Roof Cleaning Advice Please
Discussion
We've been looking into getting our roof cleaned. We've had a quote of £400 to clean, repoint and spray a fungicide on it but to be honest we have no idea if that is good or not. We know of someone who paid 3.5k to have this done plus a paint and seal (which I assume would have bumped up the cost somewhat) we can't afford this (we will struggle with the £400!!) but our roof really is in desperate need of a thorough clean! Any experiences/ advice would be gladly appreciated.
Why do you think your roof needs cleaning? that really is not a standard item of maintenance.
If it looks so bad that it's devaluing the house then the tiles are probably past it anyway. If they are that bad then cleaning them will probably damage them.
Remember they get regularly washed up there!!
If it looks so bad that it's devaluing the house then the tiles are probably past it anyway. If they are that bad then cleaning them will probably damage them.
Remember they get regularly washed up there!!
We feel that we should have it done because it is a very old roof and feel it will be beneficial in the long run but want to make sure it is money well spent. It sounds like a reasonable offer but having no knowledge of what a roof costs to maintain I thought I'd use the knowledge on PH 
I thought 3.5k sounded a lot but didn't like to say as they'd already had the work done!
I thought 3.5k sounded a lot but didn't like to say as they'd already had the work done!
Easy_Targa said:
Why do you think your roof needs cleaning? that really is not a standard item of maintenance.
If it looks so bad that it's devaluing the house then the tiles are probably past it anyway. If they are that bad then cleaning them will probably damage them.
Remember they get regularly washed up there!!
There is a ton of moss up there that falls off the roof onto our drive and our conservatory roof, otherwise we wouldn't probably consider itIf it looks so bad that it's devaluing the house then the tiles are probably past it anyway. If they are that bad then cleaning them will probably damage them.
Remember they get regularly washed up there!!
moss isn't good for a roof, water cant flow freely and can back up under the tiles, finding any holes in your felt, damaging the beams below. Depends how much you mean though - before work started on ours I had to de-moss the existing - literally 3 inches thick carpet entirely covering 2 faces 
Roofer recommended I take a lawnmower up first then put some garden furniture out there
I cleaned it off with a garden hoe then sprayed with weedkiller!
Roofer recommended I take a lawnmower up first then put some garden furniture out there
I cleaned it off with a garden hoe then sprayed with weedkiller!
Roofer bloke + stiff broom followed by a few water cans filled with moss killer = job done 
If you get that done every 3 or 4 years it'll be a while before you spent £3.5K
That's the route I took 18 months ago (considered the full works treatment & discounted it on basis of above.)
18 months later the roof is still basically clear of moss.
If you get that done every 3 or 4 years it'll be a while before you spent £3.5K
That's the route I took 18 months ago (considered the full works treatment & discounted it on basis of above.)
18 months later the roof is still basically clear of moss.
£400 to "clean" a roof?
You can get a set of poles for a couple of hundred quid. Basically a brush on the end of a long pole with a hosepipe up through it. Get to the top of a ladder and surely you can reach most of your roof and do it yourself...with the benefit you can always do it AGAIN at NO cost...
The pros, I presume, would scaffold the damn thing and that's where the money's going?
You can get a set of poles for a couple of hundred quid. Basically a brush on the end of a long pole with a hosepipe up through it. Get to the top of a ladder and surely you can reach most of your roof and do it yourself...with the benefit you can always do it AGAIN at NO cost...
The pros, I presume, would scaffold the damn thing and that's where the money's going?
If you do try to clean it yourselves , block up the rainwater outlet first.
be carefull with any high pressure jetting or chemicals , your roof tiles may just give in and the surface will fall away from them , that may already be a problem.
I would get the roof inspected by a decent roofer before anyone does anything to it.
be carefull with any high pressure jetting or chemicals , your roof tiles may just give in and the surface will fall away from them , that may already be a problem.
I would get the roof inspected by a decent roofer before anyone does anything to it.
Oh for f
ks sake, why do people get cowboys in to pressure wash there roofs??
All you need to do is have a few tarps, a couple of ladders + a roof ladder, and a scraper.
Put the tarps down.
Set the ladders up.
Work along the roof scraping the moss off, finish job wash gutters / facia, pick up tarps.
Jobs a goodu'n.
Also what area do you live in?
HTH
ks sake, why do people get cowboys in to pressure wash there roofs??All you need to do is have a few tarps, a couple of ladders + a roof ladder, and a scraper.
Put the tarps down.
Set the ladders up.
Work along the roof scraping the moss off, finish job wash gutters / facia, pick up tarps.
Jobs a goodu'n.
Also what area do you live in?
HTH
Thanks for all the advice/ info so far.
Doing it ourselves is an option, however not all of us in this world were designed to clamber on roof tops so please don't be offended if that is one piece of advice I choose to ignore. My hubby can do a lot of DIY but to be honest I'm not sure I would actually let him go on the roof even if he was prepared to!
As you can tell this is not my area of expertise! as a result we would not agree to any other work except for what I've already described. What I really wanted to know is if the price quoted for the work described is reasonable if we are not prepared to do it ourselves.
How likely is it that more damage could be done by a roofer than someone like us who didn't know what they were doing! By the sounds of it we definitely need to get rid of the moss somehow.
Doing it ourselves is an option, however not all of us in this world were designed to clamber on roof tops so please don't be offended if that is one piece of advice I choose to ignore. My hubby can do a lot of DIY but to be honest I'm not sure I would actually let him go on the roof even if he was prepared to!
As you can tell this is not my area of expertise! as a result we would not agree to any other work except for what I've already described. What I really wanted to know is if the price quoted for the work described is reasonable if we are not prepared to do it ourselves.
How likely is it that more damage could be done by a roofer than someone like us who didn't know what they were doing! By the sounds of it we definitely need to get rid of the moss somehow.
liner33 said:
There is no way i would get on my roof , i'd almost certainly fall off , i'd pay a days work to have it done £200 , i was told if you fix a copper strip to the roof the arsenic leeches out and keeps the roof clear
I'm glad someone else has admitted this. I was beginning to think I was the only houseowner who wouldn't climb on my roof 
becksW said:
We've been looking into getting our roof cleaned. We've had a quote of £400 to clean, repoint and spray a fungicide on it but to be honest we have no idea if that is good or not. We know of someone who paid 3.5k to have this done plus a paint and seal (which I assume would have bumped up the cost somewhat) we can't afford this (we will struggle with the £400!!) but our roof really is in desperate need of a thorough clean! Any experiences/ advice would be gladly appreciated.
What size is your roof?Don said:
£400 to "clean" a roof?
You can get a set of poles for a couple of hundred quid. Basically a brush on the end of a long pole with a hosepipe up through it. Get to the top of a ladder and surely you can reach most of your roof and do it yourself...with the benefit you can always do it AGAIN at NO cost...
The pros, I presume, would scaffold the damn thing and that's where the money's going?
Have you ever tried to get moss off a roof? The stuff gets rooted in there.You can get a set of poles for a couple of hundred quid. Basically a brush on the end of a long pole with a hosepipe up through it. Get to the top of a ladder and surely you can reach most of your roof and do it yourself...with the benefit you can always do it AGAIN at NO cost...
The pros, I presume, would scaffold the damn thing and that's where the money's going?
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