The following is a copy of an e-mail sent to a customer regarding our pricing for cedar roof cleaning and preservative...
In your email you stated that we are 300% higher than the other companies for the "same service". I wanted to take a moment to assure you that even without knowing what the other companies are proposing, there is NO WAY it is the same service.
We will be using an oil based preservative. Most other companies use acrylic based coatings, which are nothing more than a solid color stain, similar to a thin watery paint. These acrylic products simply beautify the cedar but do not actually preserve the cedar. It's what we affectionately refer to as "lipstick on the pig". In my opinion an acrylic based preservative for a cedar roof is a complete waste of your money. We know the cedar roof preservatives we use are more expensive, but we use them for a reason. The oil based cedar roof preservative will actually penetrate INTO the cedar wood, not just sit on top of it.
The application rate of the product being used is also highly important. According to TWP instructions we should use 1 gallon of preservative per ever 100 square feet. I know other Acrylic cedar coating products are applied at a rate of 1 gallon per every 500 square feet. Again this is doing nothing to penetrate and actually preserve the roof. Why waste your money?
Another thing some companies skip is the washing of the roof. Any moss, algae, lichen and other staining or vegetative growth must be removed before the treatment is applied. What good is it to stain over the crud on the roof? Again more lipstick on the pig. Sometimes the algae can't be seen, but it's there. Even if you can't see it, it must be removed. Furthermore the roof needs to be washed because this conditions the wood and opens the pours to receive the preservative.
Please make sure whomever you choose to hire is going to perform a thorough washing of the roof with a biocide and fungicide cleaner, or again, you will be wasting your money.
The last thing I would like to point out is that we, Reliable American, is a licensed roofing contractor. Most other cedar coating companies are not licensed to perform roofing services, but they do anyway. If you would like I can provide you with a copy of our State of IL roofing license, and our license number is 104-014883. Most cedar coating "specialists" carry painters insurance, which won't cover them if anything happens while working on your roof!
Whomever you choose to hire to work on your roof, please insist on seeing a copy of their STATE OF IL ROOFING CONTRACTORS LICENSE. If they don't have a roofing license issued by the State of IL, they are breaking the law!
We repair and clean cedar roofs in: Glenview, Northbrook,
Wilmette, Winnetka, Deerfield, Kenilworth, Riverwoods and
more!
