A detached home has one roof, treated or not. A strata complex has several, usually facing different directions, under different tree cover, aging at different rates — which means “has the complex been treated” is rarely a single answer.
Every building on the property weathers differently
Orientation and tree cover do most of the work here. A block shaded by cedar or fir collects needles year-round and holds moisture longer than a block in open sun, so it reliably needs moss treatment more often than its neighbour across the courtyard. A north-facing slope on any building holds moisture longer than a south-facing one on the same roof.
This is worth raising before a quote is requested, because it changes the shape of the program. Some complexes are better served by treating every building on the same cycle; others get more value from treating the shaded, conifer-heavy blocks on a shorter cycle and the rest less often. Roof cleaning across a strata complex is scoped as one job across the whole property for that reason, with the per-building detail built into the quote rather than assumed.
Timing it against the complex’s other roofline work
Moss treatment dislodges material — moss, debris, granules — that has to land somewhere, and that somewhere is the gutters below. Scheduling roof treatment before the autumn gutter clean means one dislodging, one clearing. Scheduling them the other way around, or months apart, means the gutters get cleared twice. Our note on when a strata should book its autumn gutter clean covers the timing logic that applies here too.
What a council should ask for in the quote
A few specifics are worth confirming before the scope goes to a vote:
- Per-building breakdown, not just a total area figure — so the council can see which blocks are driving the cost and why.
- Method per material, if the complex has mixed roofing (a common situation after partial reroofing over the years).
- Access plan, including which buildings need equipment staged through amenity space or restricted common property.
- A moss-free guarantee term, confirmed in writing — ours covers retreatment at no charge if moss returns to a treated area within the stated period.
Documentation for the file, not just the roof
Every building should come back photographed, and anything found while the crew is up there — a lifted shingle edge, a failing flashing, a sagging gutter run — reported with photos rather than quietly left for the next contractor. That’s what gives a depreciation report something more useful than a single invoice line, and it’s the same documentation standard we apply to strata gutter and exterior work generally.
Getting a program scoped
Send us the number of buildings, their rough age and roofing material, and any access notes the council already has — locked gates, amenity room routes, visitor parking constraints. We’ll put together a written scope that breaks the program down by building, with a price council can review before the next meeting.
Every treatment carries our moss-free guarantee, with the term confirmed in your written quote, and our $5 million liability certificate is provided before anyone is on site.