5 Year Warranty???

James, I think that this was a very good educational thread for some I hope and no offense was taken towards those who tried to bash my limited pro rated warranty. It is always interesting to see how others are handling this situation. Unfortunately what you all are proposing on maintenance contracts I have tried and it did not work for me. The limited pro rated warranty works for me. For those who disagree with my limited pro rated warranty, we will have to just agree to disagree and carry on like professionals.

I have been in business since 1994 in Houston Texas and still hanging in there even though we are catching what I hope is the tale end of an economic depression. We started cleaning roofs with a hand pump up sprayer and it was a pain in the ... Now is much easier pumps available and the prices are much lower. There was not even another roof cleaner here in my area until about 5 or 6 years ago when Scot D. made a go of it. He is no longer in this line of work as roof cleaning really has not caught on here yet, but it will. I work in an area that is mostly dominated by oil and gas customers. I found out that most of them had been transferred (within 2 - 3 year max) and were unreachable by the time the roof cleaning maintenance was needed which tends to be about every 3 years here on average. The limited pro rated warranty works for me because it is printed on the back of the estimate and explained to them thoroughly at the time I give the estimate. In a way it is like a maintenance contract because it is transferable to new home owners and the customers like that because it is a selling point for selling their homes and it has potential to bring in residual cash flow. I have been contacted by GAF to clean several roofs of their customers that streaked prematurely and we adhere to this ARMA technical bulletin.

Sorry to hear about your falling off the roof Pete. I hope your past your injuries. Us old folks don't heal as fast as we used to. Good Luck!
 
We wash a few dozen roofs a year, when I cannot talk the customer out of it. We don't offer a warranty, but the roofs typically stay clean for 3 or 4 years. I try to explain to customers that unless they are concerned about the appearance or are trying to sell, it is not necessary to clean a roof. Lots of guys around here try to tell them it will lower their utility bill or it will be a health hazard or some other scare tactic. I explain that it is like washing a driveway, the dirt isn't hurting anything if you don't mind looking at it.
 
I tried selling the maintenance agreement but no luck even though most thought it was a good idea.

All of the roofs I have cleaned stayed clean for 4-5 years on average.

I have gone back to the first ones and they said that they would wait until it got worse before they wanted to clean even when I told them it is less expensive to clean now since it was not that bad and would stay clean for at least 2-3 years before needing a maintenance spray. O Well.

I would tell them after I cleaned the roof that the fungus will come back due to our environment and that it is an airborne spore but if anything comes back for up to 2 years after I wash their roof I would come back and spray those areas no charge, after 2 years there will be a fee.
 
Its working! Selling a bi yearly treatment is working. People seem to like knowing what its going to cost them up front from here on out. We partnered up with a huge roofing company in our area performing all thier roof cleaning work now and it also solidifies our company as the go to company for roof cleaning in this area.
 
innovativewash said:
Its working! Selling a bi yearly treatment is working. People seem to like knowing what its going to cost them up front from here on out. We partnered up with a huge roofing company in our area performing all thier roof cleaning work now and it also solidifies our company as the go to company for roof cleaning in this area.
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That's every two years, right? That's sweet dude! That how you get repeat. Make sure you schedulebthe next appointment too!
 
offdutyfireman said:
We wash a few dozen roofs a year, when I cannot talk the customer out of it. We don't offer a warranty, but the roofs typically stay clean for 3 or 4 years. I try to explain to customers that unless they are concerned about the appearance or are trying to sell, it is not necessary to clean a roof. Lots of guys around here try to tell them it will lower their utility bill or it will be a health hazard or some other scare tactic. I explain that it is like washing a driveway, the dirt isn't hurting anything if you don't mind looking at it.
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Not me, it's a matter of life and me going golfing. If they don't buy I can't be lazy. So they must buy so I can stay to the life style I'm a custom to.


Ron Musgraves text me for questions 480-522-5227 Pressure Washing Institute
 
We are heading into our 4th season with a non conditional 3 year and a conditional 5 year warranty. I've yet to have a call back. We also offer extended warranties.

The question usually comes up in the initial call and we explain the extended warranty as simply a maint application every 2 years. I'm a mile away from the first roof I ever cleaned in 2007 and it's still clean today.
 
Ohio pressure wash said:
We are heading into our 4th season with a non conditional 3 year and a conditional 5 year warranty. I've yet to have a call back. We also offer extended warranties.

The question usually comes up in the initial call and we explain the extended warranty as simply a maint application every 2 years. I'm a mile away from the first roof I ever cleaned in 2007 and it's still clean today.
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That is a good point. The first roof I ever cleaned was right on the water, it was white tile and they were getting ready to sell the house. It came out great and 5 or 6 years later was still good. I have not gone by there in years to see if it needed cleaning again but should.

Most of the roofs I have cleaned stay clean for a long time even though probably 3 out of 5 roofs here are needing to be cleaned.
 
Chris, 5-6 years seems to be the max under ideal conditions. We have had a few roofs that were surrounded by algae infested roofs, zero lot line and had large overhanging Oak and Pine trees. After three years, the returning algae was not horrible but noticeable under the overhanging trees. But on the other side of the coin, there is a neighborhood that we have a few accounts with that are 5 acre lots, maintained roofs and nicely landscaped with just a few small trees. These shingle roofs seem to hold up much better and after 5 years, they looked like we cleaned them last week.
 
You have to think about who they will call next time. If I buy tires from the firestone place and they are still under warranty that is where I am going back to. However, if my tires had no warranty or if it were a short one and is run out. I am free to go anywhere. A smart consumer will distinguish between the contractor who is in it for the one time deal and the one who is trying to earn future business. I have used battery warranties more than anything and most offer a free replacement period, but after that it is more like a discount based on how far you got into the warranty period. If I don't go back to where I got my battery I won't get free replacement or a discount. People don't forget where they got a warranty from as easy as where they didn't. It makes them think and want to remember so they get their future benefits.

I get the ones who want the service plan, but my experience is these guys will call back anyway and insist on paying me for my time. They will ask when it should be done again and put it on their calendar. They are just that way. Just my opinion...........
 
Tally Roof Cleaning said:
Chris, 5-6 years seems to be the max under ideal conditions. We have had a few roofs that were surrounded by algae infested roofs, zero lot line and had large overhanging Oak and Pine trees. After three years, the returning algae was not horrible but noticeable under the overhanging trees. But on the other side of the coin, there is a neighborhood that we have a few accounts with that are 5 acre lots, maintained roofs and nicely landscaped with just a few small trees. These shingle roofs seem to hold up much better and after 5 years, they looked like we cleaned them last week.
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Something also to consider, there in Florida, typically Orlando, Tampa and Clearwater it seemed to rain just about every day around noon to 3pm, sometimes a little bit, sometimes a lot. I did not believe the florida guys until we went there on vacation and for the tampa events.

With all that rain all the time, lots of opportunity for roof fungus to grow along with mold, mildew and algae. I thought we had it bad here but the guys in florida have more rain issues which means more things to clean.
 
offdutyfireman said:
We wash a few dozen roofs a year, when I cannot talk the customer out of it. We don't offer a warranty, but the roofs typically stay clean for 3 or 4 years. I try to explain to customers that unless they are concerned about the appearance or are trying to sell, it is not necessary to clean a roof. Lots of guys around here try to tell them it will lower their utility bill or it will be a health hazard or some other scare tactic. I explain that it is like washing a driveway, the dirt isn't hurting anything if you don't mind looking at it.
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Peanut butter is a health hazard for some people. There are all types of allergens outdoors and any cleaning is helpful. People can become allergic to something simply from being over exposed to it. Your immune system can take years to recover from chronic exposure. As an industry we try to identify the stuff that we can see on a property, but there is so much that we don't see. You may have a tolerance to mold until your system becomes overwhelmed with it. Diseases are less likely to thrive in a clean environment. Is cleaning a cure? No. I know I feel better when my home is clean.
 
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Christopher said:
Something also to consider, there in Florida, typically Orlando, Tampa and Clearwater it seemed to rain just about every day around noon to 3pm, sometimes a little bit, sometimes a lot. I did not believe the florida guys until we went there on vacation and for the tampa events.

With all that rain all the time, lots of opportunity for roof fungus to grow along with mold, mildew and algae. I thought we had it bad here but the guys in florida have more rain issues which means more things to clean.
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It's been pretty dry here in Tallahassee but normally you can just about set your watch to the rain in the summer months. It will rain for a good hour, then the sun comes back out and then it's time for mother natures sauna. Exterior house cleaning keeps us busy because it seems like the humidity is about 90% all summer and the green algae takes over in no time at all.
 
I have wondered why it rains so much there in Florida, it is amazing how often it rains there.
 
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