Roof cleaning is one of the few roofing jobs where two quotes for the same house can differ by a factor of two without either being wrong. The gap usually comes from the method (scraping by hand, soft washing or pressure washing), from the covering underneath, and from how much of the job is getting to the roof rather than cleaning it. This guide sets out what national cost guides publish for each of those, so you can read a quote against a range before anyone visits.
Every figure here is a typical national range from MyBuilder, Checkatrade or similar published guides, dated where the source dates itself. None of it is a Supreme Roofing price. Our survey leads to a quote in writing for the whole job. The wider service is covered under roof cleaning and moss removal, and what a quote should list is set out in what a roof cleaning quote should include.
The whole-roof ranges, by type of roof
MyBuilder's roof cleaning price guide (updated 21 August 2026) says a roof clean starts from about £300 and then splits the cost by the kind of roof being cleaned. Those headline ranges are the easiest place to start, because they let you see where your own roof is likely to sit before method or access enters the picture.
| Roof type | Typical national range |
|---|---|
| Flat roof | £300 to £600 |
| Pitched roof, general | £450 to £850 |
| Tiled roof | £400 to £750 |
| Slate roof | £500 to £1,000 |
Source: MyBuilder roof cleaning cost guide, updated 21 August 2026. These are national figures for typical houses, not a Gloucestershire average and not an offer.
Why slate sits at the top
Slate costs more to clean than tile and the reason is not that stone is hard to scrub. Slate is thin and brittle, so it is worked on more slowly and with lighter methods. Slate roofs also tend to be older, and an older roof means more checking for slipped or cracked pieces as the work goes on. Time on the roof is what you are paying for, and slate takes more of it.
Why flat roofs are cheaper but not trivial
A flat roof covers less surface than a pitched one and can usually be reached more directly, which is where the lower range comes from. The covering still has to be treated with care: felt, EPDM (a synthetic rubber membrane) and GRP (glass-reinforced plastic) each have their own limits on what can be scrubbed or sprayed. Our guide to cleaning flat roofs covers that side.
Price per square metre, method by method
The same MyBuilder guide gives a rate per m² for each of the three common methods. Turning a roof into square metres is a useful check on any quote, because it takes the guesswork out of comparing a hand-scraping price with a washing price.
| Method | Typical national rate |
|---|---|
| Manual scraping | £5 to £10 per m² |
| Pressure washing | £10 to £15 per m² |
| Soft washing | £15 to £20 per m² |
Source: MyBuilder roof cleaning cost guide, updated 21 August 2026.
Read the table with one fact in mind. The lowest price is not automatically the lowest-cost roof. The same guide cautions against jets on fragile tiles, and a saving does not repair a damaged surface. Our guide to why pressure washing can damage your roof explains what happens to the surface.
How to turn a roof into square metres
Measure the footprint of the house, allow for the slope, and you have a working figure for the area of the roof. A pitched roof has more surface than the plan area because the rafters run at an angle. The sums are rough on purpose; the survey replaces them with a measured figure. What matters here is the order of magnitude. A roof of about 80 m² at the lowest scraping rate lands near £400, while the same roof at the top soft wash rate lands near £1,600. That spread is why the method has to be on the quote in plain words.
Why the methods are priced differently
Hand scraping is slow but needs little equipment, and the per-m² rate reflects labour. Soft washing costs more per m² because it is a two-stage job: low-pressure washing and a treatment applied to the surface, with run-off managed on the ground below. Pressure washing is quicker than both, which is how it comes to sit between them. For how each method works and where it is safe, see our comparison of moss removal methods.
How the covering changes what a clean costs
The material on the roof decides which methods are on the table at all, and that is the first cost driver after area. A concrete tile roof can usually take a washing method that would be wrong for old clay or thin slate; a stone roof around Painswick or Minchinhampton may be limited to hand work.
Concrete and clay tiles
Tiles sit at the middle of the range. They are common, the work is predictable, and the laps are forgiving once a roofer has found the way a particular tile behaves underfoot. The MyBuilder range of £400 to £750 for a tiled roof is the figure to hold a quote against. Concrete tiles carry a surface layer that can be worn away by hard washing, so the method written on the quote matters as much as the total. Our answer on cleaning concrete tiles covers what is safe on that one material.
Natural slate
Slate is thin, hard and brittle. The MyBuilder range of £500 to £1,000 reflects slower work and a lighter touch. A slate that has slipped, or a nail that has rusted through, is far easier to see from the roof than from the ground, and a cleaning visit is often when it is first noticed.
Stone slates
The national cleaning guides give Cotswold stone roofs no figure of their own, which is worth knowing. We cannot point you to a published stone-roof cleaning range, so a stone roof is priced on survey. Stone slates hang on pegs in graded courses and are heavy; cleaning them is hand work, and the time it takes depends on the size of the slope and on how many slates need lifting. Our guide to cleaning stone roofs goes into the method.
Cleaning is priced by the slope, the covering and the access, so rely on the written quote that follows the survey, and expect it to show how the price was reached.
Access: scaffold, towers and ladders
On a narrow lane or a stepped terrace, getting to the roof can cost as much as cleaning it. Valley-side planning is part of the quote for this reason: we look at the ground in front of and behind the house during the survey rather than when the crew arrives.
When a ladder is enough
A low, single-storey roof with a clear path round the house can often be reached with a ladder or a small tower, and access then adds little to the bill. A cleaning job is also short enough that it rarely justifies full scaffolding on its own.
When scaffold enters the price
A two- or three-storey house, a roof with a poor edge or a steep slope may need scaffolding for the roofers to work safely. The national guides give a feel for the scale. MyBuilder's new roof cost guide (updated 21 August 2026) gives scaffold for a re-roof as about £1,125, and Checkatrade's replacement guide, headed October 2026, shows £700 to £1,300. Those figures are for a full roof job, where the scaffold stays up for days. For a cleaning visit the scaffold may be shorter-hire or a smaller arrangement, but the point stands: scaffold can easily outweigh the cleaning.
Why access matters
Because access varies so much between two similar houses, the written quote allows for it after the survey. The clean and the route to the roof are both covered, and you can compare it with any other quote on the same basis. Our guide to roof access for cleaning covers the detail.
Hillside plots matter in the Five Valleys. A house cut into a slope may have eaves at head height behind and a long fall to the ground in front, and the least costly way in is not always the obvious one.
Gutters and the roofline: what gets added
Moss comes off a roof and lands somewhere. On most houses the somewhere is the gutter, which is why clearing it is usually part of the same visit rather than an extra trip.
Clearing versus replacing
There is a difference between clearing a gutter, which is a quick job once the roof is clean, and replacing one, which is a separate piece of work with its own cost. The national guides price replacement rather than clearing. MyBuilder's gutter, fascia and soffit guide (updated 21 August 2026) gives guttering at £30 to £70 per metre, fascia at £80 to £150 per metre and soffit at £100 to £180 per metre. Clearing a roofline on its own depends on how much has built up and how hard the gutters are to reach, which means it is priced on survey. Our guide to moss and gutters explains why moss blocks outlets.
Why we look at the roofline while we are there
A gutter full of moss often hides a bracket that has pulled away or a joint that has opened. Once the roof is clear, we look first at whether the gutter drains to its outlet. If the fall has been lost, cleaning only moves the problem. A clean roof sheds water cleanly, but it sheds it into a gutter that has to carry it away.
Small repairs found during cleaning
Cleaning shows the roof as it is. MyBuilder's slate guide gives a single slate repair at £60 to £120 and five to ten slates at £150 to £350, both national figures. If we see slipped or cracked pieces, you get the finding with photographs and we agree what to do, never a surprise on the day. See the roof check during cleaning.
Reading a cleaning quote against these ranges
With the national ranges in hand, a quote becomes easier to test. Start with the total and check it against the roof-type range. Then look for the method written on the page, and divide the total by your measured roof area to see the per-m² rate. A total well below the range is not necessarily a saving: ask what has been left out.
Questions the figures should answer
A good quote tells you which method will be used and why that method suits your covering. It covers access, cleaning, any treatment applied to the roof, gutter clearing and the clearing of debris from site. It also states what is assumed, for example that the roof is sound enough to be walked on. Where a quote is a single sum with nothing describing the work, you cannot tell whether scaffold is in it.
What about the treatment?
Some quotes include a biocide applied after the clean, and some do not. The MyBuilder soft wash rate of £15 to £20 per m² reflects a method that includes treatment, while hand scraping on its own does not. If a quote is for scraping alone, the moss may return sooner, which may be a fair trade for a roof that cannot take a wash. For how treatment works and what to expect, see soft washing and biocide.
VAT
Work on an existing roof is normally standard-rated, and VAT is shown on the quote. Checkatrade's published figures are given exclusive of VAT where stated, which is worth bearing in mind when you set one source against another.
After the survey, our written quote includes photographs of your roof, with a price for the job. Rubbish is cleared from site, and the work carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing.