Conservatory Cleaning - what should you be considering?

It is a fact that all conservatory roofs will get grubby or even covered in moss. After about its third year most conservatories start to look a bit tatty unless they have been cleaned once a year. Conservatory cleaning has become a bit of a niche market over the last few years as more and more people lose the skills to attempt manual work on their own homes. Office work seems to encourage this mind set.

So, for the more practical homeowner wishing to control their own conservatory cleaning duties, what should you be considering for a new conservatory design to make the yearly cleaning schedule easier and safer to complete.

As a general rule, the more shallow the roof pitch of the conservatory glazed roof the grubbier it will become over the year compared to a steeper pitched conservatory roof. Some people also state that a polycarbonate obscure glazed roof is more prone to moss growth than a glass glazed conservatory roof. I would not agree. I think they are exactly the same.

Orientation is another factor in house clean your conservatory structure will remain. A north facing conservatory will get dirty and have moss growth far quicker than a south facing conservatory. Conservatory cleaning will be far more common and harder for north facing conservatoires.

Access is another factor in determining how easy cleaning your conservatory will be. Many conservatories are built into a corner of the existing house and may have a hidden valley gutter or roof slope that cannot be seen or accessed from the outside. If there is a first floor opening window above then this may facilitate good conservatory cleaning access but, if not, it will become an area of roof that will look awful from the inside after a very few number of years.

The actual cleaning methods are quite basic from a soapy brush with a long handle for the roof to high pressure jet washing. Both methods need to take care as it is very easy to dislodge a roof panel or push dirt under a neoprene seal.