So I have booked my first roof cleaning job. Originally, I didn’t think I was going to take it on, but I just took the leap. Purchased a 12V kit from PressureTek. Should have everything this week so I can install it on the trailer. I am feeling pretty good about it. It is a large house, but there are gutters around the entire thing. I have done all of my research and read a lot of posts on here. Bag downspouts, gypsum pellets, ground man, etc… I am just concerned about one thing. There is a tree that is growing right next to the house and actually touching the roof. What do you guys do in this situation? Ask the customer if you can trim it? Rinse it really REALLY well? I feel like that is guaranteed to get burned. Thanks in advance. If there is anything else I should watch out for or any suggestions I am open to anything.
If it’s touching the roof they need to trim it not just for you but because it will damage their roof. I keep a pool saw on the truck. Just for that reason. They probably don’t know and if your already up there should only take a few minutes.
Thanks for the info! If they don’t want to trim it, think I should have them sign a waiver releasing me from liability if it gets burned?
No…tell them that you need to trim it back or some of the leaves will get burned.
That’s a big roof for your first one.
Good luck!
Personally I’m not a tree trimmer and I would tell them they need to take care of it before you can clean the roof.
Don’t think my insurance covers tree trimming from a roof
It is a big roof, but no one is doing roof cleaning in my area, so it is hopefully going to be worth it in the end. I think I lucked out having a roof that has great gutters for my first one. She is also very elderly, and she told me about some other work she had had done around her house and she had spent thousands and thousands. (I think she got taken advantage on some of those deals) so I didn’t want some $99 guy coming in there and climbing up there and destroying the roof and charging her $3000. lol so I went ahead and made the extra investment in my business, even though I wasn’t planning to do roofs, in hopes that it pays off.
Your the contractor it’s your call. Do what you think I rite.
This is probably a stupid question, but since this is my first roof can I ask, would you consider this roof walkable? I am torn, I think part of it are and parts of it aren’t. I could be wrong though. @Patriotspwashing @florida_condo_cleani
For me I would walk it but that doesn’t mean you have to. It’s shingle so you can easily spray it from the gutters
Thanks for the info! I have just read that walking it is a lot easier to control runoff.
Good luck and congratulations on getting the job. Just take your time be ocd and it’ll be fine. Be sure and post some after pics and let us know how it went
Will do! Thanks! I will be doing before and afters with my drone, hopefully they will be pretty good for marketing. (I also own a commercial photography business haha)
It looks to be about 8/12 pitch in the picture. Even though we walk roofs like this, it’s not considered a walker by roofing standards. If you’re not comfortable, or experienced, with walking on a roof, I’d spray it from the top of the ladder. 8 pitch is pretty steep for most people, and you can cause damage not knowing how to walk it. To valleys in particular, but also scuffing the shingles. Do the wash in the morning before the roof heats up, and that will minimize scuffing. We carry a tube of geocel to cover exposed nail heads in pipe flashings, vents, end caps, etc, to prevent rusting and staining on an otherwise clean roof.
I’d walk the valleys and then spray what you can reach.
I personally probably wouldn’t walk it but like the other guy said it’s easy to do from the gutter line
That roof looks 10/12 to me all day long. There is no way I would walk that roof even if it is an 8/12. It looks fairly easy to get to everything to me. Only one high set in the back and maybe one high one in the front, the rest looks pretty easy. I have walked a ton of roofs (I used to be a framer), no way I am jumping up there, it isn’t needed or worth it to me. That is just my opinion though.
I have become more and more cautious since I fell off a roof earlier this year doing something dumb, plus I am getting older and fatter 
Joe
Nothing to be nurvous about roof cleaning shingle is a simple process. Treat the whole roof then wait until it dry. Retreat areas that did not come clean. Continue this process until the roof is clean. Nothing to it .
