Ask three companies to clean your roof and the quotes can come back anywhere from a few hundred dollars to well over a thousand, for what sounds like the same job. The roof is the one part of the house you cannot inspect properly from the ground, so there is no easy way to tell a fair price from a padded one.
The honest answer is that roof cleaning cost is worked out several different ways — by material, by method, by the size of the roof — and some quotes quietly include work that is not cleaning at all.
This guide sets out what roof cleaning cost actually looks like in Australia, drawn from the national cost guides and from operators who publish their prices. It also explains why the same publisher prints three different cleaning prices, so you can read any quote and know which product you are really being sold.
The quick answer
For a low-set, average-sized home, hipages’ roof cleaning guide puts a professional clean at $600 to $800 for a concrete tiled or steel roof and $700 to $900 for a terracotta tiled roof. A small roof runs $300 to $550. A national price guide, What’s The Damage, puts a standard home at $300 to $1,300, with $900 typical — a figure that includes moss and lichen treatment, soft-pressure washing and a ridge cap inspection, GST included.
One warning before the detail. hipages also prints “roof cleaning” at $250 to $500 in its restoration guide and at $1,200 to $1,500 in its repair guide. Those are not competing quotes for the same job. The first is one stage inside a restoration, and the second is cleaning bundled with repairs. The standalone clean is the product this page prices, and the boundary section below explains how to tell the three apart.
What roof cleaning costs by material
Material is the first thing a cleaner prices, because it decides both the method and how much care the surface needs.
| Roof, low-set average home | hipages cleaning guide |
|---|---|
| Concrete tiled or steel roof | $600–$800 |
| Terracotta tiled roof | $700–$900 |
| Small roof, any material | $300–$550 |
| High-set home or steep pitch | Add $100–$200 |
| Access needing a cherry picker | Add $400–$500 |
Terracotta sits at the top because it takes more time and care. It is the delicate case in every source this guide draws on — lichen bonds into the tile surface, and the tiles themselves are easier to damage than concrete or steel.
Condition moves the price inside those bands. A fairly clean roof costs less, while moss or algae growth takes more time to treat and ground-in dirt takes longer again. If a cleaner finds broken tiles or failing ridge caps while they work, that repair work is a separate job at a separate price — it is not part of a clean, however the quote is worded.
Soft wash or pressure wash
Method is the second pricing decision, and the one with a genuine disagreement inside the trade.
A soft wash applies a treatment at low pressure that kills moss, lichen and algae at the root, followed by a gentle rinse. hipages puts a soft wash from around $350 for a small roof, rising with roof size, and recommends it for most roofs. What’s The Damage calls soft washing the standard for roofs.
A high-pressure wash strips the surface by force. hipages prices it at approximately $400 for a small roof of 100 to 150 square metres, and its guide puts pressure-washable roofs at $300 to $800 on average.
Where the sources split is tiles. Sam’s Property Care in Sydney and Brisbane’s House Washing Experts both allow a controlled pressure clean on sound concrete or cement tiles, while barring it on terracotta and fragile roofs. What’s The Damage and Kerb Appeal, a soft-wash-only Brisbane operator, say high pressure should never be used on tiles at all, because it can crack them, strip the surface and push water under the laps.
What every source agrees on is the no-pressure list — terracotta, powder-coated or painted metal, and old or fragile tiles. Treat soft washing as the safe default, and treat a quote that offers high pressure on those surfaces as a warning sign rather than a bargain.
One expectation worth setting if you choose a soft wash for lichen. Most mould and algae lifts on the day, but Kerb Appeal notes that lichen often fades gradually over the following weeks as the treatment works and rain rinses it away. A treated roof is not always an instantly spotless one.
What real operators charge
Published operator prices show how those guide ranges land in practice. Each business below prices differently, so read the basis as carefully as the number.
Sam’s Property Care (Sydney) publishes bookable prices by roof size and storeys, covering either a pressure clean or a soft wash depending on the roof.
| Roof size | Single storey | Double storey |
|---|---|---|
| Small roof | $399 | $549 |
| Medium roof | $549 | $699 |
| Large roof | $699 | $849 |
Kerb Appeal Pressure Cleaning (Brisbane and Moreton Bay) works soft wash only, single-storey only, at fixed prices — $650 for a metal roof up to 200 square metres and $750 for a tiled roof up to the same size. The price includes mould and lichen treatment, cleaning of ridge caps, valleys and flashings, and reporting any cracked tiles it spots, though it does not repair them. Roofs larger than 200 square metres are charged at $3.50 per square metre on the area over 200 square metres only, on top of the fixed price — its own example works a 240 square metre tiled roof out to $890. That is a marginal rate on the extra area, not a whole-job per-metre rate.
House Washing Experts (Brisbane) prices by the square metre across the whole roof — $2.50 per square metre for Colorbond, cement tile and iron or Zincalume, and $3.90 per square metre for terracotta. It puts most residential cleans between $599 and $855, includes gutter flushing as standard, and offers a mould inhibitor treatment as a $70 add-on. Its per-metre rate covers the entire roof, which is a different basis from Kerb Appeal’s marginal rate above — the two figures cannot be compared as if they were the same kind of price.
What pushes the price up
Roof size and complexity come first — more area, more ridges and valleys, more time. Condition follows, as the material section covered.
Storeys, pitch and access are the multipliers. hipages adds $100 to $200 for a high-set home or steep pitch and $400 to $500 where a cherry picker is needed for access. Sam’s Sydney table builds the same logic in as a flat $150 surcharge for a double-storey home.
Location matters too. hipages lists approximate starting hourly rates for roof cleaning by state — New South Wales from $80 an hour, Victoria and Queensland from $50, and Western Australia from $38 — and names Western Australia the least expensive location, with Sydney and the rest of New South Wales the dearest. Most quotes are per job rather than per hour, but the state pattern explains part of why identical roofs price differently across the country.
Cleaning, repairing, restoring — three different jobs
A clean covers the roof surface and nothing else. Kerb Appeal puts it plainly in its own FAQ — it cleans the roof surface, while a restoration involves repairs, re-pointing and coating, which is a separate trade.
Repairs are the first boundary. Cleaners regularly find broken tiles, cracked pointing and leaks once the grime is off, and fixing them is repair work with its own pricing — covered in our roof leak repair cost guide. This is also where the $1,200 to $1,500 figures from the quick answer come from. hipages’ repair guide reaches them by bundling cleaning together with repointing, rebedding and capping, or with gutter cleaning. If a quote for a “clean” lands in the thousands, repairs have been bundled into it.
Restoration is the second boundary. A restoration starts with a full clean, then repairs, rebedding and repointing, and finishes with a protective coating — a much larger job, covered in our roof restoration guide. The $250 to $500 “full roof cleaning” line in hipages’ restoration guide is the clean priced as one stage inside that job, which is why it sits below standalone prices.
And when a roof is too far gone for cleaning or restoring to be worth the money, the remaining option is replacement — our roof replacement cost guide prices that end of the line.
The gutters get done too — usually
Everything washed off a roof ends up in the gutters, so the two jobs are natural partners. What varies is whether the gutter work is inside the cleaning price.
House Washing Experts includes gutter flushing as standard with every roof clean. Sam’s makes the same point from the other side — debris washed off the roof ends up in the gutters, so ask for gutter cleaning at the same visit rather than assuming it is covered. Our gutter cleaning guide covers the gutter side of the visit, from signs they need doing to preparing before the rains arrive.
How often, and why it isn’t a DIY job
Frequency depends on climate and shade, and the sources answer for their own conditions. hipages puts a roof clean at every two or three years nationally. House Washing Experts says most Brisbane roofs should be cleaned every 12 to 18 months in the subtropical climate. Sam’s and Kerb Appeal both say every few years, sooner for roofs shaded or sitting under trees.
On doing it yourself, the trade position is consistent. hipages states it directly — roof cleaning isn’t a DIY job, because even a gently sloping roof becomes slippery once water is applied, and a soiled or mossy roof doubly so. Kerb Appeal makes the same point from experience — falls from single-storey roofs still cause serious injuries, and wet tiles and metal are treacherous.
Two practical notes belong with any booking. Run-off from washing must be kept out of stormwater drains — a legal requirement in New South Wales and standard practice for careful operators elsewhere — and gardens are usually protected before and after the clean. If your home runs on tank water, Kerb Appeal advises the tank can be disconnected from the downpipes before the clean and reconnected once the roof has been rinsed and had some rain.
Getting quotes
Compare at least three quotes, as hipages advises, and check testimonials while you are at it. A quote worth trusting names its method — soft wash or pressure — and states whether a moss and lichen treatment is included to slow regrowth, rather than leaving both to assumption.
What’s The Damage’s standard is a useful checklist. Each surface and extra should sit on its own line, the method should be named beside the price, and the operator’s insurance cover should be named on the quote. For roof work generally, hipages’ restoration guide lists the hiring checks that apply — licensing, which varies by state, valid insurance including public liability, and working at heights certification.
Frequently asked questions
How much should it cost to clean a roof?
For a low-set, average-sized home, hipages’ cleaning guide puts it at $600 to $800 for a concrete tiled or steel roof and $700 to $900 for terracotta. Small roofs run $300 to $550. What’s The Damage’s national range for a standard home is $300 to $1,300 with $900 typical, including moss and lichen treatment, a soft-pressure wash and a ridge cap inspection, GST included.
How much does it cost to pressure wash a roof?
hipages prices a pressure wash at approximately $400 for a small roof of 100 to 150 square metres, and puts pressure-washable roofs at $300 to $800 on average. Whether pressure washing suits your roof at all is the prior question — terracotta, powder-coated metal and fragile tiles are soft-wash work in every source this guide uses.
How much does roof cleaning cost in Australia?
What’s The Damage puts a standard Australian home at $300 to $1,300, with $900 typical, including moss and lichen treatment, a soft-pressure wash and a ridge cap inspection, GST included. Published operator prices sit inside that range — Sam’s Sydney table runs $399 to $849 by size and storeys, and Brisbane operators put most residential cleans between $599 and $855.
Will pressure cleaning damage my roof tiles?
It can, which is why operators disagree about it in print. Some allow a controlled pressure clean on sound concrete or cement tiles. Soft-wash operators say pressure should never touch tiles at all, because it can crack them, strip the surface and force water under the laps. On terracotta and on old or fragile tiles there is no disagreement — soft wash only.
Is a roof clean the same as a roof restoration?
No. A clean treats the roof surface. A restoration adds repairs, re-pointing and a coating system on top of the clean, and it is a separate trade and a much larger job — though a clean roof is the right starting point for one.
How often should a roof be cleaned?
hipages says every two or three years. In Brisbane’s subtropical climate, House Washing Experts says every 12 to 18 months. Shaded roofs and roofs under trees need it sooner in any climate, because moss and lichen establish faster out of the sun.
Reading the quote in front of you
A roof clean is one of the cheaper ways to look after the most expensive surface on the house — provided the quote in front of you is actually for a clean.
Price it by material and method, check what the figure includes, and keep cleaning, repairs and restoration in their separate boxes. Do that, and the spread between quotes stops looking like guesswork and starts looking like what it is — different scopes, honestly labelled.
