1st job, pricing help

Hi guys, so I’ve decided to venture into new areas of cleaning and I’m going to be adding roof cleaning amongst other things to my list of services starting spring next year so plenty of time to gain all the info needed to get me going. I’ve already landed my first roof clean which involves a bit of moss removal then cleaning of the tiles. They have told me they don’t want the tiles pressure washed and tbh I dont really want to go down that route as I know how easy it is to break roof tiles by walking on them and it’s also put me off when I was watching this crazy guy last week. 

I was thinking of using a skyscraper along with either a tower scaffold or my good friends cherry picker to remove the moss then using a soft wash method to clean the tiles. Access around the property is good with most of the roof being visable from ground level. I was thinking roughly a day to a day and a half’s work for two people at around £5-600 plus the cost of any equipment rental and chems. Does this sound about right or am I way off the mark. Any help is much appreciated. 
Here are a couple of pics of the job in question. 

I for one wouldnt do it. Im sure there are many who do though. I slid on a roof the other week while cleaning skylights. was only a ground floor extension. Cherry pickers gonna be a pain for a lot of potential jobs surely? Im sure scottish or someone will know the best method, Scrape off moss with extended scraper? Dont know that those type of tiles would benefit that much from any chemical? best of luck bud

Scaffold tower should’ve fine but I think it’s a 2 day job and price wise to scrape and treat should’ve in the region is £800-1200 , it’s a reasonable size roof and dormers , it will take longer than you think especially if you haven’t done this type of work before . The Back with the single storey extension is going to be a bit fiddly reaching the main roof and will also take longer . 

Pjj said:

Scaffold tower should’ve fine but I think it’s a 2 day job and price wise to scrape and treat should’ve in the region is £800-1200 , it’s a reasonable size roof and dormers , it will take longer than you think especially if you haven’t done this type of work before . The Back with the single storey extension is going to be a bit fiddly reaching the main roof and will also take longer . 

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Would it be the moss removal that takes most of the time as I’ve been watching loads of vids on YouTube and to apply and rinse the chems with one person applying the chems and another doing any pre wetting of surrounding areas and also throughout the job was taking them roughly a 2/3 hours on a roof that size? I’ll also add that there is very minimal moss on the back so not much scraping involved on that side. 

Cleanco said:

Would it be the moss removal that takes most of the time as I’ve been watching loads of vids on YouTube and to apply and rinse the chems with one person applying the chems and another doing any pre wetting of surrounding areas and also throughout the job was taking them roughly a 2/3 hours on a roof that size? I’ll also add that there is very minimal moss on the back so not much scraping involved on that side. 

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yes moss removal takes the time , spraying as you say 2-3 hours but it is hard work holding a pole at an angle like that , I have made up a wheeld. Sprayer to run up and down and across roofs I cannot up load a video on hear as it said file size is to big ?? But it works a treat, I will put up a picture of it later if you are interested 

Pjj said:

yes moss removal takes the time , spraying as you say 2-3 hours but it is hard work holding a pole at an angle like that , I have made up a wheeld. Sprayer to run up and down and across roofs I cannot up load a video on hear as it said file size is to big ?? But it works a treat, I will put up a picture of it later if you are interested 

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Yes I’m intrigued to see how that works.? Also I was wandering if I could use my wfp van system as a soft wash delivery unit as long as I flush it through properly at the end of the day? I know it would decrease the life of my pump but if it’s making money then I don’t mind if I have to buy 2/3 a year. 

Cleanco said:

Yes I’m intrigued to see how that works.? Also I was wandering if I could use my wfp van system as a soft wash delivery unit as long as I flush it through properly at the end of the day? I know it would decrease the life of my pump but if it’s making money then I don’t mind if I have to buy 2/3 a year. 

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Hear you go this is what I made to spray roofs the casters will move in all directions so you can go up and down a roof but more importantly you can go from side to side , yes you can use your wfp system just clean it out well I find a Gardiner’s back pack lasts around 3 years doing it , it’s not designed for putting hypo through the pump but it will work ok . 

This just goes into the end of any Gardiner’s wfp so will work at any height it’s lite and very manoverable and you can adjust the angle on the gooseneck  

Pjj said:

Hear you go this is what I made to spray roofs the casters will move in all directions so you can go up and down a roof but more importantly you can go from side to side , yes you can use your wfp system just clean it out well I find a Gardiner’s back pack lasts around 3 years doing it , it’s not designed for putting hypo through the pump but it will work ok . 

This just goes into the end of any Gardiner’s wfp so will work at any height it’s lite and very manoverable and you can adjust the angle on the gooseneck  

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That’s a great idea and I bet it saves risking getting overspray everywhere as apposed to using a lance sprayer. 

Cleanco said:

That’s a great idea and I bet it saves risking getting overspray everywhere as apposed to using a lance sprayer. 

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yes it does saves all the weight on your arms at shallow angles to all you have to do is steer it , we did one roof over 800 sm2  was a piece of cake . 

I dont bother with cems anymore. I just go on the roof and powerwash with my falsh nozzle or my twin turbo nozzle. I wear a harness and connect it around the chimney or a rope over the roof with a loop in it. I use a 1.5m lance which can cover a big area without moving much. If I break any tiles then I just replace them. I find the clean up on the ground takes up half of the time.

scottish cleaning service said:

I dont bother with cems anymore. I just go on the roof and powerwash with my falsh nozzle or my twin turbo nozzle. I wear a harness and connect it around the chimney or a rope over the roof with a loop in it. I use a 1.5m lance which can cover a big area without moving much. If I break any tiles then I just replace them. I find the clean up on the ground takes up half of the time.

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Sod that, I’ve done my time scaling roofs back when I was 100% trad. It’s far too easy to break a tile even if you keep to the batons and then your gonna be unloading copious amounts of water on them. Imagine if the felts gone underneath, your gonna be in a right mess. I once broke a tile walking on a porch. The customer had to get the whole porch replastered and decorated. They were very understanding and even claimed for the damage on their own house insurance.  It could have been a lot worse though so I learnt my lesson with that one. Also do you work alone? If so your mad doing that sort of stuff alone. 

Cleanco said:

Sod that, I’ve done my time scaling roofs back when I was 100% trad. It’s far too easy to break a tile even if you keep to the batons and then your gonna be unloading copious amounts of water on them. Imagine if the felts gone underneath, your gonna be in a right mess. I once broke a tile walking on a porch. The customer had to get the whole porch replastered and decorated. They were very understanding and even claimed for the damage on their own house insurance.  It could have been a lot worse though so I learnt my lesson with that one. Also do you work alone? If so your mad doing that sort of stuff alone. 

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I'm only 13 stone and never broke a tile, maybe I've been lucky.