I just had my first Large roof cleaning on 3500+ SF very steep, 2.5 stories high, tile roof. We don’t get black streaks here but there were large clumps of moss on the bottom edge of many tiles. (I believe is it’s Dicranoweisia sp.) The roof was not walkable and I shot the roof from the ladder with my SH mix. A few valleys I was able to climb to get behind the chimney or other awkward structures.
When selling, I explained that we would be cleaning the roof with an herbicide that would kill the moss and then it would dry up, break down and then be removed through wind and rain. I also told him that there was no safe way (for a reasonably sane company) to pressure wash the roof as he originally wanted done. Well, the moss all turned white and after cleaning and I didn’t rinse to give the SH more time to work and for so the natural process could complete the job. He came out to this vacation house 2 days later and just emailed be saying that he is “disappointed” that it looks like there’s not much change. I sent him photos showing befores and afters ( not dramatic when the moss didn’t instantly release but the moss had all turned white) as well as photos on every side of the hose showing us applying SH to the roof so there’s visual proof that we did the work as explained.
Now he wants to discuss with me over the phone (he lives 3 hours away) his expectations for the job. He wants to know when his roof will be “clean.” He has not paid a dime yet. I think I can explain to him the function of rhizoids and how they need to weaken and decay for the moss to come off naturally but depending on the weather here, that could take all summer.
Did I miss something? Doing something wrong? How should I respond?
This is why we rinse every single roof. All our roofs have moss and not rinsing, they usually look worse if you just hit them with mix. Charge accordingly. For extremely heavy moss, we pre-treat.
Dude, you can’t rinse moss balls with chlorine water and just walk away with the cheque…
You gotta rub off the moss balls with a brush. Yes, you heard me right – you have to manually brush off the large moss chunks (and if you care about what you do the small ones too) and then spray the roof.
Where do you live getting the moss balls vs the black streaks? I live in the Pacific N/W, guessing you do too.
Well I finally was able to get the job done 3 months after the initial application. The client kept having reasons why my available days wouldn’t work out and then on two visits my machine broke down and it was an 1 1/2 hour drive from my shop to the house so the days were shot. Even after three months, there was still a significant amount of moss on the roof. I ended up having to put on a harness and rappel down the roof with a 40 degree tip and blast the moss off. The rhizoids were so firmly embedded in the concrete tiles that the dead moss simply wouldn’t come off. During the waiting period, the client insisted that he had to clean his own windows since we missed doing a couple. (We didn’t, it’s just that the interior side of the glass was filthy.) And when I arrived for the final service, the windows all clearly had 3 months of soiling in dusty/pollen conditions. So, to avoid getting blamed for putting dirt on his windows I ended up re-washing all the windows on the house.
1 month later after sending final after photos and him personally visiting this vacation home, he paid in full for the roof clean and cleaning 50 exterior windows: $1080.
I really screwed up the bid and my understanding of the cleaning process. Lesson learned. This job was in Bend, OR where no one has black streaks. There is no simple labor roof jobs because they all have the “moss balls” which require manual removal. I did one job where I removed moss from the entire roof by hand and a small brush. They felt that the $250 they paid me was “reasonable.” That was a job which I estimated would take 3 hrs max but ended up taking 8 including the gutter cleaning. My prices are much higher now and even more so because I’m the only state requred, licensed moss treatment applicator in my area.
How do you go about getting a state license like that?
It’s a requirement for Oregon so you buy the manuals and study guides that the state EPA requires and then pay to take the tests, then you pay to get the license. There’s one test for the company to certify that your company is compliant and allows you to purchase chemicals and understands your liability and then there is another test that each technician doing application must pass and be certified for.
Congratulations on getting that job wrapped up. I’ll bet your glad it’s over and you’ve been paid!
