roof fixed and re tiled ( put my slates back) for 5k!!

« **Reply #11 on:** February 28, 2008, 07:40:22 pm »

That really should be on Rogue Traders!!

« **Reply #12 on:** February 28, 2008, 07:47:39 pm »

http://www.mypressurewashers.com/OnlineStore/tabid/76/CategoryID/14/List/1/catpageindex/7/Level/a/ProductID/145/Default.aspx

I think you want one of these. Also, I'm sure I read somewhere that if you put copper along the top of the roof it stops moss growing back. Something to do with the copper affecting rainwater which kills off moss and stops it growing back as it runs down the roof. Not 100% on that but i think it was someone on here that offers this service to their customers. Its maybe on the pressure washing board.

http://www.pitchwitch.com/ i think this is the same one

« **Reply #13 on:** February 28, 2008, 07:55:53 pm »

Yes, thats what my friend was talking about, Luke

« **Reply #14 on:** February 28, 2008, 07:56:41 pm »

http://www.copperridge.co.uk/

This is the copper thing.

This link is the post I was talking about. Its on another forum so I'm not sure it will work.
http://www.another forum.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2.2/YaBB.pl?num=1151526923

« **Reply #15 on:** February 28, 2008, 08:11:39 pm »

links to other forums dont work, Luke

« **Reply #16 on:** February 29, 2008, 07:30:16 am »

I know an old lady who was quoted £80 to have her windows cleaned by some dodgy rogue trader. She lives in a typical 50s council house with the small flat windows.

There is no reason to clean moss off a roof except from the appearance. Despite what roofers and these dodgy roof cleaners tell you it doesn't cause the tiles to lift. it grows on the surface not under the tiles.

« **Reply #17 on:** February 29, 2008, 08:12:59 am »

So what would be a fair price to clean moss off a full roof, done with the correct tools and safety equipment?

Anyone on here do that job for £400?

Mark

« **Reply #18 on:** February 29, 2008, 08:30:00 am »

The problem is getting onto the roof legally and safely. Once you are up there it probably wouldn't take much time . But even at £200 a day to hire the scaffolding its not going be four grand!

« **Reply #19 on:** February 29, 2008, 08:32:23 am »

The guys that did it in Monmouth, used ropes and absailed up and down the roof.

Roy

« **Reply #20 on:** February 29, 2008, 08:40:48 am »

They wouldn't get away with that here.

« **Reply #21 on:** February 29, 2008, 09:57:41 am »

i do a 3 bed semi @ £12.
the lady was telling me yesterday (over coffee) that before I came along she was quoted £90 by another company.

I must be doing something wrong

« **Reply #22 on:** March 02, 2008, 02:49:51 pm »

To clean a roof you can use a power washer, but it can make a bit of a mess, the moss is washed into the gutters and blocks the outlets it then overflows down the walls and windows. Also you have to point the powerwasher downwards over the top of the tiles as the water can penetrate the roofspace if you point the lance up the roof.
As for sealing a roof you can use a standard herbicide, it's the same stuff used for demossing concrete pathes and patios, it stops the moss growing again(for a while anyway) Don't use paint to seal a roof it's a con, rooftiles are not designed to be painted the paint blocks the drainage channels on the tiles and also stops the roof breathing, this can lead to issues with condensation.

The best way to clean a roof is to get good quality herbicide use a garden sprayer which you can get from b&q and spray the roof, leave for a few days to allow the herbicide to kill the moss at the roots, after the herbicide has done it's work and the moss has started to wither which makes it easier to brush off, you can get onto the roof using a roof ladder and use a stiff brush and paint scraper to clean the tiles, labour intensive of course but at least you don't have to worry about flooding the roof space.
If it's a standard terrace house 2 men, thats one each side of the roof should be able to complete it in a day.
Don't forget to give the roof another spray with the herbicide once you have finished, hire of roof ladders and materials should cost less than £100, as it's unskilled labour, costs should be between £60 and £80 a day for a labourer so if you are charging over £500 you should do okay.

As for charging £4,000 for essentially a days labouring they are being dishonest. For example a squad of competant roofers can strip felt, rebatten and retile a small terrace house in a day, materials would cost around grand or so.

PS. when you have cleaned the roof you can fit a copper ridge for which you can charge extra, this is a better way of keeping a roof clean because as the copper strip oxidises and the rain washs it down the roof it becomes copper sulphate which as you know is an excellent weed killer, this is the principal on which copper ridges operate, they supply a constant source of herbicide for the roof. Finally don't for get to check your insurance.

« **Reply #23 on:** March 02, 2008, 03:08:29 pm »

You could always use the gutter lance, they have a reach of 25' this would be perfect for low level work from the ground, but the top of a house would be a different story.

« **Reply #24 on:** March 02, 2008, 03:29:34 pm »

Quote from: Luke Johnson on February 28, 2008, 07:40:22 pm

That really should be on Rogue Traders!!
\\\there was some people doing this who were on rouge traders. They went from the bottom of the roof up and got excessive water all inside under the tiles. ^The expert said they would of been ok if they started at the top! They charged about 2 grand for the job. The expert said the going rate was £300-£400 . So theres good money in it. Just goota make sure you do it right.