[JJay]

Hi. Yesterday custy ask me for a roof cleaning and to be honest I never been doing such big and high roof so I'm asking  you experienced and wise window cleaners 
What do you think will be a good price for that?
And what you are usually using for roof cleaning?
Thanks a lot for a help guys.

[Slacky]

How are you planning to carry it out?

Cherry-picker or suicide merchant?

[zesty]

You will need a cherry picker, we use the  nifty lift 120t (or the 170 which is bigger)

We hire it from our local plant hire.

You can pressure wash it, we’ve done many that way, but these days soft washing is safer, although I still prefer pressure washing depending on the roof tile.

Be prepared for a lot of mess, and I mean a lot. You’ll fill the gutters with moss and dirt, and the surrounding area around the house will be absolutely filthy with moss and dirt 

We don’t do do as many as a few years back, purely because of the shear mess involved!

If you soft wash it you’ll get less mess, but you will find it hard to get the lumps of moss off etc.

Price wise you need to factor in the equipment needed, the plant hire, and the time. It’ll probably take 2 days, so you’ll want to go in around £950 (2 workers) Most people won’t pay it, and you won’t get the job. Our cherry pickers are only £110 a day to hire, but you might find where you are it’s substantially more.

It’s a messy job, hard work, and dangerous. So if you do go for it, don’t say you weren’t warned! However the results do look great in the end, and the nive chunk of money is always good!

[JJay]

I was  thinking about scaffolding and roof ladder that you can put on roof and clean it fit brush or moss cutter with pole because roof tiles are not settled very well and I want to avoid damage to areas between tiles and on the end give a really good wash. I know it's gonna be really messy.  probably if I want to hire cheery pickers he's not going to pay it. Anyway I've got information. Thanks a lot for ideas.

[zesty]

I was  thinking about scaffolding and roof ladder that you can put on roof and clean it fit brush or moss cutter with pole because roof tiles are not settled very well and I want to avoid damage to areas between tiles and on the end give a really good wash. I know it's gonna be really messy.  probably if I want to hire cheery pickers he's not going to pay it. Anyway I've got information. Thanks a lot for ideas.

Scaffolding isn’t cheap, it’s way more expensive than a cheery, (unless you just want a small scaffold tower)

Scraping is hard work, but if you charge enough, it could be worth it! Roof ladders are safe, we used to use them, for taking peoples aerials off chimneys etc etc.

Anyway, all comes down to price and what the customer is willing to pay!

[swanson]

If your desperate for the work go for it
But it's a lot of hard work and aggro.
Go to smart seal based in Essex for your chems
But they are not cheap.
Good luck you will need it.

[Plankton]

Have you cleaned roofs before? (other than a porch roof)

[JJay]

Yes I've been cleaning roofs but bit smaller and not so high with a different angle where I was usually able to stand on my feet.  About chemicals. What you guys using?

[Smudger]

Good luck getting a decent job done off a roof ladder - have you been using fall arrest system when standing on  a roof (including bungalows)

The only real way to go is cherry picker mnemonic ftylifts are ok but have a wide footprint and don’t usually  fit around the back get a tracked spider lift 17 meter for that jobbie it will pass through a standard gate but you will need ipaf to operate it

That’s a 2 man job - day and a half to clean and treat then half day wash down and tidy

Price around £1750 plus vat

Darran

[Smudger]

Just to add alway clean from the ridge downwards

Darran

[Smudger]

[dazmond]

a window cleaning company near me just climb on second storey roofs and stand on the apex with a pressure washer....

..they are dicing with serious injury or death..if they fall or slip its game over......

[C & S]

I would do that at £1200 using a scaffold tower, roof ladder and harness.

Stick in your quote but dont bother too much about it as 99 percent wont pay it anyway. 

[zesty]

We quoted £950 for this roof and it was done in one day, though it was easy to do as it was hard red tiles so we just pressure washed it, came up a treat!

[zesty]

We always use nifty lifts, as they have the spider feet so can be retracted and moved through gates (if the gate is big enough) if the gate isn’t big enough, we don’t bother 

[zesty]

I would do that at £1200 using a scaffold tower, roof ladder and harness.

Stick in your quote but dont bother too much about it as 99 percent wont pay it anyway.

That’s exactly what we find, out of 15 enquiries we might get one, and that’s a big ‘might’

People are always amazed at how much it costs. Very few actually want a clean roof that badly that they pay for it.

[Smudger]

Got a bit better rate than that 1 in 3 - yes there are many who think it can be done cheap but still me of it is expectation  over here you still have the “good ole boys” who scrape a roof for £100 ( even though the moss comes back )

I also screen before quoting with a rough price ie... a semi bungalow starts at £700


Darran

[Kev Martin]

I don’t clean Roofs so I don’t know but like any quote we do I would not waste any more than a few words.  It is a bit like Darren says.........they ask how much!  I would take a quick walk round and say something like :

“Experience dictates that this roof will cost around £950 to clean and treat......wait for their reaction and then say,  do you want to think about it?     Or do you want me to conduct a full survey to give you an accurate price? “ Job done.  It gives you a way out and gives them an easy way out if the price shocks them

[JJay]

I will think about more. There's no rush so could wait.  Thanks again for all informations and different points of view.