Roof Cleaning Cost │Why Do Some Roof Cleaning Companies Charge More Than Others?
If you’ve been researching different companies online and getting various quotes to have your roof cleaned, you’ve probably noticed that there’s a wide variation in prices. So why do some companies charge a lot more than other companies? Well, to start with, I’m going to relay it back to LBC and when we first started. When we first started, we were a one-man band hiring temporary labour for larger jobs such as roof cleaning jobs. Now, when we were doing this, we didn’t have many costs. And particularly, the method that we used to use was the cheapest possible. So when we first started cleaning roofs almost 10 years ago, we used to do it from ladders, namely the ridge ladder, or the hook ladder, sometimes referred to, which is basically a ladder that hooked over the ridge of the property.
Today, we avoid using ridge ladders for cleaning roofs as much as possible, and we rarely ever use them. This is for two reasons, really;
Number one, safety, as it’s much safer to use a cherry picker and a scaffolding tower with telescopic cleaning equipment for cleaning a roof. And number two, less damage. Less damage to your roof, because we’re not putting any pressure by climbing on the ladder on your roof. So you can see how much roof cleaning cost safely.
Cherry Pickers
Firstly, a cherry picker costs, if purchased that is, at least £50,000 pounds for a decent one. And if hired in for the day, you’re looking at at least £350 pounds plus VAT, just for the machine, before any collection, delivery, and driver costs.
Scaffolding Towers
A good secondhand scaffolding tower can cost at least £1,000 pounds.
Telescopic Cleaning Equipment
A good telescopic pole and cleaning attachments cost at least £1,000 pounds. So before we even go into training, the equipment alone required for a high-standard, safe roof-cleaning service cost into the thousands of pounds. That’s why companies that use professional equipment, like us here at LBC, are going to charge more than your smaller one-man band operations that attempt to clean the roof by either walking on the roof or cleaning from ladders.
As well as equipment, we also have the expense of training our team. All our staff are PASAMA trained, which means they’ve been professionally trained in the use of scaffolding towers, to erect and use scaffolding towers safely, as any work in height multiplies health and safety risks. Also, IPAF. IPAF is the organization that delivers the training for operating MEWPs or access platforms, or what we like to call our cherry picker.
If we go back to equipment, as well as the access equipment, the cleaning equipment varies in different levels of professionality and different levels of how good it is. For example, somebody could turn up to clean your roof with a small Karcher pressure washer, the domestic type, which are commonly used for cleaning your car, for example. Now, this small Karcher pressure washer likely costs £100 to £300 pounds, whereas a decent pressure washer with the ability to clean with heat cost closer to £5,000 (second hand and up to £20,000 pounds if new.
Here at LBC, most of our fleet are fitted with hot pressure washing equipment, and we prefer this because the heat cleans to a higher level of standard. There are certain organic stains such as white litchen, some black spot, and even some green staining where the heat and hot-water pressure washing or steam cleaning will remove these stains, whereas cold pressure washing will not, and especially a far inferior pressure washing from a domestic system like a Karcher.
So I’ve just spoken about some pressure washing and steam-cleaning equipment, but there is also moss-removal equipment and soft-washing equipment. Again, there are varying levels of professionality and standards when it comes to this equipment, and a company that uses the best equipment will be able to clean your roof more efficiently and also get far superior results when compared to roof cleaners that use DIY, cheaper equipment.
Insurance
Some people out there cleaning roofs do not have the correct insurance, such as public liability or employer’s liability. If this is the case, they may be saving several hundred pounds per month by not paying for the insurance or by paying for inadequate insurance, but professional companies will be paying for public liability and employer’s liability. And this is an added expense, one which you should be grateful that they are paying, because if anything did go wrong, you’d be covered. If there was any accident or damage, the public liability would cover that. And heaven forbid if there was any accidents, then the employer’s liability would cover that. The last thing you want is somebody who’s not insured up on your roof and getting seriously injured so its always a good idea to ask your roof cleaning company for a copy of their insurances.
Level of Service
The next main thing to discuss when it comes to variation in pricing between different roof-cleaning providers is the level of service. Companies that charge far less are more likely to want to get in and out as quickly as possible, which leads to shortcuts. That may be as simple as not cleaning the tiles effectively, it may mean not cleaning out your gutters after cleaning the roof , it may mean they scrimp on the tidy up afterwards and you’re left with a mess around your property, and then your neighbor’s property. Whereas compared to a professional company who charge more and are experienced, they know exactly what is involved and know how long a roof cleaning job will take, and have allowed for the additional works which are required, which are sometimes not seen, such as cleaning all the gutters, cleaning up all the mess, cleaning the windows of the property, cleaning up the neighbor’s property.
I hope you found this blog useful, explaining some of the reasons why there’s such a variation in pricing for roof-cleaning companies out there, and I hope that you choose your roof-cleaning provider based on reviews, based on before and after photos and videos, based on video testimonials, and not just based on price. Because choosing the cheapest provider will more than likely not get you the best job.
