Roof Cleaning Est?

[blackcat]

I was asked by a realtor to price cleaning her roof. waen to see it today and man it looks bad(gray asphalt tile completely black). Anyway it is 50 X 65 or 3250sqft, not steep at all. She also wants a protectant applied.
Also she wants her house washed(not dirty just spider webs to remove).
So i'm thinking about $375.00 and telling her i'll clean the gutters free since i'll have to flush them real good anyway and throw in the short driveway 10X10. She'll be able to give me alot of biz since she manages two mobile parks(real big ones) So I guess my question is am I too low on this job?
Also is there a sealer to put on roof to hinder fungus and mold after wash and if so what should the charge be to apply that. THANKS IN ADVANCE

 

[Don Phelps]

In my opinion, that's very low. We might do just the roof for that price for a chance at future business. But to do everything you've listed, you'll be there all day and won't make anything by the time you factor your time, gas, chemicals, help, etc. unless you like working for a very small hourly wage.

 

[jdmartin]

I would agree with Don about the low price, the price alone should be just for the roof if not a little more. The house would be another 130.00 or slightly more then you can throw in a driveway for a few bucks. Even if you do it as that your still saving her some money. Then again if she is going to throw some business your way cut her a discount but be careful of how much and make sure that price is keep between you too and not shared with other neighbors around her. I may want to check out these guys www.sprayandforget.com I have talked with them a few times and have good roof product out there. Hope this helps.

 

[CCPC]

depending on how much gutter there is, I would be carful with throwing it in for free. Gutters can sneak up and bite you literaly.

 

[R. E. Crouse]

If the roof is low pitched as you say it is, I dont' think that $500 would be asking too much to clean and protect a roof that probably cost more than ten times that much to have put on. Flushing the gutters for free is a no brainer, as long as you and the customer agree that you are not cleaning the outside of the gutters. The driveway is small, tell them its free because you appreciate the oppurtunity to do business with them. Do a good job, and hope for the best as far as more work from this job. The worst that can happen is that you walk away with $500 after 5 or 6 hours. On the other hand, you may get a ton of business from this one job. I doubt they will say no to $500.

 

[CCPC]

a roof that size in this area would go for around 225.00 a house that size (keeping in mind, no picks to be accurate) would go for about 175.00. cleaning the gutters and drive would be extra. Never get in the habit of throwing freebies out, not a good idea.

 

[CCPC]

If the roof is low pitched as you say it is, I dont' think that $500 would be asking too much to clean and protect a roof that probably cost more than ten times that much to have put on. Flushing the gutters for free is a no brainer, as long as you and the customer agree that you are not cleaning the outside of the gutters. The driveway is small, tell them its free because you appreciate the oppurtunity to do business with them. Do a good job, and hope for the best as far as more work from this job. The worst that can happen is that you walk away with $500 after 5 or 6 hours. On the other hand, you may get a ton of business from this one job. I doubt they will say no to $500.

Five to six hours to clean a roof that size? What are you cleaning it with, a toothbrush? A roof that size, especially with no pitch shouldn't take any longer than 2 1/2 hours. If I try to charge $500 for a roof like that around here, I'd be out of business in a couple of months. Not to mention, I would feel I'm taking advantage of them. Its to much for the amount of time it should take to do the job.

 

[blackcat]

thank you very much for your comments to all. by the way i'm sure he meant 500 for the whole job, if i'm not mistaken. [hello]

 

[5 Star Johnny]

I would agree with the $500 figure for just the roof. If the house is single story, we would likely get $300 - $400 for the house.

Also she wants her house washed(not dirty just spider webs to remove).

I'd be careful about this approach. We have NEVER "touched up" a house. Once you start cleaning and realize the appearance difference between your touch-ups and what didn't get done, she probably will want you to do the rest.

She'll be able to give me alot of biz since she manages two mobile parks(real big ones)

Here's the rub!! I can't tell you how many times in our start-up days we reduced our pricing based on what we believed the client could bring us in terms of future business. Realtors - Contractors - Prominent local business owners, etc. We did (as always) superior work for these people, they got a great deal, and we got paid less than usual. THAT'S IT! Very rarely have we gotten additional work from these clients in terms of referral business. Although we may still offer nominal discounts to this type of client based on their location or other criteria, we seldom approach the job expecting tons of referral business for the future. The basic business premise holds true here. Do high quality work and you'll get noticed. Do cheap work and you'll be outta' business before you know it!

We market our business the same to EVERYONE! We are a high-quality, superior service contractor. Although I have to stay at a relatively close competitive price structure, I get more than my competitors because I do a better job. (On decks, I'm signing contracts at 50% - 100% more than my largest competitor!) If I'm selling properly, this tends to make sense to "so-called" "future referral prospect". If we get the project and their happy, now their promoting my business as a higher quality, higher premium contractor rather than a low-cost, drop my pants "splash & dasher"! Suddenly we're in the category of "if you want the best, hire these guys! Not the cheapest date in town, but they perform!"

My $.02 worth. Good Luck

 

[R. E. Crouse]

Five to six hours to clean a roof that size? What are you cleaning it with, a toothbrush? A roof that size, especially with no pitch shouldn't take any longer than 2 1/2 hours. If I try to charge $500 for a roof like that around here, I'd be out of business in a couple of months. Not to mention, I would feel I'm taking advantage of them. Its to much for the amount of time it should take to do the job.

$225 is way low. If you have figured in set-up and clean-up in your 2 and a half hours, you are not doing the job correctly. A roof does need time to dry before a protectant or sealer is applied, which obviously you forgot was part of the job. A roof that size, cleaned and protected/sealed, 10 X 10 driveway, gutters, and parts of the house for $225? It's a wonder you AREN'T out of business. Even $500 is low.

 

[CCPC]

$225 is way low. If you have figured in set-up and clean-up in your 2 and a half hours, you are not doing the job correctly. A roof does need time to dry before a protectant or sealer is applied, which obviously you forgot was part of the job. A roof that size, cleaned and protected/sealed, 10 X 10 driveway, gutters, and parts of the house for $225? It's a wonder you AREN'T out of business. Even $500 is low.

First of all, if you would have read my previous post, you would see that $225 was just for the roof, the house (exterior walls, eaves etc) was $175 and so on for the rest. As for protectants and sealers, they don't work, they don't add any benifit to a roof. The only thing they do do, is allow a vendor to make money off one's gullibility and, in turn, allow one to over charge the customer for an unnecessary add on. Let me guess, you probably use a sodium hydroxide based roof cleaner as well. Or do you know what the base ingredient is? As far 2 1/2 hours, yep! That's all takes. I don't believe in over charging customers for work I can't complete in a reasonable amount of time, and 2 1/2 hours is a reasonable amount of time, not 5 or 6 hours.

 

[jbderkach]

The spray and forget it website states that the rain will finish the job over the next few months. Customers don't want to wait months. How would they know that they got what they've paid for. As far as I know there is no protectant available. The condition will return over time. Copper flashing installed at the peak will leach copper when rained upon. This will keep the algae from forming. Drive around and look at stained roofs. You will notice that the parts where pipes exit the roof will have the area below them algae free. This is true for pipes havinfg galvanized or copper flashing not aluminum. The galvanized and copper emit zinc and copper respectfully when rained upon. Shingles containing copper are available and these are more expensive but effective for preventing algae growth.

 

[CCPC]

I wash roofs all the time that have the copper and zinc anti mildew shingles. They do help to prevent it, but it will grow either way here in Florida, it just takes a couple of more years than the normal shingles. That protectant scam is exactly that, a scam. I was talking to customer the other day who had another company do their roof a couple of months before now and he said the guy told him that he was going to apply a sealer/protectant to the roof which will keep it clean for at least a year. Well, Thats funny, when I use my normal chlorine method the roof will usually stay clean for at least 2 years. Go figure.

 

[ARC]

I have a roof washing company in South Florida and CCPC is wrong [puke] .

While sealants do not work, and are not approved by any major roof materials manufacturer - algae inhibitors do, but there are very few on the market. Some do a great job in preventing algae growth and some can do a lot of damage to roofs over a few years.

Spraying bleach on a roof every couple of years will work, and that is what's recommended by ARMA; but a professional that is either cleaning roofs exclusively - or has roof cleaning as a major percentage of his/her business should know better.

 

[CCPC]

I have a roof washing company in South Florida and CCPC is wrong [puke] .

While sealants do not work, and are not approved by any major roof materials manufacturer - algae inhibitors do, but there are very few on the market. Some do a great job in preventing algae growth and some can do a lot of damage to roofs over a few years.

Spraying bleach on a roof every couple of years will work, and that is what's recommended by ARMA; but a professional that is either cleaning roofs exclusively - or has roof cleaning as a major percentage of his/her business should know better.

Well that's great info, I'll be sure to take that into consideration.

 

[ARC]

Well that's great info, I'll be sure to take that into consideration.

You should.

 

[NaClO]

You should.

Oh jeez, more crap from Mr. Browne from Roof-a-cide. He's just bitter that all roof cleaners haven't signed up to pay thousands for the exclusive right to buy his crap.

Inhibitors MAY work somewhat, but the bottom line is that the algae is GOING to come back. With a proper chlorine cleaning, you should get 2-5 years before it needs cleaning again. Cleaning it ever few years is cheaper than paying for an inhibitor that may or may not even keep the roof clean longer than a simple cleaning. I agree with CCPC, they're a scam. When asked about inhibitors, I tell the customer that there ARE products that will work well (zinc strips, etc) but it is going to wind up cheaper to have me come clean it every few years. That gets the job every time.

 

[ARC]

<<When asked about inhibitors, I tell the customer that there ARE products that will work well (zinc strips, etc) but it is going to wind up cheaper to have me come clean it every few years. That gets the job every time.>>


It's a shame that some of the newer contractors here might get the impression that you know what you're talking about and pass this info on to unsuspecting homeowners.