10 Roof Maintenance Tips from Wash Rite

10 Roof Maintenance Tips from Wash Rite

10 Roof Maintenance Tips That Save Money and Unnecessary Headaches

Installing a new roof can be expensive and it’s usually a major disruption for most Homeowners. That’s why inexpensive inspections and maintenance on a regular basis make perfect sense. A well designed roof maintenance program will keep your roof functioning properly, keep your warranties intact, and ensure that you get the maximum useful life from your roof.

1. Inspect the roof on a regular basis: Inspections are designed to find minor issues before they become major issues. You should schedule inspections before or after seasonal changes and after major storms. A proper inspection will always include looking in the attic for leaks.
2. Keep your roof free and clear of debris: minor debris such as leaves, small limbs, and sticks can damage your roof, prevent proper drainage, encourage algae & moss growth, and encourage wood rot.
3. Inspect / repair seals, joints, and flashing: These are the most frequent spots for leaks and should be regularly inspected for damage. Flashing covers entry points into your roof including the vents, exhaust pipe, and chimney, and it’s often a hotspot for leaks. Look for rust, cracks, and dried out or loose sealant.
4. Repair problems quickly: Roof problems don’t go away, they just get worse with time and more expensive to fix.
5. Keep your gutters clear: Gutters are a critical, but often overlooked, part of your roofing system. They allow for the proper drainage that’s necessary for the roof to function properly. When gutters back up, serious water damage and ice damming can occur.
6. Trim trees away from the roof: Tree limbs hanging down over your roof, or even on it can be a serious hazard. Not only do they put you at risk for broken limbs falling on the roof, they can wear down and damage shingles. Tree limbs can also encourage squirrels and raccoons to gain access to your home. Keep in mind that they may be closer to your home than you think: tree limbs are often flexible and can swing several feet during a storm.
7. Look for signs of animal and insect damage: Rodents, birds, bats, and bees can cause serious damage to your roof if they decide to make it their home. Inspecting for intrusions can prevent major damage and/or infestations.
8. If you live in area that experience it, clear heavy snow in winter as quickly as possible: Heavy winter snow accumulation can cause a roof collapse. If your roof is not shedding snow quickly enough, hire a professional to remove it. In New Zealand even though in some area's we receive winter snow falls in general our roof's are not engineered to hold heavy snow falls for a long period of time.
9. Avoid harsh cleaning methods: Roofs throughout New Zealand experience discoloration due to algae growth. And while a clean roof looks MUCH better than a stained roof, harsh cleaning methods or repeated cleaning often do more harm than good. NEVER allow high-pressure to be used on your roof. Roof Cleaning should always be done by a trained professional and should always be done in conjunction with a proper roof inspection.
10. Document your repairs and maintenance: This will help you keep track of your expenses as well as provide you with the proper documentation you may need in the case of a warranty or insurance claim.

With proper maintenance, you can maximize the life of your roof while minimizing the overall cost. This will allow you to save money and avoid unexpected emergencies while keeping your home and family protected.

For best results, consider our very affordable Roof Inspection and Moss and Mould treatment program. Our employee's are trained to address all of these items and more. And we’re certified to offer the best warranties in the business.

For more information about keeping your roof looking it best contact us for a chat about your roof or to arrange a free quote.

Wash Rite

PH: 080010126

www.washrite.co.nz

Business systems in your house wash business

Arguably the most important thing to have in place and implemented in your house wash or roof wash business is good simple systems.
Most people roll there eye's and turn off when they hear the term business system's. This is because they don't understand what business systems are and they believe they will not be able to build and implement them into there business.

Well they are easy and simple to do. first thing you need to do is to have the frame of mind that the business needs to be able to operate and also grow without you there guiding it down the path. So first thing to do is write a stand operating procedure for everything, How to wash a house, how to wash a roof, how to make house wash soap, how to pressure wash a driveway and so on, Do this for every service you do and write it in plan simple English so all your staff can read it, understand it, process it and implement it.

Once you have done that you need to make it accessible to all staff. I have mine stored on google docs app so all staff have access to it 24/7 regardless where they are.

I have they in place for operational staff out in the friend doing the house washing and moss and mould roof treatments and another set for admin staff in the office taking calls, phone sales, door to door sales and even me as the owner of Wash Rite.

With everyone in the business having there SOP (standard operation procedures) this free's me up from the day to day questions which they can answer themselves now from just reading the google docs app
Of course if there still unsure i am contactable 24/7 and when ever i am needed by my staff, I always say the only stupid question is the one you don't ask so always ask.

Once you have all these procedures done and implemented and there second nature to your employees you will find you have massive amount of time free now, You can chose to relax and cut back your working time or like me find new ways to grow your business with that time. I chose to grow my business and in turn grow my systems and grow the money i make for less and less work which will allow even more free time to devote to new growth as my staff have taken over the old methods of growth and are keeping those methods producing work and income for the business.

Now the important thing to do when you get to this level is consolidate your customers and income and start to raise your prices by 10% the first 2 years and by 5% every year after, Yes you will loose some clients by lifting your prices but you will be replacing them with higher paying clients, As Keith Kelfas from The Landscape Employee Trap puts it your growing the top while dissolving the bottom, And to be honest i could not word it better myself.

When you get to year 3 of implementing the systems you will find your business is making good money day in and day out and your client base is full of decent paying clients that has a good average income per job ratio.

Now your at the level where you have good cash flow and spare time on your hand, This is the time where i would start to look at investing some of the money your making into cash producing assets such as real estate, This way you now have two forms of income, The business on one side and your rental property or property's on the other and keep building from there.

If anyone has any questions on how i structure my house wash business Wash Rite please feel free to comment and i will reply. Don't forget to follow this blog.

Thanks
Troy
Wash Rite NZ
www.washrite.co.nz

Why should you wash your roof???

As i go around and meet clients at Wash Rite House and Roof Washing and provide them with a quote to clean and or treat there roof for moss and mould i get asked often "why should you wash you roof?"


Well it's very simple why you should wash your roof! Keeping your roof clean and free from harmful moss and mould will prolong the life of your roof. And cleaning and treating your roof is alot cheaper in both the short term and long term than replacing your roof.

All roofing manufactures in New Zealand recommend that you should clean your roof or have it treated for moss and mould at least every 2 years to keep your roof in its best shape and to prevent premature degrading and failure of your roof.

Around the world all the big insurance company's are now starting to not insure houses if the roof is not cleaned on a regular basis as they do not wish to be forced to pay out claims for roof replacements, The worlds largest insurer as well as New Zealand largest AIG have implemented this policy in the past 6 months

As we all know you do not want to be left without insurance when you really need it. At Wash Rite we always recommend that all our clients do a full roof clean every 2 years and a moss and mould roof treatment every other year. This system works very well in the New Zealand environment and the roofs look great and the clients are always happy with the outcomes we get for them. I will shop some pictures of our work below.

This is a two unit block, one owner wanted it treated for moss and mould

and the other for what ever reason did not want it or was not available to ask.

This is two small house joined with a common wall, One house hold got treated

and the other did not like any chemicals used on there property so no 

treatment was done on there half of the roof.

As you can see we at Wash Rite can get some outstanding results from our roof cleaning and treatment methods and we always recommend to keep your roof in great shape as its protecting the rest of your house which is your biggest asset you own.

If you have any question please feel free to ask, you can email me on washrite@outlook.com or visit http://washrite.co.nz/services/roof-wash/

Wash Rite Limited

0800101216

www.washrite.co.nz

WHY WASH THE EXTERIOR OF YOUR HOUSE

Why wash the exterior of my house?? At Wash Rite this is a common question we get asked on a regular basis, Mainly while completing our sales / quoting duties.

Well the answer is very simple! Your house is your largest investment and asset so you want to take care of it and keep it in the best possible condition as you can. This said your house is also the best option to increase your personal wealth as a result of capital gain and  this capital gain is only enhanced and in some cased enhanced greatly due to the house been washed and the roof cleaned so the house has the best possible visual appearance.

At Wash Rite Hamilton we offer a wide range of services all in the exterior property cleaning field and all these services are there to keep your house looking its best and to keep its value. You can find a full list of the service's Wash Rite offer at the following site http://washrite.co.nz/services/

The nest question we get asked quite often is what services should i have done first if on a tight budget?

My answer is away's the same, 1st House Wash, 2nd Roof clean or moss and mould treatment. And when i am asked why would i recommend these two services first its very simple! these two will protect the two largest and most expensive items of your house, The siding / cladding and the roof. To have to replace either or both of these due to damage from moss,mould and lichen would be very expensive. Poor maintenance to your house is very costly down the track so by getting an exterior house washer or roof washing expert like Wash Rite in could save you many thousands of dollars down the track. Plus your home will be the cleanest and best looking house on the street.

Below is a short video of insurance company's refusing to insure your home if your roof is not clean as they recognize the cost of replacement.

The second big reason why you should wash your house and have your roof cleaned professionally is when you go to sell your house a clean house looks better and will demand a higher sale price and will put more money into your back pocket. A person looking to buy a home for there family does not want to have to deal with the mess of washing a house they have just purchased, They want a home to move into and to start to enjoy straight away. A simple house wash and roof treatment yearly can keep your house looking great all year round and will mean an easier sale on auction day. Just as the Wash Rite motto "Where street appeal is everything"

Below i will show a few pictures of an old house we washed before it went on the market, The real estate agent said the wash has added $15000 to $20000 to the sale price.

If you have any questions around washing a house , roof washing or getting a house ready for sale please contact me anytime 

Below are a few links that may help you.

www.facebook.com/washritenz

http://washrite.co.nz/services/house-wash/

http://washrite.co.nz/services/roof-wash/

Wash Rite will be at the Waikato Home and Garden Show 2016

Wash Rite will be having a stand at the Waikato home and garden show this year held at claudlands event center from October 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th so come and see us as we will be having giveaways at our stand and come register your interest for a free quote to get your house looking its best. As there are no better company out there to wash your house, clean your roof, clean out your gutters and get your house looking a million dollars.

Hope to see you guys and girls there.

Wash Rite - House Washing
www.washrite.co.nz
0800101216

Wash Rite will be at the Waikato Home and Garden Show 2016

Wash Rite will be having a stand at the Waikato home and garden show this year held at claudlands event center from October 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th so come and see us as we will be having giveaways at our stand and come register your interest for a free quote to get your house looking its best. As there are no better company out there to wash your house, clean your roof, clean out your gutters and get your house looking a million dollars.

Hope to see you guys and girls there.

Wash Rite - House Washing
www.washrite.co.nz
0800101216

Door Hangers and flyers.... Do they work????

I get asked alot about do handing out flyers and hanging door hangers and if it works????


Well the answer is yes it works, But you have to be smart about how you do it. Firstly we have a company policy that the workers MUST hang a door hanger on the doors of the next door neighbors and the 3 houses across the road of the house there washing. this is a very cost effective way of doing it.

Next is that we employee a person to work one day a week hanging door hangers and they are able to do about 1000 in a 8 hour day, It works out great for them as they have the day off from uni. We really make sure the door hangers are hung on the door knob and not put in the letter box as our hit rate for a flyer in the letter box is 1% and the hit rate for a door hanger on the door in 10% so a massive difference.

 These on the side are the door hangers we hang and we have a great result out of these and will never go back to flyers in the letter box.

We do have standard type flyers but there not handed out in a mail box form, these are only handed out when someone quires about our services and wants more information than we will hand out the flyer as it holds all the information they want. These flyers are great to inform people but not very good in grabbing there attention.

Now you are ready to hang door hangers the next major this is what areas to hang them. My rule is never hang them in the poor areas of town, Even though we do heaps of work in those areas we find most houses in the poor areas are rentals and the people getting your door hangers dont make the call weather to spend the money or not. We target the landlords in other ways.

We will always target middle class to upper class areas as most of these peoples own there own home and can make the decisions to spend the money or not , plus these people have spare money to spend on the maintenance of there home. And there homes are always larger so the charge amount for the                                         job is always larger as well.

The time of the day is always important as well, I try and hang door hangers around 2pm to 5pm, This means the door hanger has less chance of blowing away in the wind and it there awaiting the home owner to come home from work and its right there for them to see.
We also boost our effort in the first 3 weeks of spring and we hire an extra 3 people for 3 week straight to hang door hangers and we normally get about 7500 up per week and with spring people are back out side looking at there house and checking how dirty and how much moss and mould has grown over the winter months.

Simple rules with design, keep it simple and try and grab there attention with the design instantly.

If you want any information just comment and follow the blog

Troy Hillard
Wash Rite
www.washrite.co.nz   0800101216