Roof Cleaning Today

An early start this morning to get everything prepared for today’s job in Sidbury. Described as a large village on Wikipedia with a population of 457 – and it’s very own iron age fort at Castle Hill. No, we aren’t doing the roof on the fort just in case you were wondering!

Loaded, equipment checked and we set off in good time. On the way to most jobs, Brett runs through the plan with me. It’s important to be co-ordinated and organised as to how we are going to approach the job.

Set Up

There is quite a bit of set up to do on arrival. The platform ladder is assembled at the back of the property, pot plants and patio furniture moved, power obtained for the gutter vacuum and we are set to go.

I have to say I am massively impressed with stability, safety and ease of use of the Henchman platform ladder.

• All four legs are adjustable so you always have a stable a level platform
• It is very comfortable to work from with plenty of room
• You can lean out as far as you like form the platform – it can’t tip over
• The stability means you can focus on the job 100%
• The sectional design makes it easy to get down narrow paths

The only down side is that someone hadn’t noticed that the bottom section for the ladder hadn’t been put on board before we left – so the first rung in now 4 feet off the ground. Ooops!

Customer Communication

With everything set up, Brett has a quick chat with our lovely customers. There are three small sections of flat roof at the back of the house – one of which is leaking a bit. She asks Brett to have a look while he is up there. The problem was pretty obvious. A badly felted flat roof that had been done with scraps. Pictures taken and provided to the customer.

It’s Raining Moss (Who sang that song?)

Before long, the patio is disappearing under a coating of moss and other debris being removed from the roof.
Working from the ridge tiles down, Brett is able to loosen and bring down the majority of the moss. Particular attention is paid to the horizontal joints between the courses. It’s where the moss likes to get started.
The rear roof is completed in three sections – so only two ladder moves required.

Important to note (1)

We NEVER climb onto the roof. Aside of the obvious dangers, tiles are likely to be damaged, cracked or even dislodged. With the right tools and equipment, nearly all domestic roofs can be cleaned and treated without needing to get onto the roof.

With the rear roof completed, it’s time to take the platform ladder apart and move it to the front. Here it really comes into its own as the lawn is sloping away from the house. A quick adjustment or two on the legs and we have our level platform again.

Before starting on the front, we clean up as much moss as we can at the back so no one walks over it, treads it in or slips on it. It is a dry day thankfully, but always good to clear up as we go along. And it gives me a chance to be in charge of the broom! (I’m our Trigger for those 10 minutes!).

Having got the back tidied up for now and the front ready to go, its time to grab some lunch and a bit of a break.

Drews The Butcher

It’s a short walk to Drews – which turns out to be a bit of a general store as well as the butcher. Perfect!
Two excellent Pork Pies for the workers. Blinking lovely they were and highly recommended if you are going that way. AND a real bonus – a lovely juicy bone for Bella. She was most pleased!

15 minutes to enjoy the produce in the sunshine and then back onto the front of the house.

Direction Matters

Almost always you find a significant difference with the amount and even type of growth on two sides of a roof. The obvious factor is the direction the roof faces and the amount of sun it gets. Shaded areas get more moss.
While the front of todays property has less moss, it is still significant – and much finer. Every tile needs scraping to at least loosen and ideally bring it down.

Another two ladder moves and the scraping part of the process is complete.

Overflowing Gutters

The next step is to clear the gutters of the moss and debris. A key part of any roof cleaning job.
Again, it is all done for the safety of the platform ladder because we have it there, but most gutter clearing jobs are done from the ground.

It amazes me what finds its way into guttering. Tin cans, balls, plastic bottle tops – you name it, we have probably removed it from a gutter somewhere! Seagulls are largely responsible for much of it around here imagine.

Treatment

With the moss cleared from the gutters, it is time to treat the roof with the appropriate biocide.
This kills off any remaining moss and ensure that the spores can’t re-establish themselves for quite some time.
The other major plus is that the lichens that are more stubborn and resist the scraper for all they are worth quickly give up when the biocide is applied.

It does take a little while to act and the roof will improve in its appearance over the next few weeks – particularly as we have a few heavy showers to flush the remaining bits and pieces off the roof.

Important to note (2)

With the roof cleaned and treated, there should be very little if any growth over the next 12 or so months. We highly recommend that the roof is treated at the right intervals to stop it coming back. The right interval is difficult to judge, but likely to be in the 12-18 month range on most properties.

Here is the good news.

A biocide treatment of the roof is about one third of the cost of a total clean and then biocide treatment. It makes economic sense to treat it when it’s needed. Prevention rather than cure.

And that is something that we are very happy to advise on and do for you.

The last seps

The final task of the job today is the clean the outside of the gutters and the soffits.

As you can see from the picture, they definitely needed it.

This does improve the appearance of the property and while its mostly aesthetic, it does help keep the guttering in good shape – and means the soffits wont need painting quite so often.

Quality Check

Before we pack up and head for home, Brett knocks on the door and invites our customers to have a look. We want to be 100% certain that we have met and exceeded their expectations.

Pleased to say that they were delighted with our days’ work. All the patio pots and furniture had been replaced, the roof was moss free and treated, the gutters were clear and cleaned.

In summary
We all enjoyed the day, Bella had a couple of walks and enjoyed her bone, the job went very smoothly (as long as you don’t mention the bottom section of the ladder), Drews pork pies are the best and the customer is delighted.
What a fabulous place to be and such lovely customers.

Until next time…

The Gorilla Grounds and Garden Team