Roof Cleaning Cost

​Questions Smart Homeowners Ask a Roof Cleaning Service

Anyone can purchase a soft wash roof cleaning system, buy a roof cleaning ad, offer a low price, and call themself the best, top, or #1 roof cleaning service company. However, what happens when a roof cleaner is injured and cannot work for weeks, months, years? What happens when a roof cleaner is fatally injured? Who pays the high-price or costly bills when the roof cleaning service does not have workers compensation insurance coverage? Times have changed. Instead of how much does roof cleaning cost or how many reviews do you have: ​
​1) The first question that cautious property owners ask a roof cleaning company is, "do you have Workers Compensation Insurance." 
The internet is full of roof cleaning or roof washing searches, including how much does roof cleaning cost, soft wash roof cleaning cost, low-pressure roof cleaning, roof washing prices, roof cleaning services, roof cleaning prices, roof washing cost, roof shampoo services, pressure washing services, soft washing services, home advisors, roof cleaners 5-star reviews, and on and on and on.
​However, what is NOT listed is the most important aspect of roof cleaning: roof cleaning is dangerous!
Regardless of a roof cleaners' experience or reviews, a roof cleaner can be seriously injured or killed performing roof cleaning services. 
WARNING: America's Most Dangerous Jobs list a Roofer in its Top Ten Most Dangerous Jobs. Since most homeowners have neglected their roofs, a roof cleaner could be the most dangerous job, especially when adding water and chemicals to algae, mold, moss, and lichen-infested roofs. ​

NOTICE: DIY (Do It Yourself) Roof Cleaning is NOT SMART. It only takes ONE slip, and the penny pincher is either seriously injured or killed, trying to save a few hundred dollars. DIY home projects can save money. However, DIY roof cleaning can be highly costly. 
Most homeowners and search engines (Google and others) categorize roof cleaning under pressure washing services. However, roof cleaning is not just another pressure washing service performed on a home or item added to a DIY honey-do list. Roof cleaning is in a category by itself. Roof cleaning carries significantly more complexities and danger than house pressure washing. 
Therefore, do NOT take roof cleaning lightly! Watching a foolish and reckless DIY roof cleaning YouTube video and adding "attempt roof cleaning" to a honey-do list can be the worse or last decision of a person's life. 
​If you are smart and hire a roof cleaning service, make sure that the company that performs work on your property has Workers Compensation Insurance. Workers Compensation Insurance protects the workers and protects the property owner(s) and the company.
Unlike fly-by-night pressure washing services trying to make cheap, quick bucks low-pressure washing roofs, a licensed roof cleaning company with Workers Compensation Insurance cares about its workers, the property owner(s), and plans on being in business tomorrow. 
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2) The second question knowledgeable property owners ask a roof cleaning company is in addition to Workers Compensation Insurance, "do you have General Liability Insurance."
NOTE: Before any work begins on the Federal Government, State Governments, City Governments, and Commercial Companies' properties, they require a company to be licensed by the State. Also, a company must have Workers Compensation Insurance, General Liability Insurance, Employers Liability Insurance, and Commercial Insurance. So homeowners, Get Smart.
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3) The third question awake property owners ask a roof cleaning company is, "are you fully licensed by the State."
A City Business License is not a State Contractor's License. In addition, Home Advisor, Angie, and Google Review Stars are not State contractor's licenses. Anyone, including criminals, can purchase a City Business License, Google review stars, Home Advisor and Angie badges. A State Contractor's License requires passing a test and criminal history.
Roof cleaning services that do not have a State License and do not have Workers Compensation Insurance coverage have much lower operating costs than their properly licensed and insured counterparts. Lower operating costs allow roof cleaning services to submit lower bids than their competitors' quotes. If a roof cleaner's bid is low, this is a red flag that they might not have a state license and insurance. Hiring an unlicensed and underinsured roof cleaning contractor to save a few dollars may seem like a good idea to a naive person, but the potential risks outweigh the benefits.

​4) The fourth question that informed property owners ask a roof cleaning company is, "does your roof cleaning service require water pressure or chemical pressure to remove algae, mold, moss, and lichen infestation from my roof." 
Roof algae, mold, moss, and lichen can decrease a roof's life. Also, incorrectly cleaning a roof can decrease the lifespan of roof shingles.  ​Unfortunately, most property owners call concerning their roof algae, mold, moss, and lichen problems long after the infestation has heavily infested most of their roof. At this stage of growth, if the roof infestation is removed or cleaned incorrectly, the process can rapidly decrease the remaining life of the roof shingles.
Roof pressure washing services use terms such as "gentle as rain," "shingle safe," "approved for roof shingles," "soft washing," and "low-pressure" to describe their roof cleaning methods. These roof cleaning methods merely consist of lowering and raising pressure to wash or remove visible stains from the roof. The rooted growth of algae, mold, moss, and lichen is between the roof shingle granules. Removing the visible stains with pressure can rip or pull up the rooted algae, mold, moss, lichen, and shingle granules. Pressure washing has its place; however, it is not on a roof. 
The best roof cleaning treatments for asphalt and PVC membrane roofs are 100% Zero Pressure Roof Cleaning Chemical Treatments. Today's FRAGILE exterior building materials such as roof shingles, PVC roof membrane, vinyl, Dryvit, stucco, and EIFS require Zero Pressure Cleaning to preserve their longevity. 

​5) The fifth question awake property owners ask a roof cleaning company is, "how long have you been in the roof cleaning business (not the franchise you purchased)." A roof cleaning company that has been in business for a while means that there is a more significant chance that if they offer a re-treatment warranty, they are more likely to be in business to honor it rather than a "fly-by-night" roof cleaner. 
A few signs of an inexperienced "fly-by-night" roof cleaner are; no state license, no workers compensation insurance, one-price fits all online quotes, bait and switch prices, bait and switch ads, "I can beat anybody's price," "we do what they do, we are just cheaper." When a homeowner or business owner asks about State license and insurance, they mention that we do not have to be State licensed and fully insured, or they change the subjects to 5-star reviews, bleach, environment friendly, low-pressure, soft washing, no pressure, on and on. Be Smart. Always ask to see state license, workers compensation insurance, general liability insurance, and multiple before and after pictures with addresses before agreeing to any work performed on the property. Simply choosing a company based on reviews and the lowest price is not intelligent.
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6) The sixth question cautious property owners ask a roof cleaning company is, "does your roof cleaning service require you to walk on my roof." Unfortunately, since most property owners have neglected their roofs, attempting to walk on property owners' algae, mold, moss, and lichen-infested roofs can be highly hazardous and costly. 

7) The seventh question environmental concern property owners ask a roof cleaning company is, "do you capture and contain the roof cleaning waste during the cleaning process to protect the environment." No matter which product or products a roof cleaning company uses, the roof cleaning runoff (waste) should be captured, contained, and removed from the property during the cleaning process.

SUMMARY: Roof cleaning can save money. However, reckless roof cleaning can be highly costly.
The above roof cleaning questions eliminate the excuse of "nobody told me." 
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See: Is Roof Cleaning a Good Idea?

AUTHOR:
RoofGlo™. The Exclusive Zero Pressure Roof Cleaning and Building Cleaning Services Company.
Extending the Life of Roofs and Exterior Building Materials is our Mission.
RoofGlo™ can renew a property's image without pressure washing. 
Virginia State License • Workers Compensation Insurance • Employers Liability Insurance • General Liability Insurance

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