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Post Info TOPIC: What works for us!


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A Hearty Welcome to you Mitch!

Thank You for participating here on RCIA,we have a lot of great folks with plenty of hard won knowledge to draw from. My advice is to listen and learn and don't sweat the small discrepencies on exact accurracies. Good People are trying to help win you over from the "dark side" persistant and enthusiastic new Jedi.

Lots of excellent questions and responses her on the subject of proper roof cleaning technique and chemical usage, cost and proceedure.

Great job guys of sticking to your guns.

Mitch, though you have been doing it one way, we all can learn and grow here in a friendly, not advisarial way. There are "Other" methods and this is one that is PROVEN.

Mitch, Please bear with us and be open minded as it's seems you are agreeing to in your posts.

300 psi is WAY too much pressure to be 1-2 foot off the surface of ANY composite or shingle roof.

It alsolutely HAS to be BLOWING off granuals and rinsing will PROVE it.

Look in the gutters if they have them and if not look at drainage points at valleys on the ground. There HAS to be material there deposited from this excessive pressure.

If you say there are no grnuals being removed I have to ask you to please look more closely. Ther just HAS to BE EXCESSIVE GRANUAL LOSS both during and after the cleaning after several rains.

Go back to some of your homes after some hard rains and look closer, you may be suprised by what you may find.

It only takes 1 roof customer to sue you and your premiums and your good name are hard to restore after they have been spread around the community that people start talking, word of mouth, "he Ruined my Roof"

It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when at those pressures.

Just trying to help and just food for thought.

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THANKS FOR THE HELP, I WAS THINKIHG OF USING A WATER BROOM USING HOUSE PREESURE WATER 40-60PSI TO HELP REMOVE THE MOSS

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When removing moss, it isn't the water pressure that is the problem,..it is the MOSS!! Even if you use your fingers to pick it off the MOSS will still be holding onto the granules and leave a bare spot where the granules used to be. It's not a perfect World,...once growth gets any body to it,.. it's unlikely able to be removed manually without doing damage. The only thing you can do here is to let it fall off over time and remind the customer to call before it gets to that stage the next time.
Same goes with lichen, except lichen is worse yet!!


Jeff

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I will post a set of example pics that will show what he means, when I get home. We had a customer that had moss and wanted it removed. He knew ahead of time what the moss would do to his shingles.

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TROPO wrote:

THANKS FOR THE HELP, I WAS THINKIHG OF USING A WATER BROOM USING HOUSE PREESURE WATER 40-60PSI TO HELP REMOVE THE MOSS



     Save yourself the trouble. MOST (emphasis mine) of the time, the moss and lichens will fall off in a few weeks. If they don't fall off, their lifespan has been compromised by the roof mix, and will most likely come off with a simple rinse.



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Once the moss and lichen get hold... they destroy a roof. You MUST let your customer know that cleaning thier roof will help retard (note: not stop) further growth... but that damage has been done that you cannot fix with cleaning.

Here are a couple pics of a roof I did that had moss and lichen. You can see the damaged areas of the roof.


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Mitch wrote:

Once the moss and lichen get hold... they destroy a roof. You MUST let your customer know that cleaning thier roof will help retard (note: not stop) further growth... but that damage has been done that you cannot fix with cleaning.

Here are a couple pics of a roof I did that had moss and lichen. You can see the damaged areas of the roof.


That's right Mitch.  Moss and lichen are a bit@h!

If you strengthen your 12.5% bleach ratio w/TSP and/or alcohol plus surfactant.
(35-40% or 15 gallons of bleach in a total of 40 gallons of mix),
the moss will come off easier with less pressure.

And let the chemicals soak in for about 20-30 minutes.

Using less pressure will reduce the amount of granules that will be dislodged.

As your photograph shows, granule loss is still inevitable though, and will not help the longevity of the roof, only the appearance.

 



-- Edited by Mike Sullivan at 12:15, 2009-02-18

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I asked my supplier how stong our SH was and they say it is at least 15% but never more than 18%. Is there a kit I can get to test it?


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I'm sure there is, maybe Chris, Dave, Jeff or someone knows where we can get one and post a link for us. I'd like to have one myself.

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Here is one I looked at before,..but it only goes to 10%. I was thinking it would be easy enough to cut it 50/50 with water and then it should be readable with this kit and just double your reading. But I never bought any type of kit,...it would be nice to have just a simple test strip to use. Just never had enough reason to buy this type of kit,...although I always am curious about what my percentage from Univar is and if they're consistent. Test Kit

I think most guys just rub some between their thumb and index finger and see how warm it gets. Should get hot if it's fresh and 10% or higher. I always figured if there was a simple way we'd have seen it posted by now,...but  it's a good subject worth bringing up now and then.


Jeff

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Raystown Roof Cleaning
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Roof Cleaning Central Pennsylvania

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Raystown Roof Cleaning Central PA 1-800-236-0322 wrote:

Here is one I looked at before,..but it only goes to 10%. I was thinking it would be easy enough to cut it 50/50 with water and then it should be readable with this kit and just double your reading. But I never bought any type of kit,...it would be nice to have just a simple test strip to use. Just never had enough reason to buy this type of kit,...although I always am curious about what my percentage from Univar is and if they're consistent. Test Kit

I think most guys just rub some between their thumb and index finger and see how warm it gets. Should get hot if it's fresh and 10% or higher. I always figured if there was a simple way we'd have seen it posted by now,...but� it's a good subject worth bringing up now and then.


Jeff




OLD SH can be used for treating roofs http://www.webspawner.com/users/ka7niq/keepingyourroof3.html

 



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Chris

Good idea to use old SH for maintenance applications. As many roofs as you do I can't imagine you have old SH laying around.

For your maintenance program, I assume you modify the love mix to make it cost effective so you can charge a lower annual fee. What % of SH do you use for the maintenance love? What about other additives such as tsp, dawn & alcohol? Do you include them or just use a water/SH mix?

Do you apply the maintenance mix using the same equipment for a regular roof job? With the lower SH ratio do you have to protect plants? Basically how do you control cost so you can charge a lower fee?

Thanks.

Charles

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cweman wrote:

Chris

Good idea to use old SH for maintenance applications. As many roofs as you do I can't imagine you have old SH laying around.

For your maintenance program, I assume you modify the love mix to make it cost effective so you can charge a lower annual fee. What % of SH do you use for the maintenance love? What about other additives such as tsp, dawn & alcohol? Do you include them or just use a water/SH mix?

Do you apply the maintenance mix using the same equipment for a regular roof job? With the lower SH ratio do you have to protect plants? Basically how do you control cost so you can charge a lower fee?

Thanks.

Charles




10 to 20 percent SH to water will treat any roof, on a yearly spray.
Some tile roofs really can use a couple sprays a year, in florida.
All plants are protected, just as if we were cleaning the roof.


 



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I tested mine out today by having a hose pop and getting a full shot of roof mix in the eye. Talk about mad.
Oh the mix was hot. thumbsup.gif

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No Damage I hope... to your eye...

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Reef Property Services wrote:

I tested mine out today by having a hose pop and getting a full shot of roof mix in the eye. Talk about mad.
Oh the mix was hot. thumbsup.gif




OUCH !!
I used to carry a bottle of eye drops filled with only distilled water, back when I was still cleaning roofs David.
That little bottle of water saved my eyes a time or two.

I once had a ground man who did time in Raiford, he was an Aryan Nations/White Supremacist Type, 6 foot 4 and 285 lbs of Prison Muscle.

He was about as tough a person as I have ever known.
The Love got him in the eyeballs, and he dropped to his knees and cried like a spanked child!

He QUIT after that ....




 



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Quick question. Does Sodium Hydroxide have a short shelf life like SH? Or does it last a good while?

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Use the search button for "shelf life"

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Mitch wrote:

I've done about 200 roofs using a mix of 1.5 gallons of Sodium Hydroxide & 1.5 Gallons of Sodium Hypoclhlorite into a 30 gallon drum of hot water. Works real good here in Maryland and my customers love the results.� I've gone back 3 yrs later and the roofs still look clean and free of any mold streaking.

Just my two cents on what works here.


Mitch
Wash on Wheels - Bowie
"Has your house had a bath today?"



Sodium Hydroxide is what I use to use to clean restaurant exhaust sytems. VERY VERY nasty stuff. I spilled some in the parking lot once and it just ate the tar from the pavement.

You may use what you like, but be careful....it takes a ton of rinsing to remove Sodium Hydroxide.....so if you do not rinse.....yikes!

 



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rmr1904 wrote:

Quick question. Does Sodium Hydroxide have a short shelf life like SH? Or does it last a good while?



It lasts a LONG time. (Very)  Small amounts are used to stabilize SH concentrations in Clorox.

 



-- Edited by Midtown on Thursday 20th of May 2010 04:51:35 PM

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