Apple Roof Cleaning

You KNOW how women are Dane ? The company she did hire did a good job, no dead plants either. They had a person on the ground, as well as a man cleaning the roof, the right thing to do IMHO for a roof cleaning company.

Sheet Happens Dane. My girlfriends Aunt used another roof cleaning company, even hough she KNEW I did this kind of work. Her "excuse" ? They were doing everyone on her block, and she didn't want to be "different". She paid 350 dollars. Had she asked me, being my girls Aunt, I would have done her almost at my cost, used her corner house for a Yard Sign. Oh well ..... Sheet Happens ??

Me too ! Whats up with that Dane ?

Hats off to you!

Cool ! You MIGHT try putting some Borax into your House Wash ? Borax Borax is a cheap, and environmentally friendly disinfectant, bleach, stain remover, and natural deodorant that can be used as a powder, paste or solution. It also softens water and helps soap to function more effectively. Use a borax solution for cleaning especially dirty surfaces such as tiles or sinks. Borax is also an effective insect repellant. To repel ants, sprinkle on entry points of ant infestations. To repel cockroaches, plug cracks and holes where they could enter, and lightly dust with borax, especially around the refrigerator, stove and ductwork It helps keep insects away from the house, and is a potent cleaner and anti mildew treatment. It helps keep spider webs and mud daubers nest off a house. I have a friend here in Florida who has a business spraying houses down with Borax and water to "insect proof" them. Like I said, roof cleaning is my Main Business. But we use Borax in our roof cleaning mix called Apple Sauce. When we clean houses, it is with watered down roof mix. That has Borax in it. We TELL the customers about how our house wash mix will help keep insects/cob webs off a house. This usually sells them. I do not like to clean houses, and only clean them IF we are doing the roof too. Otherwise, we walk away, and refer them to pressure washing friends who do not clean roofs.

That is cool, and MAYBE that is what the original guy I posted about is doing ? I tried that in roof cleaning a long time ago. I deliberately priced myself low to place people on yearly maintenance plans. It was a scheduling and getting paid nightmare, and i almost went broke! People would "sign up" to get the low priced roof cleaning, then have me come out and yearly spray em, and not pay! Gas is too expensive, and traffic is too bad to make any money doing yearly maintenance. People just will not pay a lot to KEEP a roof clean IME. UNLESS you have a whole subdivision, LOL

Yes, each job is very different, and should be quoted by looking at it. And I have seen people do scary good work for little or nothing. But most of the time, the low priced work really looked like what it was, low price work, like a "House Wash" with still dirty soffits because they were not "included" in the one price fits all size houses. That is common here in Florida. Low Ball pricing that leaves out things a good cleaning company do as part of the job. There is a quite common ad that runs her in the Tampa area. It goes like this - Houses from 49.00 dollars, Roofs from 99.00 dollars, driveways from 35.00 - Christian Company -Licensed and Insured - Call 813 666 6666 This is a "come on" ad, designed to do two things. Number one - It is designed to black out and frustrate competition by making them believe work is being done this cheap. Number Two = It is designed to get customers to call because of the low "prices" and then they get upsold "add on's" that we do for free. One customer called one of these ads, and wound up paying 325.00 to get his roof "cleaned and sealed". What he got was a roof cleaned with pressure and a surface cleaner. We would have done this roof non pressure for 275.00 He wound up paying more, but the cheap "advertised price' baited him in.

I guess every ones local conditions are different ? I Love my work, and I am always trying to do the best job I can. I find it somewhat easier to do my best job when I am getting paid fairly for my work. Sometimes, it gets slow, even for an established company like us. Even IF I am forced by my competitors to take a job for less then I like, we still try and do our best. Our name is "on the line" with every job we do.

Yes, and there is an "art" to asking for money. It is my opinion many in this business should not be in business for themselves. Many are SEVERELY lacking in Sales Skills. Thus, all they know how to do is cut prices. Just like a girl with low self esteem, they figure all they have to offer is a dropping of the you know whats ? You must ASK to get paid, and you must BELIEVE you are worth every penny you ask for. If YOU dont believe in yourself, and your abilities, find another line of work. I am a roof cleaner, and I am very good at what I do. For a fraction of the price of a new roof, I can safely make an old roof look almost new again. I am worth every penny I ask for, probably more. I make my customers happy.

Yes, we know that, but these low ball artists LIE to the customers sometimes, and make them THINK they are getting a quality job when it is simply a blow and go.

WOW, 375.00 for the roof and house ? Auto Mechanics got tired of working for nothing, now all use book rates. I shopped 4 Garages for a timing chain replacement on my Nissan. All 4 Garages were within 25 dollars of each other.

Ken, ya know what ? You can't get it, if you don't ASK for it. Like I said, I am primarily a roof cleaner, and do not "normally" clean houses. But sometimes we get asked to do the whole house. The last house wash I sold I have to do this Friday. I told the customer her home would look like it had just been painted! I asked her how much she paid to have her home painted. She paid 2800.00 And so I told her that 450.00 to make the paint look new again was a BARGAIN, especially since I was "throwing in" Mildew Protection. She HAD a bid from a pressure washer for 250.00. I was 200.00 higher. I got the job.

Being from the Detroit area, and knowing how bad things are up there, I might be able to "see" how prices could be so low near Detroit. But I always thought North Carolina was like some kind of "research triangle" with lots of well paying high tech Jobs ? For SOME reason, I thought if I moved up to North Carolina to get away from the Florida Low Ballers, I could make a decent living.

A shame the ad will expire in 30 days, and no one will know what we are talking about ?

It seemed low priced to me too Rando, maybe he is expecting volume or something ? That is a mistake IMO, expecting volume when dealing with the public.

Stick with the Sodium Hypochlorite over the Calcium Hypochlorite. The Calcium Hypochlorite does NOT work the same.

That roof should be priced from 1500.00 to 2000.00. And THAT is a good deal. There is a lot of wood stairs and deck that must be protected, as well as a lot of glass. We would use TWO grounds people on this roof.

Welcome to Florida Kory !!! We put in a bid on a residential gutter cleaning in South Tampa, a steep 2 story, bid 550.00, and that was cheap. The guy was having it cleaned for 150.00 currently, and was shopping THAT price around, LOL There are some desperate Mo Fo's in Florida Kory.

Want MY opinion ? Leave it OFF your stuff. Why ? Too much negative, sell the sizzle, not the steak. In my opinion, people do not want to hear what CAN go wrong, they just want to get their stuff cleaned.

I was unaware people still used the Shurflo's ? Most have switched over to the new Delevans for roof cleaning.

I think Steve has spoken, and we should honor his wishes. Closed is my vote too.

I am not a wood guy, but I read and enjoyed the article in the latest Cleaner Times Beth! It was well writen and informative. Good Job !!!

I like Cleaner Times myself. I know Chuck works hard, for little or nothing, to provide our industry with a magazine. Chuck is all ears when it comes to improving the magazine. So, for anyone haveing expertise in their cleaning field, I would suggest they contact Chuck. Myself, I would like to see Cleaner Times do "reviews" on pieces of Cleaning equipment. An article like "Stainless Deal tests the Enviorspec or Delco Hot Water Skid" would appeal to me.

Welcome Steve, and sorry to hear it is gone.

No, Sodium Hypochlorite is only a liquid. Calcium Hypochlorite is a powder, but not strong enough for roof cleaning. Lithium Hypochlorite is too expensive.