What a roof cleaning quote should include

The first line to look for is how the moss will actually come off. Hand scraping, soft wash and pressure wash are different jobs with different risks, and a quote that says only "roof clean" leaves the choice to whoever turns up. Per MyBuilder's 2026 roof cleaning guide, manual scraping runs about £5 to £10 per m², soft wash £15 to £20 per m² and pressure washing £10 to £15 per m², with a caution that a hard jet can harm fragile tiles.

These figures are national guide ranges and not a Supreme price list. What matters on a quote is that the method suits the covering. Old clay, natural slate and Cotswold stone are softer than they look, and a hard jet can strip the face or drive water up under the laps. If your roof is any of those, a quote that defaults to pressure should make you ask why.

You can read how each approach works in our roof cleaning and moss removal service page. For a quote, you only need to check that one method is stated and that it matches what is on your roof.

Access is a cost, and the quote should say how it will be provided. A single-storey outbuilding may need only a ladder. A three-storey terrace on a Stroud hillside lane may need scaffold, or a tower on a sloping drive, and that changes both the price and the time on site. MyBuilder's 2026 fascia and guttering guide gives scaffold at roughly £20 to £40 per m² of elevation, and a full-height scaffold is far from a rounding error on a modest cleaning job.

Ask the quote to say what will be used: ladders, roof ladders and crawling boards, a tower, or scaffold, and who arranges it. If neighbours' land or a shared drive is involved, the quote should say who asks permission. A lane that a van cannot enter can add carrying time, and that belongs in writing in advance and not as a surprise on site.

Fall protection matters too. Someone working on a wet, mossy slope is working on a slippery surface. A professional quote will not be shy about describing how that is managed.

Moss does not vanish when it is loosened. It slides down the slope into the gutter, and on a hard-working roof there can be a surprising weight of it. A good quote therefore states whether gutters and hoppers are cleared as part of the job, whether downpipes are checked for blockages, and whether the debris is bagged and removed.

If gutters are not included, you may find the roof spotless and the first heavy rain overflowing at the eaves, because the loosened moss is packed into the channel. If they are included, check the quote says exactly what you are getting. Our guide to moss, gutters and downpipes sets out what clearing the whole roofline involves.

Waste is the other half. The quote should say the site will be swept and the debris removed, rather than leaving it in a heap by the drive. Sweeping out valleys and flat sections at the end is part of the work, and it should read that way.

Cleaning removes growth; treatment slows its return. Ask whether a biocide wash is included, what it is, and whether any coating or zinc strips are on offer as options. A coating is a different job from cleaning, so it should never be hidden inside a single figure. If the quote offers a treatment, it should say how it is applied and what the roof should be left alone for afterwards.

Then ask what happens when the roof turns up something. Slipped tiles, cracked pegs, lifted ridge pieces and failed flashings are often visible only once the moss has gone. A sensible quote says the cleaner will tell you, with photographs, before doing anything beyond the agreed work, and that any repair is priced and agreed first. Our answer on checking the roof while it is cleaned explains why that matters.

Finally, the terms. The quote should show the date it is valid until, VAT where it applies, the payment terms, and any guarantee on the workmanship. We give a 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing for our work.

Set the quotes side by side and check each against the same list: method, access, gutters, debris, treatment, repairs procedure and terms. Where a quote is silent on one, ask. The cheaper figure often covers less, and it can be perfectly fair, but it is worth knowing what is missing before you choose.

MyBuilder's 2026 figures put roof cleaning from about £300, with pitched roofs at £450 to £850, slate at £500 to £1,000 and tile at £400 to £750. These are national guide ranges, and the roof's size, pitch and height move them. The typical-cost picture for a Stroud roof is covered in our cleaning cost guide; a quote is a different document, because it prices your roof, not a typical one.

Photographs help on both sides. Our survey includes photographs of your own roof, so the written quote refers to what they show, slope by slope. Anyone willing to do that for you is describing a job they have looked at, and that is what a quote should be.

An outbuilding follows the same list with different methods, covered in our answer on moss on a shed roof.