Why Kent roofs grow moss in the first place
Kent gives moss everything it needs. Mild wet winters, plenty of mature trees and long spells where a roof never really dries out. Growth usually starts on the north-facing slope, spreads along the tile joints, then takes the whole roof over a few seasons.
Cleaning it off is maintenance, not decoration. A roof clear of moss, lichen and algae sheds water properly, keeps debris out of the gutters and holds its condition for far longer.
Moss does the damage you cannot see from the ground
Moss holds water against the face of the tile. Through winter that water freezes and thaws again and again, and the tile surface breaks down a little each time. Clumps then work loose, slide down the slope and pack into the gutters and downpipes. That is how a roof problem becomes an overflowing gutter and a damp wall.
If your gutters have been filling faster than they used to, moss on the roof is usually the reason. It is worth booking a gutter clear alongside the roof work so the debris we bring down is taken away rather than left to settle.
Lichen and algae stain rather than lift
The black and green staining left by algae, and the crusty grey patches of lichen, do less structural harm but they still hold moisture, and they make a sound roof look tired. Clearing them back usually brings the original colour of the tiles through again and lifts the look of the whole property. On a house going on the market, the roof is the first thing anyone looks up at.
How we clean a roof
The method is matched to the roof
There is no single right way to clean a roof. We decide after looking at the covering, its age and how much growth there is.
High pressure washing is not our default on a roof. It strips the surface off older concrete tiles and drives water under the laps. Where a wash is the right call, we keep the pressure low and work down the slope rather than up under it.
Biocide to slow the regrowth
Scraping and washing takes off what you can see. The spores stay behind. After the clean we apply a biocide across the roof, which keeps the surface hostile to new growth for much longer than cleaning on its own.
How long that lasts depends on shade, overhanging trees and which way the slope faces. We will give you an honest view of it at the site check rather than a number plucked out of thin air.
Access and safety come before anything else
Roof work is the part of exterior cleaning that goes wrong when it is rushed. We look at access before we quote: the pitch, the height, where equipment can be set up safely and whether anything on the ground needs moving first. We are fully insured. If a roof cannot be worked on safely, we will tell you that instead of taking the job on.
What a roof clean involves
- A survey of the roof, the gutters and the access before any work is priced
- Moss, lichen and algae removed from the tile surfaces using the method that suits the covering
- Growth and debris collected and taken away, not left in the borders
- Biocide applied to hold back regrowth
- Gutters checked, and a gutter clear quoted if the roof work has filled them
- A walk round with you at the end so you can see the finished job
Roof cleaning for commercial premises
Shops, offices, industrial units and blocks of flats all get the same approach. We work around opening hours and access constraints, we carry full insurance, and we can quote for the roof on its own or alongside the gutters, windows and hard standing so the whole exterior is dealt with in one visit. Property managers looking after several sites can have them surveyed together.
What roof cleaning costs in Kent
We do not publish roof prices, and we will not give you a figure over the phone without seeing the roof. Every one is different. Size, pitch, the covering, how bad the growth is, how we can reach it and whether the gutters need clearing at the same time all change the job.
So the process is straightforward. Send your address and postcode through the contact page, with a photo of the roof taken from the ground if you can manage one. A colleague will call you back to arrange a site check at a time that suits you. You then get a written price with nothing hidden in it. The visit costs nothing and there is no obligation.
Why leaving it usually costs more
Repointing ridge tiles, replacing tiles broken up by frost and putting right damp caused by blocked gutters all cost far more than keeping the roof clear in the first place. Regular cleaning and a biocide treatment is the cheap end of roof maintenance, which is the whole argument for doing it before the roof starts telling you to.
Where we clean roofs
We are based in Chatham and we work across Kent. That covers the Medway towns of Gillingham, Rainham and Rochester, Maidstone and the surrounding villages, out to Dartford and across the wider county.
Plenty of customers use the same visit to sort the rest of the exterior, whether that is a driveway and patio clean or putting the glass on a regular round with our window cleaning service. Ask when you book and we will quote it all together.
Booking the work
Get in touch with your address, postcode and a rough idea of the problem. A colleague calls you back, arranges the site check, and you get the written quote after that. Once you are happy with the price we book the work in and confirm the arrangements with you directly.
One-off roof cleans are usually paid by card through a secure payment link, or by bank transfer or cash if that is easier. Customers on a regular round for windows or gutters normally use GoCardless, which takes payment automatically after each visit. Whichever you choose, the price on the quote is the price you pay.