Roof Cleaning

Expected Results

You can expect that the natural colour of your roof tiles will be revived to a very high standard (See Results Below). This happens instantly after cleaning and continues to improve with the biocide treatment over the next 6-12 months, progress will show from around 14 days after application.

How do we do it?

1. We start by conducting a site survey of your roof and property to identify safe access and the condition of the roof so we can provide a quotation, this is usually conducted in person.
2. On the date of our visit we begin by putting tarpaulins around your property to catch all of the moss we scrape from your roof.
3. We then erect scaffold towers so that we have safe vantage point from which to scrape the moss from your roof. This removes any need for us to walk on your roof tiles, the only reason we would need to get on your roof is if there is a special access requirement that cannot be mitigated with a safer approach. In which case roofing ladders would be used or MEWP (Mobile Elevated Work Platforms) if that is not suitable. This would all be discussed during the quotation stage of the process.
4. Now that we have our safe work environment established we begin scraping the moss from your roof using special profiled scrapers that are attached to telescopic poles to reach even the most difficult parts of your roof. We can reach up-to 50ft in some cases from the safety of our scaffold towers. We also use wire brushes for the ridge and lips of the tiles to ensure we remove all of the moss. This process removes 99% of the moss from the roof and which is left is too small to scrape and is well below the threshold for what the biocide will comfortable take care of during its exfoliation process.
5. Once the moss removal process is complete, we vacuum clear all of the gutters and downpipes to ensure they are all clear and functioning properly, we visually check these prior to starting the next part of the process. All of the moss is removed and bagged up to be safely composted to ensure it isn’t sent to landfill.
6. At this stage if you have picked our gold service package we move onto a low pressure steam process, to gently remove the biofilm embedded in to the roof tiles this is a delicate process which causes no damage to the coating on the tiles compared to cold water power washing. This process removed the discolouring effect caused by dirt and biofilm on the surface of the tiles leaving them in their best possible condition. This process is completely optional but does deliver superb results.
7. Now the roof is ready to be treated. We treat your roof as part of all our roof cleaning packages and comes as standard. We believe this is the most important part of the process protecting your investment in having your roof cleaned, by preventing re-growth. We brush in biocide which is pumped under low pressure from our vans which have special Dosatron mixing equipment which ensures exacting mix ratios are applied consistently across your roof. The brush in method allows us to get the best dwell time as our brushes use fan jets and instantly create a foam that sticks to the tiles ensuring minimal run-off.
8. The biocide soaks deep into the biological structures on the roof. Biofilm is a collection of microbial communities enclosed by a matrix of extra cellular substances adhering to natural and man-made surfaces. Such as Green Algae, Black Algae, Liverwots, Mould, Moss, Lichens & Bactria. The biocide process works over a period of 12 months gradually exfoliating the roof times and removing the Biofilm, if you haven’t opted for our Gold package then you will get similar results from this process over the 12 months. The reason why we also apply the biocide with our gold package is to ensure that any biofilm you cannot see is still removed.
9. Once the Biocide process has done its work not only will you have a nice clean looking roof. Your roof will be back to a biological start point, so if your wondering how long till there is re-growth, then this will be similar to how long the tiles took to form the biological growths in the first place. Usually most properties can expect no re-growth for several years before it becomes noticeable, Others it can be shorter periods of time. This can be affected by the architectural features of a property or the environment around if you have lots of leaf fall, the breakdown of these will feed any biological growth.We guarantee that our biocide process will do its work and if after 12 months since our visit you are not satisfied then we will re-treat if required. In over 500 roof cleans we have only had a handful that have needed a top-up treatment.
10. On-going maintenance we will recommend to you an appropriate period of time before a maintenance treatment is needed for your property. This ongoing service is to protect your initial investment in having your roof cleaned, a re-treatment costs a fraction of the price of the initial roof clean as all that is required is an application of the biocide treatment to take care of any biofilm growth before it takes hold forming biological structures like Moss and Algae. Generally we recommend this around 3-5 years after a roof clean a typical cost for this is between £150 – £300 for a standard domestic property. As part of a maintenance visit we inspect the roof and gutters and carryout a full gutter/ downpipe clearance.