Frequently Asked Questions
Roof Cleaning FAQ’s
The simple answer is no, its not necessary. Your roof is not going to fail if you don’t have it cleaned. I am yet to see an example of a roof that has failed structurally from lasck of cleaning so in those respects in not necessary to have your roof cleaned.
That being said there are many reasons why you might want to get your cleaned
If you want a clean roof without moss and are fed up with the gutters getting full, and are fed up with cleaning moss from the patio, then roof cleaning can be good idea, but only when you appoint an experienced person or company to clean your roof. Personally ive seen many roof cleaning jobs done wrong and when they are done wrong the overall result detracts from the property and the property stands out like a swore thumb.
Personally, I do not think roof cleaning is entirely necessary. It’s certainly necessary if the person wants the roof to look like new, or is worried about the overall appearance of their property. It’s certainly necessary if the person is fed up cleaning out the gutters regularly, because their getting blocked by the moss or it’s definitely necessary if the person is fed up with sweeping moss from their front door or their patio. But structurally, I don’t think it’s necessary.
There are some people that may argue that a build up of moss can increase the weight on your roof, and when it that moss can hold water and it can freeze, and create unnecessary strain on your roof. But I haven’t personally seen an example where a roof has been destroyed because it has not been cleaned. So, personally, to be completely honest, I don’t think roof cleaning is necessary, unless you want to improve the appearance of your home, or again, you’re fed up with dealing with moss.
Personally, I do not think roof cleaning is entirely necessary. It’s certainly necessary if the person wants the roof to look like new, or is worried about the overall appearance of their property. It’s certainly necessary if the person is fed up cleaning out the gutters regularly, because their getting blocked by the moss or it’s definitely necessary if the person is fed up with sweeping mos
Is often a question we get asked. We assess the structure of the roof and the condition of the roof, but the most important thing to check is the type of tile on the roof. Some tiles are more suitable for pressure washing than other tiles, for example slate or clay tiles have a hard smooth surface and take to pressure washing better than concrete or porous tiles. I’ve Seen many examples of concrete roofs, roof tiles, pressure washed and the surface comes off the face of the tile, leaving it even more porous and damaging the tile and the overall aesthetics of the property.
So the first question we ask when speaking to a person who wants to get their roof cleaned, is “What are you trying to achieve? Are you trying to bring the whole roof back to looking like new condition? Or are you more concerned with removing the Moss? If the Moss is the main problem and you’re not entirely concerned with the overall appearance of the roof. Then we’d recommend a moss removal and biocide treatment.” The Scraping is done with scrapers to remove the Moss from the rooftiles and the biocide is a product applied to the roof after the moss has been removed. The biocide is similar to an industrial grade weed killer which helps to kill any remaining moss or fungi that may remain on the roof. The product helps to keep the roof cleaner for longer . And this is the entry level service and the cheapest.
s from their front door or their patio. But structurally, I don’t think it’s necessary.
There are some people that may argue that a build up of moss can increase the weight on your roof, and when it that moss can hold water and it can freeze, and create unnecessary strain on your roof. But I haven’t personally seen an example where a roof has been destroyed because it has not been cleaned. So, personally, to be completely honest, I don’t think roof cleaning is necessary, unless you want to improve the appearance of your home, or again, you’re fed up with dealing with moss.
This is the question that a lot of people want to know the answer to!
So again, depending on the cleaning method, and the accessibility, the price for this can range anywhere from 750 to 1500 pounds. And the price for a detached house, a larger detached house, for a full roof clean as in a transformation to restore the roof, can start from £1500 pounds and go upwards depending on the size, the access, etc.
Soft washing is roof cleaning without pressure washing.
These are all the same type of question, so here are some questions that will relate to cleaning of roofs without pressure washing. What’s commonly known as Softwash roof cleaning.
Driveway Cleaning
There are several different methods for cleaning your driveway. The most common method is pressure washing. Pressure washing can help to transform your driveway removing years of built up dirt, moss, algae, and weeds. Weeds are very common in block paved driveways, as they grow in between the gaps. Pressure washing can remove the weeds, and make your driveway look new again.
You can pressure wash your driveway any time of year. However, if you have block paving you will need to re-sand the paving after cleaning and in the colder, damper months, , it will not be suitable for this as the blocks are likely to stay damp.
Especially if you want to seal your driveway with a protective coating. Then it’s better to do it in the spring or summer months, when the temperatures are higher, and there’s much drier weather
Sealing is applying a protective coating to your driveway, once the surface is fully dry after cleaning. It can be applied to block paving or to natural stone patio slabs. Sealing basically puts a protective layer on the surface, which is oil and water resistant. It also helps to harden the sand between the gaps, which will help to deter future weed growth.
Some sealers we recommend, and we use, are Smart Seal and Resiblock sealers. They are two of the leading sealer suppliers in the UK.
We recommend using a sprayer application for applying sealer. The main reason for this is, when applying a sealer with a roller, especially on block paving (where you have jointing sand in between the blocks). It can roll up some of the sand, and then, get the sand in the surface sealant, which doesn’t leave a good finish. We much more prefer using a sprayer, a chemical resistant sprayer, such as the GLORIA sprayer, with Viton seals.
So, if your driveway is full of weeds, we’d recommend firstly having a weed killer application, at least up to 24 hours before any pressure washing. This helps to kill the weeds down to the root. Once they are removed from the pressure washer, there’s less chance of them coming back.
We’re often asked whether it’s best to pressure wash or soft wash a driveway or patio. It really depends on the condition of the driveway or patio. We recommend that you do not pressure wash either surface repeatedly (as in year after year), as recurring pressure washing can lead to damage. This is often seen in block paving.
People that pressure washer block paving year after year, end up making the blocks duller, and a sandy, gritty texture begins to show. The blocks lose their aesthetic look and become weathered and tired looking.
So especially for flat surfaces, with no joints, soft washing is definitely a viable option, especially if the patio or driveway is suffering from green moulds and organic staining. Sometimes cold pressure washing alone will not remove these green stains, or the black spot that you can see on the patio, which is actually lichen growing in the stone. For this, we recommend using a soft wash solution, to get rid of the black spots, and get rid of the green staining, as this actually kills the organic growth.
Right now, in 2019 our average charge for a one-car block paved driveway for a local customer, is between £250 and £350, plus VAT, to clean and re-sand. If you’re adding a good sealer, such as a Smart Seal sealer, or a Resiblock sealer, you can look to add £200 to 300 hundred pounds on top of this cost.
So, the condition of the driveway will influence the price. The more weeds, and the more weed growth there is, then the more moss and algae, and the deeper the dirt. If there’s lots of black spots… The stronger the clean that is needed to bring it up to a good condition.
The condition of the driveway will influence the price. Also, the size of the driveway will obviously influence the price, and other conditions such as access. Is there parking nearby? As many pressure washing companies have vehicle-mounted systems that need to access, the cleaning area needs to be within 50 to 100 meters of the cleaning area.
Is there good drainage, or does the water pool when it rains, or when you’re going to be cleaning the driveway?. Is there going to be water pooling, that needs a water vacuum recovery system.Is there drainage? is the drainage free, and not blocked up? Because this would be an additional job. If the water can’t drain away, maybe the drains need unblocking.
There are many professional companies that advertise pressure washing prices from as little as £3 per square meter. And that is around the going rate, around £3-4 pounds per square meter for cold pressure washing. That is the standard rate at the moment.
However, you need to be aware that there is a minimum call-out charge to cover the fixed costs that the company incurs, just to send trained professional staff and professional equipment to your job. So do factor in a minimum call out charge. We recommend anywhere between £125, to £175 plus VAT, dependent on where you are.
Well, patio cleaning varies in cost. And again, there are several factors which influence the price of patio cleaning. Dependent on the degree of that, a moss build up, moss and algae build up on the patio, you may need pressure washing, plus a soft wash, to get rid of that stubborn black spot staining, and green algae staining.
The black spots that are on your patio are actually black lichen. They grow from spores and flourish in porous stones and love the British climate.
If your patio has black spots and you want these removed, there is an additional process using a chemical to remove these black spots, which will add to the price of the job. But generally, again, the prices stuff from free pounds per square meter for patio cleaning. And again, don’t forget about the minimum call out charge, which covers the fixed costs that the company incurs.
So what level of patio restoration are you looking for?. Do you just want a pressure wash?.
Do you need pressure washing and maybe some re-jointing?. There’s several different methods, a coup that we use for re-jointing: pointing, which is the traditional sand and cement method, or a jointing compound, which sets hard, and looks like sanded cement, but isn’t quite maybe as strong as sand and cement.
And sand and cement jointing or pointing is a lot more expensive than jointing compound, when combined with the labour, because it takes a lot longer to apply the jointing to the gaps. It’s a very labour-intensive process.
If you’re looking to seal the patio, you need to understand what type of patio slab it is. Is it a natural stone, or is it a man made stone? Natural stone sealers are generally more expensive, but we recommend using natural stone sealers, from Smart Seal, such as enhanced natural stone sealer, which protects the slabs, but also enhances the colour and the appearance of the stone.
With professional equipment, driveway cleaning can be done in a fairly fast time.When compared to using a home system, such as a domestic karcher pressure washer. Which can take up to all day, and leave inferior results.
