I have just completed my first job and have some questions. I am attaching three pictures that show before, after the first coat of solution and when the job was done. I used 15 gal. of SH 35 gal. of H2O, 1/2 gal. Isopropoal Alcohol and 21 oz. floramask. I did have to mix a little more solution to finish the job. I cut down on the SH due to it being my first job did not want the mix to strong. I applied the mix using a Fatboy with 3/4" hose using a 1/4 meg. 15/60 nozzle. I covered the roof thoroughly and still had staining after the first application (2nd picture). I applied another coat and it took all the staining out. Is this common to need another application. Should I have used another nozzle. Please let me know if there is anything I need to do differently. This house did not have any gutters and I had alot of runnoff. I had saturated the grass at the drip line with H2O however it still killed the grass. Is there something I should have done that would have kept the grass from dying. It is not typical in my area that roofs do not have gutters, however I would like to better success in not killing the grass in the future.
Not a bad first job bro, came out good! Yes it is very common to have to coat an area of roof 2-3 times even. It is good that you realized those stains were too dark, you don't want to leave any stains behind that won't be gone in one rain.
Here is what we do for the lack of gutters: If you can use some plastic or tarps to channel it to some stone or driveway, if not then we do this. Flood the grass (I mean make serious puddles) then lay your plastic and flood it too. Try and raise the sides of your plastic up by bundling it on the sides so it catches and holds more solution. Now just dilute it in the plastic containment. It will overflow and drain into the saturated yard as it is diluted. You will be able to see the color of your solution become pretty clear and that will be safe. Of course avoid any delicate flora or channeling into bushes.
Hang-tite or Apple butter added to your mix should keep the run-off to a minimum. I also like the tarp ideas, but will cut my tarps in 3' widths, I don't see having a bunch of 4 x 8 tarps layed across someones yard.
Somewhere on this site it shows someone spraying the roof but staying about 3' front the edge, it allows you to see more or less how much more love is needed.
Yep those are my pics/posts your referring to Anthony. Instead of a tarp try a 100 x 20ft roll of plastic this will allow you to catch a ton of love and dilute it. I also wanted to say earlier that rinsing the bottom 3 feet of this roof will be a good idea to keep the dew from bringing heavy salts down on the plants in the morning.
Mark, Bill Booze couldn't of explained any better how to do it. I don't think you mentioned that you had a ground guy helping you. If you did he can also spray the runoff with a hose before it hits the ground, that delutes it, you could also spray the edges from the ground or ladder to eliminate over spray, I strongly suggest you to use a nozzle that would put it on light, and of course use hangtite.
you should also use the cleaner only as strong as needed with two applications in mind. The weaker the better. I think if you are around 25%cleaner you have lot less chances killing things oppose to 30% cleaner, but 25% will usually only clean light black streaks.
-- Edited by Walk on Tuesday 13th of July 2010 10:11:02 PM
Thank you Bill...............Mark these pictures should help, I know they are very helpful to me, and I haven't done a roof yet......... gives one an idea of what the love is doing.....
I have just completed my first job and have some questions. I am attaching three pictures that show before, after the first coat of solution and when the job was done. I used 15 gal. of SH 35 gal. of H2O, 1/2 gal. Isopropoal Alcohol and 21 oz. floramask. I did have to mix a little more solution to finish the job. I cut down on the SH due to it being my first job did not want the mix to strong. I applied the mix using a Fatboy with 3/4" hose using a 1/4 meg. 15/60 nozzle. I covered the roof thoroughly and still had staining after the first application (2nd picture). I applied another coat and it took all the staining out. Is this common to need another application. Should I have used another nozzle. Please let me know if there is anything I need to do differently. This house did not have any gutters and I had alot of runnoff. I had saturated the grass at the drip line with H2O however it still killed the grass. Is there something I should have done that would have kept the grass from dying. It is not typical in my area that roofs do not have gutters, however I would like to better success in not killing the grass in the future.
from what iam reading and seeing , yes 2 coats would be normal on this color of roof, i always have to spray a white roof twice, reason being, it leaves a brown residue after first application, but rain could have removed it , also 15 sh 35 h20 seems weak to me, but then i dont know how strong your sh is .. I myself on this roof would have mixed 15sh to 25 h20 which is my normal mix i have never used more than 30 h20 .... what is everyone else using ?????
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Elite Roof Cleaners Roof Cleaning Missouri & Kansas City
Thank you Bill...............Mark these pictures should help, I know they are very helpful to me, and I haven't done a roof yet......... gives one an idea of what the love is doing.....
Thanks again Bill!!!
Haven't done a roof yet, but you are shown as a "certified roof cleaner"???. What are you waiting for?? Quit trying to build a "show" trailer and go clean some roofs and make some money! No better time than NOW!!!
Thank you Bill...............Mark these pictures should help, I know they are very helpful to me, and I haven't done a roof yet......... gives one an idea of what the love is doing.....
Thanks again Bill!!!
Haven't done a roof yet, but you are shown as a "certified roof cleaner"???. What are you waiting for?? Quit trying to build a "show" trailer and go clean some roofs and make some money! No better time than NOW!!!
Gary, I'm trying, trust me, while fighting insurance company over my own roof, and the loss of the cleaning of two other roofs down the street(they just got new ones)..........stressing......
I'm sending some letters to realtors that are selling homes to try and get some business...................trust me, around here image is everything to homeowners, so the trailer needs some more TLC.........hopefully I can get a new reel from Lori..........
Here in the Des Moines, Iowa area everyone uses asphalt, and alot are light colored. I am about to do my first roof cleaning job e.g. next week. The mix for solution you say 15 sh to no more than 30 H2O. I was thinking of 15 HS to 40 H2O and second coat if I have to. I do have hang tite to add, so should be able to control run off and also have a ground guy. I also want to rinse, though with all the rain we been getting may not make sense. Also, was thinking of using dowspout tubes to run to the driveway or curb for run off or rinse.
Feedback welcomed for mix and for run off or rinse.
I would go ahead and use the 15sh-25h2o for your first roof clean. Wait for the roof to dry if you have time and only use a little bit of hang tite. You may find that once the roof drys you won't even feel the need to rinse it. There really shouldn't be anything visible to rinse off. Your runoff will never make it to the end of the divert tube you use unless you use a lot of solution. You might as most if us did and do in the beginning make a lot of runoff, in fact from some posts I think some guys have been flooding roofs for years, lol. Keep your spray light but even. It is much better to respray an area than to deal with all the runoff of flooding it. Just use heavy trash bags to catch it. Have your ground man watch the bags and do not let them fill more than a few gallons before changing them. Your ground man controls the speed you can spray, if you have a leaky gutter were he needs to flood or too much runoff to the bags or heavy over-spray he needs to be watching for this and tell you to stop. Stay in communication with your ground man so he is paying attention to you and you are knowing were he is when you spray. Move the collected solution to an area of brush or gravel were it can be diluted safely. Rinse your bags out when your done.
-- Edited by Baltimore MD Roof Cleaning 410-482-4367 on Wednesday 14th of July 2010 11:58:56 PM
You don't need a reel, just roll that hose up. Your future helper can be your hose reel for now. Get out there and knock on those doors!!
Right you dont need a hose reel, I do not have one and will not get one until i start doing 2-3 roofs and need to be more efficient.... until then my $$$$$$ will go to marketing
go clean a roof
Dave
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Elite Roof Cleaners Roof Cleaning Missouri & Kansas City
Gary you should call a realtor in your area and tell them your looking for a home with a light color roof. He just punches the info into his real estate program and will send you all the addresses then you just go looking for them dirty roofs. I've been doing real estate for over 10 years and thats how I find roofs to clean.
i did not know you/they could search with color of roof??? maybe the year that it's built?
but why do that? just be honest and tell them you clean roofs and it would help them and the owner sell the house quicker and maybe get a better price than listed.
treat other professionals well it will come back to you in many ways.
cheers rick
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Roof Cleaning Southern California Advance Roof Cleaning Company Chino Hills, CA. 91709 Tel.#: 1-909-342-9298
Thanks Bill. Great feedback. That will be my approach.
Hi Bruce. I'm over in the Iowa City area and just researching the possibility of adding roof cleaning to my window cleaning business. Maybe we will be able to chat in the future.
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Tony Evans A New View Window Cleaning 136 Fairlawn Ct Marengo, IA52301 Window Cleaning Coraville Iowa City 319-325-9475
Bill, what are those long white metal things attached below the roof, are those what you all call gutters? I can wait to find a hose with those around here!