PressureWashingBossPro Blog — Quotes & Estimates

Quoting a Roof Soft Wash: Measurements, Roof Notes and Price

Roof soft washing is some of the best-paying residential work a pressure washing company can do, and some of the easiest to misquote. A roof that looks simple from the street can be steep, broken up and covered in growth on the side you could not see. Getting the quote right protects your margin and your crew's day.

Roofs Are Not Just Bigger Houses

House wash pricing, with its size bands and stories, is covered in House Wash Quotes by Size and Stories: Pricing the Most Common Pressure Washing Job. Roofs need their own approach.

Roof soft washing is low-pressure work: the cleaning solution does the job, not the pump. That means the time on a roof depends on area, how easy it is to reach every section, how much growth there is and how much protection the plants and surfaces below need. Square feet is the starting point, and everything else is an adjustment.

Measure the Roof From Satellite

In PressureWashingBossPro, the property map measures square feet from the satellite view. Outline the roof planes and you get the footprint area, which estimates can price from using your roof rate. Write down what you see while you are there:

• Dark streaking or green growth, and which sides have it
• Separate sections, like a garage roof or a porch roof
• Trees hanging over the roof, which often mean more growth and more debris
• Skylights, solar panels or vents that need working around

Remember that satellite shows the roof from straight above. A steep roof has more real surface than its footprint, so many operators either use a pitch adjustment or price steep roofs individually.

Adjustments Worth Writing Down

Common reasons to move a roof price off the base rate:

• Pitch. Steeper roofs are slower to work and need more care.
• Height. A two- or three-story roof means more setup and longer reach.
• Material. Asphalt shingle, tile and metal each have their own guidance. Check the roofing manufacturer's recommendations before quoting a material you do not wash often.
• Growth. Light streaking versus thick moss is a big difference in time and solution.
• Plants and surfaces below. Heavy landscaping means more pre-wetting, covering and rinsing.

Put each adjustment on the estimate where the customer can see it, either as a separate labeled line or as a note on the Roof Soft Wash line. A customer who understands why their roof costs more than their neighbor's is much more likely to say yes.

An Example Roof Quote

As an example only, a quote might look like this:

• Roof Soft Wash · 2,400 sq ft measured from satellite · asphalt shingle: priced at your roof rate
• Steep pitch on rear section: added line, labeled
• Gutter Brightening (optional): $85
• Note: “Price based on satellite measurement and photos. Covering of plants along front beds included.”

Offering a house wash or gutter brightening alongside a roof is natural. The roof cleaning often leaves the gutters and siding looking worse by comparison.

Job Details That Carry Onto the Job

Everything that matters on a roof job belongs in the job details on the estimate: the surface (Roof Soft Wash), the square feet, the stories, the method (soft wash) and the access notes. Access notes on a roof job tend to be specific: “Ladder at back left corner, not on the deck. Cover hydrangeas on the east side. Spigot behind the AC unit. Move cars out of the driveway before starting.”

When the customer approves online, those details carry onto the job and show on the crew's phone. The person on the roof sees the same notes the person who quoted it wrote. More on that in Job Details on the Estimate: Surfaces, Square Feet and Access Notes That Carry Onto the Job.

When to See the Roof in Person

Plenty of roofs can be quoted from satellite and a couple of customer photos. Many operators still go look at very steep roofs, tall roofs, tile or slate, and anything where they cannot tell the condition from photos. A roof soft wash is usually a bigger ticket than a driveway, so the trip is easier to justify.

If you do go out, use the visit. Confirm the measurements you took from satellite, look at the growth up close, find the spigot and the best ladder spot, and walk the beds that will need covering. Then build the estimate before you leave the driveway, while it is all fresh. A customer who gets a clear quote the same day you stood in their yard is far more likely to book than one who waits a week.

Whichever way you quote it, make the estimate clear enough that the customer understands what they are paying for, and detailed enough that the crew knows exactly what was sold. To see how roof quotes fit with the rest of the estimate tools, visit the PressureWashingBossPro pressure washing estimate software page.