How Much Does Roof Cleaning Cost? What Are Fair Prices For A Roof Clean in The UK…

You may be wondering exactly how much is costs to have your roof cleaned, or maybe you’ve had a couple of quotes which are miles apart and you are unsure why, or what factors are even considered in calculating a roof cleaning cost?

Here at The Roof Moss Cleaners Ltd we have been in the roof cleaning industry for many years and have come across almost every situation a client could face when it comes to getting roof cleaning quotes – from the sublime to the ridiculous for a clean roof!

In this blog post I aim to help you understand the factors that effect the price of roof moss removal and washing services in the UK.

Factors effecting the roof cleaning cost for your property

You may be under the impression that calculating the cost to remove moss and clean a roof is straight forward and a contractor could give a quote based on the number of bedrooms or the age of the roof but there are many more factors that come into the equation of providing a quote for roof cleaning including:

The Size Of Your Roof

The size of your roof area to be cleaned, it goes without saying that a larger roof area will take a longer to clean and therefore cost more. Generally the larger the roof area the more complex the process can become.

Shape Of Your Roof & Access

There are many different variations of shapes of roof from a straight forward up and over roof, to more complex roof shapes including hip ends, roof valleys and dormer windows etc. More complex roof shapes can come with access issues which would require the use of a cherry picker / MWEP which obviously has an influence on the cost of cleaning your roof. Cherry picker hire rates raise the cost by approximately £250-£500 per day.

Your Roof Tile Material

Roof tiles come in many materials with the main ones that we see are made with concrete, natural clay and natural slate. Each of the tiles has a suitable method to clean, ranging from a manual scrape and biocide treatment for cleaning concrete roof tiles, through to a steam clean and biocide treatment suited to clay tiles and roofing slates – we never pressure wash a roof!

Type & Shape Of Your Roof Tiles

Clay and Slate roof tiles are generally totally flat and easier to clean than shaped concrete tiles, however concrete tiles can also be flat. Shaped concrete tiles such as Marley Eternit Double Roman or the Marley Eternit Ludlow which are both a very popular roof tile are very time consuming to clean due to the shaped profile.

Commercial buildings often have metal clad roof tops which are steam cleaned.

Location Of Your Home

If your house is set on a hillside it can make access very difficult, especially where a cherry picker would be needed as MWEP’s do not work on steep inclines. In this instance a safe roof cleaning contractor would resort to fixed scaffolding which comes at a cost of around £1000. Scaffolding is generally used as a last resort due to the expense and disturbance at your home.

Other location concerns would be if your home is set close to a stream, river, lake or any other body of water as chemicals used to repel moss growth are inherently harmful to aquatic life – that being said there are safe options that can be used in this scenario but they are more expensive than the usual treatments.

Roof Cleaning Contractor Overheads / Costs

Insurance

A roof cleaning company should always carry a high level of liability insurance, which also covers damage to property being worked on. Be aware that many liability insurance policies do not cover risk to property being worked on. Full cover, including cover for staff working at height is a huge expense that a legitimate company pays for every year – be sure to check the level of cover provided by contractors and tradesmen when comparing quotes.

Staff

The costs of hiring competent roof workers can be as much as double what is costs for unskilled labourers in this industry. The cost difference there can be as much as £200 per day for a skilled 2 man team vs an unskilled team.

Vehicles

An obvious running cost for any mobile trades business however a properly kitted out roof cleaning vehicle will have tanks and pumps onboard for use with biocide treatment.

Offices / Storage Units

Larger companies will have the overheads associated with offices, office staff and storage units whereas sole traders will have minimal operating costs. In general a professional company will provide a superior service and stand by any moss free guarantees provided.

Chemicals

The chemicals which will is applied as part of your roof moss removal and treatment service comes from many different manufactures, at vastly different costs. A company which uses inferior or unlicensed chemicals will have a much lower cost per square meter of roof to be cleaned vs a company who uses HSE approved roof treatments.

Equipment

Some contractors invest heavily in specialist roof cleaning equipment such a mobile access towers, telescopic roof scraping kits and specialist chemical application systems. These are expensive items of equipment which need replacing over time, however this equipment allows a professional cleaning company such as The Roof Moss Cleaners Ltd to deliver the very best level of clean.

VAT

A larger firm will be vat registered, adding 20% to the cost of having your roof cleaned.

Got Your Roof Cleaning Quotes? Here's What To Consider When Doing Your Price Comparison

When reviewing quotes it would be very easy to literally look at the roof cleaning cost provided by each company for your house and simply go with the cheapest, however you may find that not be the best value for your money.

Hopefully if you’ve read this far you would now know that roof cleaning prices will vary dramatically depending on the quality of Labour, chemicals and the size of the companies you have asked to clean your roof tiles.

Compare Like for Like, A Quote from a sole trader vs a larger roof cleaning companies – The cheapest prices may not be the cheapest in the long run

Average Roof Moss Cleaning Prices

The average cost per square meter of roof tile to be cleaned of dirt, moss, algae and treated to delay the return of moss in the future will vary from approx £7 to £15, which is little in comparison to the roof replacement cost for a house.

Cost For A Terraced Roof

When having your terraced property roof cleaned it is often works out at a lower price per property if your neighbour has thier roof cleaned at the same time.

Expect to pay from £749 for a single roof or £500 per property if 2 houses have thier roofs cleaned at the same time.

Cost For A Semi Detached Roof

Semi detached house roofs vary wildly in size / shape and complexity to access to safely remove moss and clean the roof.

Moss removal and Roof cleaning costs start from £850 for a semi detached house through to around £1500.

Cost For A Bungalow Roof

Many people expect a bungalow roof to be cheaper to have cleaned, however most bungalow roofs are actually a larger square meterage than many detached houses – they do however benefit from generally easier access.

Cost For A Detached House Roof

It goes without saying that the rooftop of a detached home can range from a simple up and over with flat concrete tiles, to a sprawling historic country mansion with delicate clay roof tiles.

Therefore this is a much harder category of home to give a ballpark figure for roof cleaning. Having a roof cleaned on this type of home ranged from £850 through to £8500 – the most expensive roof that we have ever cleaned.

Commercial Building Roof Cleaning Prices

Commercial buildings such as industrial units, warehouses and factories usually have metal cladding on the roof and walls of the building. Hot washing them is usually the best method to get the perfect clean. Prices are usually around the £2/ sq meter mark plus any hired in access equipment such as MWEP’s or fixed access scaffolds.

We do not offer roof sealant services, to get the perfect application they require perfect weather conditions – something that we do not have here in the UK. Save your money, ypull be amazed at the transformation a professional roof cleaning service can provide!

Why Jet Washing Your Roof May Not Be The Most Cheapest Way To Clean Your Roof

Using a Pressure washer to clean roofs of moss and years of biofilm may sound like a very good idea, but only to those who do not educate themselves on the dangers of roof cleaning, both to the operator and the property itself.

Just imagine getting your quotes in, choosing the cheapest pressure wash firm, they arrive and get to work pressure washing moss, dirt and algae from your roof tiles..

Then..

You find water pouring through your ceiling in your bedroom because they failed to check the condition of your roof tiles, valleys and the roofing felt inside your loft..

All because they were to keen to get to work without knowing of the risks, or caring about the potential damage to your home.

Ok, that’s worse case scenario but has it happened, of course it has!

Could it happen to you, of course it could.

That’s without the obvious risk of the man using the pressure washer slipping and falling from your roof!

We always recommend avoiding jet washing, not only could the worst happen above, it can also strip roof tiles of years of thier lifespan if done at too higher pressure!

An expensive mistake of having your roof cleaned by an inexperienced cleaner, easily avoided by hiring a competent roof cleaning contractor.

Get Roof Moss Removal & Treatment Quotes Now

Get a roof cleaning quote today by calling 01494 355645 or filling in the form (remember to upload images for a fast, fixed roof cleaning price).