I have a large rust stain to remove from this roof. I have a basic game plan using oxalic acid, I have talked to Lori at PWP about getting the chemicals. A little history on this roof. After hurricane Charlie in 2004 this was a new roof, ladys' husband passed away shortly after in 2005. Great folks, however, lawn folks knocked a sprinkler head so it sprayed on the roof and not in the yard. I would go over to help her and fixed it more than a few times after lawn folks left. Well part of my business is lawns, so I started doing her lawn for free. Takes all of 10 minutes and is across the street from my house. Well she passed away in late 2008 oldest son lived in the house, more off than on. He re-hired the old lawn company as that is who he knew. Well guess what, sprinkler head knock out again. House was up for sale & sold fast. He sprayed Rust-Aide on the stain, it did lighten somewhat...but..., you can see the rest of the story. the folks who bought the house know that I non pressure wash roofs and asked if I could help remove the stain. I have done stains but not the Exxon Valdez type as this one is....,as we often said in skydiving when someone crashed N burned, he/she ran out of altitude and experience all at the same time. I hope I'm not running out of altitude. All comments, help and etc's..welcome on this one.
Hey Fred - check out this link - http://roof-cleaning-institute.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=123190&p=3&topicID=34418902. I just ran into the same thing this past week and this is some advice I received. You can also do a search on rust stains and there are a few other threads regarding this.
Thanks Zeke, I did read the other posts and have gathered quite a lot of information. Guess my situation is I don't know about the different acid mixes and their properties, really don't want to make a bomb or burn my nose hairs. By posting the photo and leaning toward the oxalic acid solution, I was hoping for a little more knowledge. i.e. "been there done that" experience. Example: "I had that exact stain or something like it", and this made it disappear.
Guess, what I'm asking is; this is a almost new roof 4/5 years old, is the stain set so much that heavier acids need to burn it off, or can I get away with a tad thicker oxalic mixture and let the dwell take care of it.
I am not adverse to using the heavier acids to clean the stain, if I need too do that. I have made bombs from what is in your kitchen. And that is a no Chit truth!
As I said and asked all comments are welcome, thanks for the help and the search leads Zeke.
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Fred Winters Home Maintenance Services 941.628.9558
It is always wise Fred to make a mistake on the weak side with an Acid, and apply several coats. Speaking of Bombs, Muriatic Acid works great. Take an empty 2 litre plastic coke bottle, fill it one to 2 inches with muriatic acid, crinkle up some aluminum foil, insert, cap it tight, shake, and toss in water, away from known fish beds. Takes up to 15 minutes, but goes BOOM, and fish can be seen floating in water, if not careful So, try to throw it away from Fish ?
Chris, I always err on the side of caution and thank you so much for the advise. I am driving to Tampa this week. No--not after you. I have 15 pages of stuff that will curl your short hairs. I changed my Avatar, guess no one really likes a fish butt in the air. But it was fun to watch him just enjoy the crabs he was eating, totally in his own world. The photo current avatar is when I was younger (much) and bullet proof.
Seriously, I respect everyone here for their knowledge and for the hard knock experiences you and we all have learned in this short hard life.
I will use all your hard earned and so freely given knowledge. Thank you for the sage advice. I will use it to my advantage and hopefully pocketbook, and be able to give back to all here what I have received.
Oh almost forgot the photo was from 22,000 feet (AGL) above ground level -- Edited by Redfisherman on Tuesday 9th of March 2010 08:37:59 PM
-- Edited by Redfisherman on Tuesday 9th of March 2010 08:38:44 PM
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Fred Winters Home Maintenance Services 941.628.9558
Fred, the OX will work on that Sulfur Rust stain. You may even want to mix up a batch in a 5gal bucket and down stream it. (providing you have a pressure washer). I would go 1 to 1.5lbs of OX to 5gals water. As soon as the Rust disappears I would rinse it off with fresh water to prevent it from leaving a huge white area on the Shingle Roof. This mix will also work perfectly for the stains on the outside of the house as well.
Thank you so much for the information and guidance on how to get it done. This is a lead in to about 10 other jobs. Guess they all are waiting to see if I can work magic. I will post a during and after photo when I get it done.
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Fred Winters Home Maintenance Services 941.628.9558
Chris, I always err on the side of caution and thank you so much for the advise. I am driving to Tampa this week. No--not after you. I have 15 pages of stuff that will curl your short hairs. I changed my Avatar, guess no one really likes a fish butt in the air. But it was fun to watch him just enjoy the crabs he was eating, totally in his own world. The photo current avatar is when I was younger (much) and bullet proof.
Seriously, I respect everyone here for their knowledge and for the hard knock experiences you and we all have learned in this short hard life.
I will use all your hard earned and so freely given knowledge. Thank you for the sage advice. I will use it to my advantage and hopefully pocketbook, and be able to give back to all here what I have received.
Oh almost forgot the photo was from 22,000 feet (AGL) above ground level -- Edited by Redfisherman on Tuesday 9th of March 2010 08:37:59 PM
-- Edited by Redfisherman on Tuesday 9th of March 2010 08:38:44 PM
I thought that was a updated newer current picture of you canvassing the neighbor hood doing recon looking for roof cleaning jobs. Great Picture
Yup, worked for Google for awhile doing aerial zooms on neighborhoods, thought I would use some of my old learned skills in my new business. Sometimes I feel like the guy from Orbitz, but instead of refund checks. I am giving out flyers "What's Eating your Roof" to surprised homeowners.
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Fred Winters Home Maintenance Services 941.628.9558
To Lori (chemicals), Larry(information), Chris(This great teaching forum) and everyone else who helped me.
I want to say THANK YOU , for everything.
This morning, after receiving my chemical order from Rex last evening in a drive by drop off on the way home, great service from PWP. I was able to get on the roof with the huge rust stain.
The before & in between & after of the roof. We also gave the pump house shed a little of the juice to clean the rust away as well as starting on the palm trees.
The other neighbors were all interested in the stain as more than a few have tried to remove it. I now am scheduling the rest of the homes in the area for roof cleaning and some house washing.
Yes, I used Larry's Mix the way he posted it to me. First we did the down spout from the gutters and we could see it disappear before our eyes, then the concrete edging and then finally to the roof. I worked my way to the roof as I knew it would work, but you cannot believe how fast it was working on the roof. It was gone before your eyes, I kept asking did you get pictures yet?
I did the palms, because when Rex dropped off the chems, I showed him the house, he said you can do the palms too. That was over 25 years of stain on the palm. It was a test and we did the rest of the palms after the roof. I did ask if it would hurt the tree and he said just rinse well. Then of couse today it rained like a cow p--ssing on a flat rock, guess all the oxalic is gone.
Didn't do any roofs today, but did a charter, we slayed em, 22 redfish, yes in all this rain and wind. It was fun until we decided to come home got our butts handed to us 25+ wind.
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Fred Winters Home Maintenance Services 941.628.9558