Roof Cleaning Questions & Answers
1) Some of our downspouts drain directly into our yard, where we grow tomatoes and strawberries. Does the Wet & Forget label specifically say it’s OK to be on food producing soil?
Answer: To be very honest, the to treat a roof directly after the roof has been cleaned is almost a waste of treatment, especially if you are going to have it treated in a year. It is more important to treat the roof a year from the spring after it had been cleaned. The following years are going to give you the most bang for your buck, preventative maintenance treatments. I have never seen Wet and Forget kill any kind of plant life but just to be on the safe side we can use the worry free by Lilly miller. It is made up of vinegar and citric acid, it only works when we can use a lot so you are looking at 3 times the amount of product to treat the roof. The cost of the treatment will triple as it is more expensive and will require a lot more of it for it to work properly.
2) There are screens on our gutters which are very important for Autumn. Can your cleaning process avoid disturbing the gutter screens?
Answer: The gutter screens we can easily work around. I will not take them out, clean the gutters then put them back in. Unless of course you want to pay for it, as that is not included in the bid. I will however, clean the debris from the tops of the screens. Removing screens, cleaning the gutters out, then reinstalling them is a job all by itself or separate job. If we have to do that, the gutter system that you have is not working properly and should be taken off.
3) What are the reasons to remove moss from the roof?
Answers:
1. Because it can root itself in to the structure and deteriorate your roof.
2. You may be selling your house and you want it to look nice. A roof cleaning job done right can bring the roof back to looking brand new.
3. Your insurance requires that you do it.
4. So that your neighbors do not have to look at all that moss on your roof and they will know that you are good at maintenance. Piece of mind.
4) What should I look for when getting my 3 bids for my roof cleaning or roof maintenance job?
Answer: Good Question!
1. Make sure the person or company is licensed with the CCB. The Oregon Contractors Board makes it really easy to check. All you have to do is go to this page, http://www.oregon.gov/CCB/ and type in the contractors CCB# where it says contractor search. It will let you know if they are active or not. Plain and simple, if you hire someone who is not licensed, you take all the responsibility. If they get hurt, there is a good chance you will lose more than just your house. CCB#’s require, that’s right REQUIRE, 1 million in liability and an insurance bond, for more than just your piece of mind.
2. As a roof cleaner or a roof cleaning company, one must be licensed by the Oregon Department of Agriculture if any kind of treatment application is applied. It does not matter what it is, even if its just hand soap that they claim to kill moss, they would still need the license. A good phone # for the DOA to check a license is 503-986-4550.
3. If they have employees, they will need to show workers compensation on their employees. If they are operating as a sole proprietor and have no help, then they would not need to have workers compensation.
5) What is the fee for roof cleaning?
I bid at around 65.00/hr plus the cost of treatment with a minimum of 350.00 for moss removal, gutter cleaning and treatment. Steeper roofs are a bit more expensive to work on for obvious reasons. I will give you an exact quote for your roof cleaning job.
6) What is your methodology? Green?
Our method is a combination of brushing/low psi pressure washing technique. Sometimes we will brush the entire roof and sometimes we will use low psi washing. Whichever is best for the shingles and depending on which type of moss that you have. Yes I have heard to that pressure washing is bad for the roof, but if someone knows what they are doing and has had lots and lots of experience like I have, it is fine. Any knuckle head could mess up a roof with just about anything. If you are absolutely sure you want us only using brushes, that’s fine.
Green for sure, which is why I do not go out to look at the job. It saves on gas and air pollution and they are always around the same price. Unless of course I need to come out and look at it in order to help me get the job. I have been doing this for 10 plus years, all jobs are around the same price. I will be able to look at your house from google maps, zillow and earth and will ask you a few questions. From there, I can formulate an accurate bid. Wet and Forget is much safer and more effective then zinc.
7) Is gutter cleaning included?
Yes!
8) What about the debris that comes off the roof?
We clean all hard surfaces, if you want you can leave your yard debris can out for piles of moss. We go around the house with the air blower, pressure washer and broom when we are done and will leave it cleaner then when we got there.
