Conservatories and conservatory roofs

A conservatory roof turns green on the north side within a year and nobody can reach it, which is why half the conservatories in Cardiff have a lawn growing on top. The pole reaches the ridge of a standard roof from the garden; the pure water softens the algae, the brush lifts it, and the rinse takes it off. We never stand on a conservatory roof, polycarbonate or glass, and we do not use ladders against the frame.

The sides are easy and go on the round: the glass, the frames, the sills and the door, at £18 a visit on top of the house price, every four weeks. The roof is a separate job because it takes an hour with the long pole and more water than a house, and because it is only needed once or twice a year. Spring, before you want to sit in it, and autumn, after the leaves, is the pattern most people settle on.

A roof that has gone black rather than green has lichen on it and needs a second visit three weeks after the first, because the pure water kills it but it takes time to let go. We say so when we see it and do not charge for the second pass. Cresting, finials and the box gutter behind the roof against the house wall are included, and if the box gutter is full of moss we clear it before it floods your kitchen.

What is included

• Sides on the round at £18 a visit, frames and door included
• The roof as a one-off, inside the price for the ridge and the cresting
• The box gutter behind the roof cleared
• No one on the roof; pole work from the ground
• Lichen treated and a free second pass if it needs one
• Self-cleaning glass treated with pure water only, as the maker says

What it costs

Sides added to a round visit £18. A roof as a one-off from £65 for a lean-to and from £95 for a large Edwardian or P-shaped roof, including the gutter behind it. Most roofs want doing in spring and autumn. Including VAT. The prices page works a round out from the number of windows; the rounds page gives the day for your street.