Photo by Curtis Adams

How Much Does It Cost to Clean a Roof?

Have you ever wondered how much it costs to clean your roof? This piece is a simple guide to help you. This guide is important because roof cleaning prices often vary from place to place. And apart from the location, the differences in roof-cleaning costs are also due to several other factors. These factors include the peculiarity of your roof, professional care, cleaning method and frequency, etc. Here is what you need to know.

On average, you can get your roof cleaned in the United States for around $294 to $592. The national average price for this is pegged at $432. However, with a per square foot calculation, the price range is between $300 and $600. And that is for a 2,000-square-foot roof. The price variation is because the technicalities and difficulty of cleaning roofs differ. Even though the square foot is the same, the time, labor, and materials used might differ.

Hence, to clean your roof, you need to consider some things. These factors would help you to make a better cleaning estimation.

Image from Sterling Roofing

Factors to Consider while Calculating Roof-Cleaning Prices

1. Size of Your Roof: Apparently, the bigger or wider the roof, the more places there are to clean. Hence, a relatively large roof would be naturally costlier than average prices. This is because most professionals clean per square meter. Hence, you would need to consider how large your roof is while calculating the cleaning costs.

2. How Labor Charges: Most roof cleaning companies work with the per square foot pricing method. And the average charge is about $0.15-$0.30 per square foot. However, there are some that charge per hour. So you should plan to spend between $43 and $92 for a 2½ hour job.

3. Cleaning Difficulty and Peculiarity: The peculiarity of one roof-cleaning job differs from another. Hence, there is a difference in pricing. If all you need on your roof is a simple cleaning, that might be possible but not sustainable. A professional always works on a specific roof-maintenance protocol as they clean your roof.

This might sometimes include stain removal, moss removal, moss prevention, roof coating, roof repairs, replacement, etc. These different “additional services” incur more costs on the cleaning service. For example, stain removals are common on roofs in naturally damp locations. One of these stains is the Gloeocapsa magma, airborne algae found in damp regions. It causes the roof to darken. This kind of blemish would not only need a one-time cleaning but preventive treatments. Thus, an increased price in the cost of cleaning your roof.

Note that the extra cost occasioned by stain removal activities on your roof could be around $50 to $100.

Image from JR and Co

4. Steepness and Height of the Roof: If the roof of your house is steep, it means that cleaning it would take more time and carefulness. This is because the professional would likely make use of special equipment to navigate the steepness and clean effectively. And invariably, all these would naturally attract extra labor costs.

In the same vein, how many stories does the home have? The answer to this would largely influence the cost as well. The reason is simple. The more stories the building has, the more roofs to clean. And ultimately, that signals an increase in the cost of cleaning the roofs.

5. Type of Cleaning: The type of cleaning can also determine the price. The type of material your roof is made of would determine the cleaning it needs. It could be a soft, low-pressure, or even a pressure wash. The level of care for each roof and the kind of cleaning solution that would be used for them differs. And if the labor charges per hour, the increased care for a roof may necessitate him to take more time on your roof. And thereby, a higher charge on the cost of the roof cleaning.

6. Geographical Location: This is pivotal. The average price in a large residential city such as Fairfield in New Jersey for roof cleaning could be substantially different from cleaning the roof in a comparably smaller city like Vermont or even Arkansas.

There is no rule of thumb regarding the price of cleaning a roof. However, a good place to start is to reach out to roof-cleaning professionals. And with the knowledge of the given factors, you can make great cost estimations.

Gail P
I am a beachy type of person, living in Newport Beach, and oftentimes I’ll go for a swim with my daughter. When I’m bored, I’ll help make package boxes for my little girl’s sticker company on Etsy.