How much does it cost to have my roof cleaned?

“How much does it cost so much to have my roof cleaned?” A common question we are asked. It does seem like quite an investment at first. On average, it costs about £20/£30 to have your windows cleaned. It probably costs around £100/£150 to have your gutters cleaned. So in comparison to this service, it can seem a lot when you say prices start at £900 Plus VAT to have your roof cleaned. Within this article, I’m hoping we can shed some light on why it costs so much and, of course, give you an indication of the price for your roof cleaning.

Our business offers a standardised price list for services such as window cleaning, gutter cleaning, fascia, and soffit cleaning. But that’s because it’s easy for us to formulate based on the size of your property. The issue we have in standardising a pricing structure for roof cleaning is that there are too many variables to offer a “one size fits all” kind of pricing structure.

Let’s start with the easy part. The most basic way we can clean your roof is to use what we call a “Scrape & Treat”. Essentially this is a team of two roof cleaners working on your property. They will bring all equipment needed with two mobile scaffold towers that they will build up to the gutter line of the property. They will then use specially designed scrapers cut to the contour of your property’s tile. Using extendable carbon fibre poles, they can start from the ridge tile on the roof and pull all moss downward. They remove as much as possible from all the tiles. The team will then bag up all the moss and remove it from the site.

Once the roof is clear of moss, we would then spray your roof with a label compliant 40% DDAC (quarternary ammonium chloride) Biocide. Biocide is an excellent chemical. It will kill off all remaining spores and lichen over some time. It will also restore the natural colour of the tile. This process takes time. We have seen results achieved back to their original state within 6/12 months. It has taken up to two years for other roof surfaces to remove the most stubborn lichen. Early on, your roof will be moss-free; some minor lichen marks can take time. Biocide works by clinging to the porous surface, and every time we have weather cycles of sun and rain, it will keep activating and cleaning your roof a little more each time. We offer a four-year guarantee on all roofs we clean as we are confident in the chemical. If, for any reason, moss starts to grow again within four years, we would come out free of charge and apply more chemicals.

Sometimes we are asked: “Why are you more expensive than some of your competitors?”

It’s true; we can be more expensive. The reason for this is we don’t cut corners. We are not suggesting that everyone out there who is cheaper does cut corners. We know how long roof cleaning takes us to do it safely and effectively. We know our costs, and to make a decent profit to reinvest in our equipment, training and staff, we know what price we need to charge.

We won’t walk directly on roof tiles, We won’t work off ladders, and we would use a cherry picker if needed as our employee safety is paramount. This, of course, can affect a quote by some margin. If we quote to have a team of two correctly clean a roof and a competitor, cut some of these corners. They can also cut down on a lot of time, which could mean a cheaper quote.

Another way to cut costs is using cheap or no chemicals after cleaning your roof. We always use a 40% DDAC label-compliant biocide after a roof cleaning. It is costly but is the best chemical on the market to give you the future protection needed to keep moss from returning. Some other companies may use Sodium Hypochlorite (Bleach), which is very cheap in comparison, or a weaker mix of Biocide than the 40% DDAC we recommend. Some companies may pressure wash a roof but not apply a chemical, so moss will settle in and return quickly.

Another way you may get a cheaper quote is if someone was to pressure wash your roof with no safety in mind. We have witnessed other companies walking directly on the roof tiles without protection. Walking ridge tiles like they are walking a tightrope in a circus. One small slip and it could be fatal.

Lastly, we are as soft as possible while cleaning your roof. If a customer wants instant results, we would then use a method called steam cleaning. The jury is out on the term steam cleaning within the industry as to whether it is actual steam. We believe it’s steam as we are using high temperatures at around 130/140 degrees, and the boiling point of water is 100 degrees. It makes sense to us, but then, we are not scientists. We are simply working on the statistics of the equipment and common sense. But regardless of the temperature, one thing that is for sure is we are using high temperature and low pressure. This reduces the water used, so the risk of flooding your roof is minimal and less likely to damage the tile’s surface. A pressure washer running at full tilt can be much quicker to get the job done quicker, potentially saving you some money. You just run the risk of having your roof damaged in the process.

If we were to steam clean your roof, you would have the instant WOW factor and curb appeal. It speeds up the waiting process instead of letting the Biocide do the work. When we finish the job, your roof will be moss free, back to its original tile colour, and then we always add the biocide treatment to give it its future protection.

So with all the above in mind, we hope you can see why we may sometimes be more expensive than others.

We now come to the critical question. “how much does it cost to have my roof cleaned?”

The straightforward answer is, “It depends on the roof.”

We will indicate what it might cost to have your roof cleaned, and once you have the following info, you may be able to work out some ballpark figures for yourself.

1) A standard 2/3 Bed Semi/Detached property with no extensions or dormer styles windows will probably be £900 to £1200 Plus VAT Bracket to scrape and treat. If the house is more modern, it will be nearer the bottom price. If it’s a more period property, it may be higher if the tiles look fragile or the roof, in general, is more extensive than more modern properties.

2) If your property is as previously but you’d like us to steam clean it, depending on how mossy your roof is and how large it is, the price for us to give you instant results and future protection will be between £1200 and £2000 Plus VAT

3) A standard 4 Bed detached property with no extensions or dormer with straightforward access around the property for a scrape could be from £1200 to £2000 plus VAT, depending on roof size and tile type.

4) A Standard 4/5 Bed Detached property to steam clean will be from £2000 to £3000 Plus VAT. Again dependent on roof size and access.

5) Larger 5/6 Bed properties. Good access could be £2800 to £4000 plus VAT for scrape and treat.

6) Larger 5/6 Bed properties to steam clean could be £3000 to £5000 Plus VAT, depending on the size of the roof and the amount of moss we need to remove.

To keep it simple, the above are probably the price ranges we clean most, but what can affect the price is a few of the following.

Dormer Type Windows. These can be tricky to get access to when either scraping or steaming. For this reason, it may affect the price. Only some of the time can be straightforward. If you have more, you may expect a few hundred pounds on top for a few dormers.

Extensions. Some extensions can be butt up to neighbouring properties. Some also have pitches of roofs that angle into other parts of the tops. Extensions can make certain parts of the roof tricky to gain access to.

Tile Type. If you have a flat tile that could access all the way around, you will be on the lower end of the prices quoted above.

Access. We can get too many roofs via our scaffold towers, but sometimes we will need an access machine to get to parts of a roof safely. It would incur more cost to cover the hire of the device. Hire cost is in the region of £400 to £700 plus VAT per day. We would only need it for the time necessary to get to the awkward parts of the roof.

We hope the above gives you some insight into the factors contributing to “How much does it cost to have my roof cleaned?”

We are always here via email or phone if you need any further questions answered or require a more specific quote. If you’d like to talk to us today then please fill out your details on this short form below.