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Roof Cleaning Advice Needed

FZN097

New member
Messages
6
Location
Warwickshire
Hi all, 

I'm starting up a home and garden services business and I'm currently deciding on which services I will be offering. One of the services I'm exploring is roof cleaning. From my research on google and youtube i've seen several different ways of applying biocide to roofs, for example, from using a water fed pole to the Marshall Sprayer (https://marshallpro.godaddysites.com/shop/ols/products/sprayer). Given my limited budget I'm looking for something between £100 - £200 (ideally a sprayer).

Any advice/links on the best method/equipment to use for applying biocide will be hugely appreciated. 

Any links to the best biocide to use is also hugely appreciated. 

Also any general advice will also be appreciated.   

Thanks in advance! 

 
Hi all, 

I'm starting up a home and garden services business and I'm currently deciding on which services I will be offering. One of the services I'm exploring is roof cleaning. From my research on google and youtube i've seen several different ways of applying biocide to roofs, for example, from using a water fed pole to the Marshall Sprayer (https://marshallpro.godaddysites.com/shop/ols/products/sprayer). Given my limited budget I'm looking for something between £100 - £200 (ideally a sprayer).

Any advice/links on the best method/equipment to use for applying biocide will be hugely appreciated. 

Any links to the best biocide to use is also hugely appreciated. 

Also any general advice will also be appreciated.   

Thanks in advance! 
You said you’d been on YouTube but in case you haven’t already check out partridge exterior cleanings vids he has some really helpful informative stuff on there for people starting out and he always reply’s to comments as well! 

 
Hi all, 

I'm starting up a home and garden services business and I'm currently deciding on which services I will be offering. One of the services I'm exploring is roof cleaning. From my research on google and youtube i've seen several different ways of applying biocide to roofs, for example, from using a water fed pole to the Marshall Sprayer (https://marshallpro.godaddysites.com/shop/ols/products/sprayer). Given my limited budget I'm looking for something between £100 - £200 (ideally a sprayer).

Any advice/links on the best method/equipment to use for applying biocide will be hugely appreciated. 

Any links to the best biocide to use is also hugely appreciated. 

Also any general advice will also be appreciated.   

Thanks in advance! 
Watch some of Sid partridges roof cleaning videos on YouTube and see whether you would be physically capable and able to duplicate the same standards. All the answers to roof cleaning are pretty much all summed up by him.

It's really not as easy as it looks.

Do you have ladders, Tower scaffold and the PLI I do believe is considerably more expensive for roofs, then you throw in chemical pesticides etc 

Lots of associated risks in my opinion for a newbie 

https://youtube.com/channel/UCfqMYD9jhWvuvMgM36zNIlA

 
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You said you’d been on YouTube but in case you haven’t already check out partridge exterior cleanings vids he has some really helpful informative stuff on there for people starting out and he always reply’s to comments as well! 
Sid's channel is great. Although he has been roof cleaning for quite a while his first vids show how it can be done with the basics. In earlier vids his H&S isn't that great especially if you are not used to ladders but recently he has been hiring a scaffold tower and working off that. 

I may be a bit biased as I won a Flexiscraper kit from him this week ? check out his youtube channel - 'Partridge Exterior Cleaning'.

One thing to be very aware of is working at height is dangerous. So if you don't have experience in working at height don't risk it without doing a course in working at height. Your life is too precious to risk!!!!

Plus scraping and biociding is mega hard work. Don't think it just takes a couple of hrs and you earn loads. It's very very hard work that takes a long time!!!!

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 
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Sid's channel is great. Although he has been roof cleaning for quite a while his first vids show how it can be done with the basics. In earlier vids his H&S isn't that great especially if you are not used to ladders but recently he has been hiring a scaffold tower and working off that. 

I may be a bit biased as I won a Flexiscraper kit from him this week ? check out his youtube channel - 'Partridge Exterior Cleaning'.

One thing to be very aware of is working at height is dangerous. So if you don't have experience in working at height don't risk it without doing a course in working at height. Your life is too precious to risk!!!!

Plus scraping and biociding is mega hard work. Don't think it just takes a couple of hrs and you earn loads. It's very very hard work that takes a long time!!!!

Good luck and let us know how you get on.
I saw that wondered if it was the same ched! Congrats on the win! 

 
I saw that wondered if it was the same ched! Congrats on the win! 
Cheers.

I was mega surprised. The kit arrived and it's a starter plus lots of other bits. I am planning on doing my roof first (bungalow) as I have a small diy tower that lets me reach. Although I haven't go much moss so not a perfect test but will give me an idea how much physical work it is.

Sid seems a genuine nice hard working bloke. 

 
Cheers.

I was mega surprised. The kit arrived and it's a starter plus lots of other bits. I am planning on doing my roof first (bungalow) as I have a small diy tower that lets me reach. Although I haven't go much moss so not a perfect test but will give me an idea how much physical work it is.

Sid seems a genuine nice hard working bloke. 
Why bother scraping a roof if you are going to use biocide? The reason you spray biocide/algicide is to break the cells and nothing can grow on the roof for a year. The moss will then die and dry up and get blown away or fall into the gutter. That's in the manufacturers instructions and what I tell my customers. 

 
Why bother scraping a roof if you are going to use biocide? The reason you spray biocide/algicide is to break the cells and nothing can grow on the roof for a year. The moss will then die and dry up and get blown away or fall into the gutter. That's in the manufacturers instructions and what I tell my customers. 
This is an image that Sid posted today. Left side (left semi) has been scraped and biocided that day. If you had just biocided would it have given the immediate result that scraping did? Plus no chance of gutters blocking.

You might have an advantage as you mainly do existing custys don't you? If that's the case then you have built up trust with them so they will believe you when you say it will take a few months to show results.

image.png

 
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This is an image that Sid posted today. Left side (left semi) has been scraped and biocided that day. If you had just biocided would it have given the immediate result that scraping did? Plus no chance of gutters blocking.

You might have an advantage as you mainly do existing custys don't you? If that's the case then you have built up trust with them so they will believe you when you say it will take a few months to show results.

View attachment 24233
If I want instant results then I PW the roofs and they come up looking new and don't need biocide. All to there own but seems alot of hard work. I would charge £260 to spray it and clearout gutters or £500 to PW and clearout gutters and clean windows. Don't offer a scrape and biocide service at the moment and don't think I ever will. Traditional uses of mosses included as insulation and for the ability to absorb liquids up to 20 times their weight. There's not much to mosses, no roots and single cell which the enzyme breaks and the moss dies. Educate yourself in what actually moss is and how it forms and you may begin to think like me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss#:~:text=Mosses typically form dense green,in conducting water and nutrients.

Lichen is different and unsightly which takes months to disappear using biocides or hypo so that's when the PW works wonders and the roof comes up like new. fwiw 

 
If I want instant results then I PW the roofs and they come up looking new and don't need biocide. All to there own but seems alot of hard work. I would charge £260 to spray it and clearout gutters or £500 to PW and clearout gutters and clean windows. Don't offer a scrape and biocide service at the moment and don't think I ever will. Traditional uses of mosses included as insulation and for the ability to absorb liquids up to 20 times their weight. There's not much to mosses, no roots and single cell which the enzyme breaks and the moss dies. Educate yourself in what actually moss is and how it forms and you may begin to think like me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss#:~:text=Mosses typically form dense green,in conducting water and nutrients.

Lichen is different and unsightly which takes months to disappear using biocides or hypo so that's when the PW works wonders and the roof comes up like new. fwiw 
Doesn't that prove hiw dangerous moss on a roof is? 

If theres a lot of moss then the roof might have to hold up 20x more weight than its designed to ?

 
Doesn't that prove hiw dangerous moss on a roof is? 

If theres a lot of moss then the roof might have to hold up 20x more weight than its designed to ?
Roof trussing is super strong due to it's loading triangulation and tested with weight far greater than you can imagine 

 
On 16/04/2021 at 17:30, ched999uk said:plus scraping and biociding is mega hard work. Don't think it just takes a couple of hrs and you earn loads. It's very very hard work that takes a long time
Completely different ball game to windows, gotta really make sure you charge well otherwise you’re working a lot harder for not much more money! I’ve done a few now and have a few more booked in but am making sure that I Add at least a couple hundred on top of what I want to make to make it worthwhile!

 
There's no point spraying a roof And clearing the gutters for less than £200. You would charge £60 to clear the gutters and at least £70 for biocide so you are spraying roof for £70. I charge £230 minimum but I ask if any of their neighbours want it done and I give them a group price. One of the roofs had been done and it looked good but you could see they never sprayed down the edges so it left 6 inches of moss down each side. I always give the ridge tiles and the edges a good spray because these are the places the birds rest on. The moss loves to grow in these areas because of the fertiliser. Below aerials and expansion pipes is another place it grows well.

 
There's no point spraying a roof And clearing the gutters for less than £200. You would charge £60 to clear the gutters and at least £70 for biocide so you are spraying roof for £70. I charge £230 minimum but I ask if any of their neighbours want it done and I give them a group price. One of the roofs had been done and it looked good but you could see they never sprayed down the edges so it left 6 inches of moss down each side. I always give the ridge tiles and the edges a good spray because these are the places the birds rest on. The moss loves to grow in these areas because of the fertiliser. Below aerials and expansion pipes is another place it grows well.
Ime not surprised you are so busy with prices like that put them up by at least 50% preferably nearer double ???

 
Ime not surprised you are so busy with prices like that put them up by at least 50% preferably nearer double ???
Aye, doing one tomorrow for £260 but I have another job in same place for £300. There is two of us and using scaffold on wheels so won't take long. I like to earn £200 a day and I'm very happy with that. Probably the reason I'm so busy. Bought 2 grand worth of equipment last week and spending another 2 grand on that softwash bowser and hopefully that's me, nothing left to buy, heaven.

 
Aye, doing one tomorrow for £260 but I have another job in same place for £300. There is two of us and using scaffold on wheels so won't take long. I like to earn £200 a day and I'm very happy with that. Probably the reason I'm so busy. Bought 2 grand worth of equipment last week and spending another 2 grand on that softwash bowser and hopefully that's me, nothing left to buy, heaven.
Any news on the bowser yet ??? 

 
Any news on the bowser yet ??? 
Ben was saying he can't get his hands on the red plastic tanks to make any but they may arrive middle of May. This is beginning to be a problem for business, they can't get enough stock and the moment stock does come in its back out again. Got talking to my local builders merchant and he said fencing came in on Friday and was sold out at end of day Monday. Heard its the same with the car industry, they can't get the chips they need so some companies have stopped building cars and one has got them building chips instead.

 
You said you’d been on YouTube but in case you haven’t already check out partridge exterior cleanings vids he has some really helpful informative stuff on there for people starting out and he always reply’s to comments as well! 
Hi, 

Thanks for your reply. 

I've watched a couple of his videos and I've found him to be really helpful, I've still got a bunch of his videos to go through today. I'll definitely have a look through the comments too.  

 
Watch some of Sid partridges roof cleaning videos on YouTube and see whether you would be physically capable and able to duplicate the same standards. All the answers to roof cleaning are pretty much all summed up by him.

It's really not as easy as it looks.

Do you have ladders, Tower scaffold and the PLI I do believe is considerably more expensive for roofs, then you throw in chemical pesticides etc 

Lots of associated risks in my opinion for a newbie 

https://youtube.com/channel/UCfqMYD9jhWvuvMgM36zNIlA
Hi, 

Thanks for your reply mate. 

I'll definitely check him out. so far, I've got PLI, a ladder that reaches about 8 meters and a scaffolding tower that reaches the same height. I spent this weekend practising assembling the tower and I've got my time down to about 20 minutes. I've also got the SkyScraper Head & Blades (https://windowcleaningwarehouse.co.uk/products/skyscraper-head-blades), a bunch of trowels, heavy duty buckets and a bunch of wire brushes and brooms. I've also got an agreement in place to dispose of the waste once a week. All that is left (that I can think of) is a chemical pesticide and a way of safely applying it. 

 
Sid's channel is great. Although he has been roof cleaning for quite a while his first vids show how it can be done with the basics. In earlier vids his H&S isn't that great especially if you are not used to ladders but recently he has been hiring a scaffold tower and working off that. 

I may be a bit biased as I won a Flexiscraper kit from him this week ? check out his youtube channel - 'Partridge Exterior Cleaning'.

One thing to be very aware of is working at height is dangerous. So if you don't have experience in working at height don't risk it without doing a course in working at height. Your life is too precious to risk!!!!

Plus scraping and biociding is mega hard work. Don't think it just takes a couple of hrs and you earn loads. It's very very hard work that takes a long time!!!!

Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Hi, 

Thanks for your reply mate. 

Have you had a chance to use the Flexiscraper kit yet? What are your thoughts on it? 

Yeah I'm figuring out that its a lot harder, and requires more attention than I had first thought. That being said, I'm definitely capable of doing the hard work and look forward to the challenge. 

 
Hi, 

Thanks for your reply mate. 

I'll definitely check him out. so far, I've got PLI, a ladder that reaches about 8 meters and a scaffolding tower that reaches the same height. I spent this weekend practising assembling the tower and I've got my time down to about 20 minutes. I've also got the SkyScraper Head & Blades (https://windowcleaningwarehouse.co.uk/products/skyscraper-head-blades), a bunch of trowels, heavy duty buckets and a bunch of wire brushes and brooms. I've also got an agreement in place to dispose of the waste once a week. All that is left (that I can think of) is a chemical pesticide and a way of safely applying it. 
With regards to tower assembly I wouldn't advise timing yourself and work to a level where you feel it's safe and not a time frame.

With regards to tools, Go to poundland and in there seasonal summer stock you should see green plastic scoops. Great for gutters gullys and general clean up. If they don't have any there are available on Amazon.co.uk 

I wouldn't make any agreements to remove any waste unless the agreement is by the means of you hold a local authority waste transfer licence 

I put all my waste per job into the customers green bin or with their consent under hedgerows or behind flower beds or compost bin.

Also rubber buckets are great for waste collection, most superstores sell them. Also poundland has those 

Next you need to encompass ladder safely. Do you have a means of levelling a ladder, can you ensure it's not going to slip away. It's good practice to have a non slip mat, ladder foote, lengths of rope and even pegs to ensure the ladder doesn't slip away.

You're sounding like you've wisely done your homework and got PLi so credit to you. 

Need any further help just shout 

Take care stay alive ?

Austin 

20210419_122914.jpg

 
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