Roof Cleaning (or not)

Folkranger

Folkranger

Joined
May 2, 2014
Posts
2,457
Likes collected
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Location
Washington
Funster No
31,281
MH
Hymer B 584DL
Exp
17 years + 35 tugging
I've tried to keep my various motorhome roofs cleaned, once a year. My preferred choice is to climb on the roof via a ladder and take up a bucket of hot cleaning stuff, a long handled brush and a hosepipe for rinsing off.

Last year I convinced myself that I was getting too old to be roof climbing and bought some very tall stepladders. I cleaned the roof by standing on the step ladders and brushing down from one side and then the other. The step ladders were so cumbersome and heavy that I knew I had made the wrong purchase.

This year I let it slip and only cleaned the sides after winter. (Looks OK from down here :unsure:)

Then I recalled seeing pictures of Just smiffy cleaning his roof and knew if he could do it, anyone could. So got the steps out and started brushing from one side. Far too much muck and pigeon poo. So I climbed up on the roof and did a proper job.(feel much better for that, even though I can't see the result from the ground)

Thanks Just smiffy :calig:
 
PaddyM said:
Im always torn between cleaning it and never cleaning it .
I have never cleaned the roof of my house , ever .
Thoughts ?
Click to expand...
Can't argue with the logic. There is a fashion nowadays for people to have all the tiles replaced on perfectly good roofs just to tidy up the house.
 
I clean our roof regularly as I can see roof from our bedrooms, feel I could do a better job, but better then not at all.

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sometimes there is no choice :rolleyes:

had to park under a few trees for 2 days in North Wales and it rained sap!

this was the result which by the time we gat home a week later was baked on. :eek:

r1..jpgr2..jpgr3..jpgr4..jpg

it has taken me a week of hard graft to get to this :love:

r5..jpg


all i have to do now is wash and polish the rest of the van.....
 
I can see my roof from one of the bedroom windows and I must clean it as last done last year.
I normally use a ladder with padded tops against the side and work from one end to the other then the same the other side.
Maybe some decent steps will help.

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My brother has a level yard in front of his house
He also has 3m pruning ladder designed to pick fruit from his trees.
It's the perfect height to clean the roof of the van
1688674240920.png

I also got a telescopic radiator brush
1688674464604.png

So that I can clean under the solar panels and around the roof vents.
So every time I go over there I make time to use his facilities.
 
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I give mine a light clean a couple of times a year standing on ladders resting against the van side, suitably protected, and once a year l am kneeling on the roof doing a more thorough job.
I have learnt to use a bucket with foam underneath to stop scratching the roof and l use a kneeling pad also foamed underneath.
I am not particularly heavy at 65 kgs and l stay as far away as possible from the roof skylights.
 
I’m so glad I bought this small scaffold tower, so much easier for me to climb up and so much safer to do anything on the roof.
Good for other jobs too and packs away behind the shed… £230 well spent….😎

1688676651288.jpeg

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I just ordered a Werner 7 step step ladder platform height 1.49m from Argos £70 , should make the job easier.
 
Usally get up on the roof a couple of times a year and give it a proper clean.

When just washing the van I often precarious balance on the top of my step ladder to give the roof a gmquick clean with a brush.
Decided a bit silly at my age so going to buy a higher platform step ladder I will get a class 1 one as heavier and more stable. Can't decide on a 1.74m platform that I can easily reach from or a higher one where I could just step on the roof from.

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Lenny HB said:
Usally get up on the roof a couple of times a year and give it a proper clean.

When just washing the van I often precarious balance on the top of my step ladder to give the roof a gmquick clean with a brush.
Decided a bit silly at my age so going to buy a higher platform step ladder I will get a class 1 one as heavier and more stable. Can't decide on a 1.74m platform that I can easily reach from or a higher one where I could just step on the roof from.
Click to expand...
I canstep up a foot from mine to the roof.
The problem I've found is the higher the stepladder, the wider and longer the base which makes them difficult to move and they never seem to touch on all four feet so I have to prop one with wood.
 
Larrynwin said:
I just ordered a Werner 7 step step ladder platform height 1.49m from Argos £70 , should make the job easier.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't have thought that was tall enough. Mine is about 2.5m and is just right.
 
The scariest part of doing any roof inc the van, is not so much getting onto the roof, its getting off the damn thing!. Grabbing the top of the ladder and swinging my leg over to the rung is the worst part, as I cannot tie the ladder up with a rope and screw hook as I do on the house.
The fact that the entire drive is on a slope doesn't help either, so I tend to do it on the flat somewhere, anywhere, even on a Fun Rally with the telescopic ladder on board.
I wish I had a pound for every time someone asks me to "Do Theirs":rolleyes:
Tower scaffold has to be the best option, especially one with locking wheels, but they are so expensive.
LES
 
Larrynwin said:
I can see my roof from one of the bedroom windows and I must clean it as last done last year.
I normally use a ladder with padded tops against the side and work from one end to the other then the same the other side.
Maybe some decent steps will help.
Click to expand...
I too can see the roof of our van (PVC) from our bedroom window.

I bought some long(er) step ladders and a long angled window cleaning brush. I use normal car shampoo whilst SWMBO holds onto the ladder, and then hose it off. No solar panels to bother about and pleased with the results.
 
I have a very expensive Longmans 16ft Scaffold Tower that I used to have to do repairs on the bodies and roofs of my D/Decker Coaches & Buses + a low pressure hand-held power washer but, to be honest with you, I rarely wash the sides of my van, never mind the roof. The mechanics and reliability are more important to me! :giggle: (Who going to pinch a scruffy looking, paint peeling, van? :unsure:)

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