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ROOF CLEANING WARRANTIES: What consumers and contractors should consider and, the information Homeowners need to know. 

Roof Cleaning Definition: The safe, non pressure removal of stains, streaks, algae, mold, mildew and moss using a soft wash approach with effective, roofing manufacturer recommended equipment and cleaning agents.

As we all know, Blue Green ALGAE (Gloeocapsa Magma) has become a major epidemic and a growing concern on over 80% of the roofs in the United States.

Many people ask me what kind of warranty do we offer and why?

Because I have had so many ask us for our warranty verbiage and the reasons behind it I decided this article was overdue so I have written it.

Many roof cleaning companies have warranties ranging from 6 months to 5 or more years.

Some offer valid arguments and have proprietary methods and treatments and formulations that all save the contractor who wrote them, can make sense of or validate.

Being in  and around the construction and contracting business for MANY years, and having been a part of the growing roof cleaning industry for over 2 DECADES I have seen a lot change and much remain the same.

Below is my take, my view, my slant on the roof cleaning industry and the roof cleaners warranty. My views are my own so take all this information with a few grains of salt and do not take only my word for it.

I recommend to each of you that read this, to reach out and explore, ask questions from other seasoned veterans in the exterior cleaning service industry and get as much real life, on the job roof cleaning training possible.  

My personal view of Roof Cleaning warranties for practical business purposes for the benefit of both the customer and contractor is below. I know of a few businesses that offer this Warranty, listed below for Non Pressure Roof Cleaning.

Here it is.

ONE YEAR : on Algae stains. Why? Because it makes good business sense and is the only way to be fair to both the roof cleaning customer and ourselves.

It used to be that we offered a more lengthy WARRANTY but then REAL LIFE happened i.e for example, have you ever had to re-evaluate a prior commitment or plan because it just did not make good economic dollars & SENSE before?

Case in Point....

Roof Cleaners should happily warranty their roof cleaning jobs for 2 years at a minimum and then subsequent years, but only if the customer buys an exclusive annual maintenance plan / program from the contractor.

Why?

Benefits... and ...Real Value.

We saw early on that the need nationwide for the truly professional roof cleaner was to offer a warranty that can actually be stood behind, Not worthless statements for warranties that will never be upheld because the companies that promised them are NO LONGER IN BUSINESS.

This shorter, VALID warranty means more than a extended warranty that has about a much chance as a PIPE DREAM in HELL of being honored by a new roof cleaning contractor that really does not know the roof cleaning ropes and has not been around in the industry long enough to know what to expect past his first year of cleaned roofs.

Value is only real, both to the CUSTOMER, and the Contract Cleaner, by enabling the property owner to keep his/her roof looking its very best, and to allow them to receive REAL VALUE by having their roof remain clean for their roofs manufacturer rated, entire usable, serviceable life. 

In this way, it benefits, both the consumer and contractor both in the SHORT & LONG TERM and this approach makes sense to me and hopefully to you as well, in other words, the goal to achieve in my opinion is to keep us, the roof cleaning contractor, in the roof cleaning business so we can continue to proudly serve our roof cleaning customer base many years into the future while, providing maximum value to the paying property owner.

"I don't believe in "Go backs" as I call them or "RETURN VISITS" because if you do your roof cleaning job right the first time and you think out your entire cleaning and follow up services process, the job should be done right the first time, all the time. 

The additional cost to correct mistakes made on the job initially, should be avoided at the outset as returning to a roof cleaning job, should ALWAYS incur an additional travel time and prevailing wage cost per hour for workers and ancillary expenses will nickel and dime any service business and cost them far to much money and time. The end result of cleaning up mistakes made on the initial call or returning for warranty work will come back to bite you and, the bottom line is that, if you aren't fair to yourself and your customer base you will soon be out of business.

And, being fair to yourself and your roof cleaning customers means that, because there are birds, squirrels, acorns, leaves, pine straw and a billion other contaminants that can find their way to the flat surface of a roof, there is no way ANY contractor in his/her right mind should be putting their name by a 730 day (2 year warranty agreement covering returning stains on the roof) and should, in my opinion, amend their CLEAN ROOF warranty if they are currently using such verbiage. That would be the DEATH BELL of a business if you are offering this type of extended warranty without being compensated for it.

Personally, their are way to many variables for me to feel comfortable with. And the fact is that most roof cleaning contractors that perform non pressure or soft washing methods work very hard in preparation and before, and protective measures after, each roof cleaning job is performed and this is hard work enough let alone the ACTUAL cleaning process to be GIVING AWAY any labor costs to any property owner by performing additional warranty's cleaning or return work without compensation. And, honestly its just not FAIR.

Example in Point:

Cars get washed regularly. My local detail guy won't give me a warranty past the next rainy day.

Why should we give away, what we cannot control?

Atmospheric pollutants, Environmental fallout, SMOG, windblown dirt, all deposit on the roof top as it is a FLAT surface.

When you go to Best Buy and get a new laptop computer, they make you PAY for an EXTENDED warranty don't they?

Well, we are ALL conditioned to buy or at least get asked to buy those repair "plans"
so, why not get our customers in the habit of buying our Roof Maintenance Cleaning Treatment Plans?

Pest Control companies do it. We should ALL be doing it!

That way the customers roofs stay clean and we have residual income. If those BIG NAME PEST control companies can pull it off, why can't we?

We ARE the roof cleaners that keep America's roofs "PEST" free.

We our the professionals who extend roof life and build TRUE, real estate value, one CLEAN roof at a time.

Shouldn't we, as CERTIFIED, trained, educated, Non Pressure, Safe Roof Cleaning Contractors get PAID for this benefit to the real estate owner.

If there were a voting booth that would give the choice of getting paid for warranty work and not getting paid, I would vote YES! and so should you, if you consider my common sense arguments within this article, for compensated warranty plans and pricing return work.

Decide what works best for you. I hope I have given you much food for thought on the roof cleaners warranty processes, considerations and concerns. I hope this helps many of you make the best choices for you and your business concerning crafting a thoughtful waarnty for your roof cleaning business.

All the best to you all in your endevours, whatever they may be LOL