Seems like every single afternoon
throughout the last summer it stormed around 2:00 PM. And I mean booming
thunder, lightning, & heavy rains! This was hardly the sunshine state.
Come autumn, the result was ugly
mold coating my roof and driveway. Naively, I didn’t expect problems in hiring
someone to pressure clean it. The last time was in 2010. My (then) neighbor
informed me they had hired someone and I needed it done, too. “You won’t find
anyone cheaper or better,” she said. – Well, I wish I had saved the guy’s phone
number!
Several business
cards were left on my door. Also I called numbers in the yellow pages. Nine out of
ten times, I reached an answering machine. A week passed before I heard from
most!
The 1st to
come and give me an estimate stated that he’d done my home back in 2003 and he
didn’t want the job again! My steep-pitched 2-story roof was too dangerous. I
heard this repeatedly! The few willing to do the job wanted about three times
as much as I’d paid in 2010!
When I complained about the
price, I was informed that all sorts of special safety equipment were required.
-- The man who cleaned my roof in 2010 never set foot up there at all!!! He
stayed on the ground the entire time. He just aimed his pressure cleaner up
there and the mold came off like magic! These guys were handing me a load of
B.S.!!!
After the double hurricanes
of 2004, I remember all the professional roofers who refused to climb up there
without safety equipment to give me an estimate. I also remember the Insurance
adjuster who climbed up attired in his starched shirt & slacks, tie, &
street shoes. He was agile as a mountain goat and made the guys in jeans,
T-shirts, & sneakers look like wimps!
I asked why they couldn’t
just get an 8 foot ladder, climb up three quarters of the way and avoid setting
foot on the roof altogether. “Oh we can’t do a good job that way,” I was told.
“Good-bye!” I replied. I’m a
single woman on a fixed income. People try to take advantage of me all the
time.
Along the way, I asked a
friend for advice, a lady who is business savvy and way smarter than I am.
“Contact your Insurance Co.,” she said. “They might pay for it.”
I was flabbergasted hearing
this! She is a good person and I know she meant well, but after weathering 6
hurricanes (3 alone) numerous northeasters and tropical storms, I knew
instantly this was TERRIBLE advice!!! Unless there is catastrophic damage to
your home, NEVER contact them! This results in a red mark by your name followed
by a significant rise in rates.
My options were now growing
ever more limited. I turned to the Service Directory of the local newspaper. In
the past, I’d been warned never to hire workers from there. However my best and
most reliable handyman I found there. Also this is where I got my Tech guy
Jake, who was a gem. I miss them both!
Two pressure cleaners were
listed. I called each for an estimate. One phoned from the road in front of my
house, he never once got out of his truck! He informed me he didn’t want the
job, because my roof looked way too hazardous.
The 2nd was an
older man (my age) who was listed under AAAAAA Affordable Pressure Cleaning. I
explained about the previous cleaner in 2010. He nodded and said he could
figure how the guy did it. He was hired!
All of the ugly mold is gone
now! He did a perfect job! Plus it was performed at a price I could afford. And
he never once set foot on my roof!!!
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