The First Roof I Ever Cleaned And W/O A Pump Too! - As a young man attending the University Of Washington in Seattle, I worked my way through school as a roofer.
I remember my boss telling us we had a shingle roof to CLEAN! So, I went with him to the Seattle customers home, and here is how we did it.
Seattle has many spa's and hot tubs, so we drove to a spa supply store, and bought many jugs of chlorine. We carried them up the ladder, and poured em in a bucket. Then, using a pole with a stucco roller attached, simply rolled it on the roof! Of course, we used safety glasses to keep the stuff from rolling into our eyes, and rubber boots, gloves, and safety suits.
There were 4 of us up cleaning, all sharing the same chemical trough! We took that roof down in no time at all, and when I watched the boss collect an 800 dollar check for about an hours work, I knew what I eventually wanted to do.
Dont underestimate this method of roof cleaning! There is almost ZERO run off! You need as soft a roller as possible, and they do go bad too, but so what ? Back then, all we could get was wooden poles, and the Chlorine ate em up. But now, there are poly poles available, cheap too! I think it would be slick to make or find find a self feeding pole! Think how many steep roofs could be done from the ground ? Hey, maybe I will patent a roof cleaning device like this, LOL Instead of the Pitch Witch, I will call it the "Apple Stick ?
It's kind of a pain carrying all that chemical up the ladder, but I was young and **** strong then, and didn't care. I just thought I would share this with everyone, to show all how us old roofers did it, back when we didn't have pumps!
I cleaned my first roof 25 years ago with a had pump up sprayer. Sure built my upper torso & biceps. This industry has changed so rapidly in the last 10 years and is still changing thanks to this board Chris.
I didn't have the internet until about 2005,..and when I started getting customers' requests for roof cleaning before then,... I was just using pump sprayers as well. Then I thought I had it really easy when I stared putting tire valves in the jugs and using air to pump them up instead of manually pumping. I still do this with my pump ups.
Then one day my pump sprayer broke on a job,..and I just ended up pouring the mix on the roof from the top,..Ha, Ha,...talk about runoff... But when I seen how effective really saturating the shingles was,...I knew I had to figure out a way to apply at greater volume,...and easier at the same time. My first mechanized system was roller pumps,...then through the Chris,..I learned about air pumps,..a.nd that is where I think it stops for me. Lots of trial and error that I didn't add to this,..Ha,Ha!!
Jeff
-- Edited by Raystown Roof Cleaning Central PA 1-800-236-0322 on Thursday 14th of October 2010 08:17:35 AM
It's amazing how quickly things evolve, and a huge part of that is your research and trial and error Chris. For me just starting out you've paved the way. It does remind me though of when I first started roofing and we didn't have pumper kettles to get the tar up on flat roof jobs. I've still got scars down my legs and side from the tar sloshing out of the five gallon buckets we used to carry it up the ladder! I watch my crews now and just laugh at how ingenuity has made life so much easier for us all.
Thank you veteran roof cleaners for paving the way for a rookie like me! lol
When we made the RCIA Forum, several of us decided to help people NOT make the roof cleaning mistakes we made. The suggestions on roof cleaning equipment come from many dead ends and mistakes we already made, so you new guys don't have to. Though we have roof cleaning down to a science now, it was not always that way. Improvements are always coming, as we try and push the roof cleaning envelope.
Yes,..roof cleaning is basically simple nowadays,...and now the fun comes from doing the little things that will knock time off the job along with making it easier and possibly safer.
It used to be more like "Oh I hope this works today" Ha,Ha...
I like to say.."The REAL work was done years ago,..now it's just clock in and clock out."