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waxman18324 · Premium Member Roof Cleaning Institute Of America

Productivity

Apex Roof Cleaning · Guest

The point of this thread, is to help one another become more effecient. What are some tips or things your company does to improve your productivity. There are many factors that go into how many roofs you can clean in a day. This thread isn't about bragging about doing 8 roofs, its about taking some smaller guys from 1-2, or 2-3 and maybe some bigger guys from 3-4? It can also be a way to save money.

I will give you a quick example.

The gutter cane, it makes life much easier. Even easier the gutter cane with a telescopic pole, to reach 1.5 story buildings.

Dan

A to Z · Deleted

I run a second water line to a sprinkler on the hot days. Once we clean a side we quickly move on and leave a sprinkler to keep watering. In stead of waiting on the water guy to finish soaking everything.

Roof Cleaning New Jersey · Jul 1, 2012

We ask the customers if they have irrigation system. If they do we have them run it before we get there. For house washing we have them isolate breakers to outside receptacles/electric and keep them shut for 24hrs after we leave (unless the line is for the fridge or medical device). We had a problem with an outside receptacle this year that created big damage.

Apex Roof Cleaning · Guest

Roof Cleaning New Jersey wrote:
We ask the customers if they have irrigation system. If they do we have them run it before we get there. For house washing we have them isolate breakers to outside receptacles/electric and keep them shut for 24hrs after we leave (unless the line is for the fridge or medical device). We had a problem with an outside receptacle this year that created big damage.

This reminds me when I almost burned down tractor supply. How did the damage go over? Obviously some kind of contract should keep your butt covered.

All great tips guys. Keep them coming.

jcstomper · Jul 2, 2012

We have a large water tank to back up our PW for softwashing.. We have problems with customers water supply not being able to keep up when we are doing house washes due to having wells.. i added a 150 tank for fresh water to feed the pressure washer... I also tied it into the roof cleaning pum with a 3 way ball valve to make flushing our roof pump at the end of the day a 5 minute experiance.. it makes us clean the pump and reel all the time now instead of getting lazy at the end of the day and having to deal with quick connects.

also, the tank lets us start a house wash the minute we pull up to a home instead of looking for a water supply line.... a guy can start washing, while the 2nd man looks for the water supply.

Roof Cleaning New Jersey · Jul 2, 2012

Apex Roof Cleaning wrote:
Roof Cleaning New Jersey wrote:
We ask the customers if they have irrigation system. If they do we have them run it before we get there. For house washing we have them isolate breakers to outside receptacles/electric and keep them shut for 24hrs after we leave (unless the line is for the fridge or medical device). We had a problem with an outside receptacle this year that created big damage.
This reminds me when I almost burned down tractor supply. How did the damage go over? Obviously some kind of contract should keep your butt covered.
All great tips guys. Keep them coming.

The damage went over terribly. The customer wasnt home. An old receptacle sizzled but never tripped the breaker. After an hour the smoke got thicker. Had to call the fd. They created a new entrance, and not a pretty one.

Jul 2, 2012

Ed I meant to post some photos I took atleast two months ago of that same problem you had. The box was right there on the side of the home with the pool filter plug in, no cover and was very out dated. I thought of you and your post got some plastic, unplugged the filter duct taped it up and I didnt even spray water near it.

Roof Cleaning New Jersey · Jul 2, 2012

I would never imagined the damage that resulted from that. The only real damage we caused was the receptacle. The fd saw smoke and started drooling.

Apex Roof Cleaning · Guest

Wow, thats crazy. Honestly its a good thing you guys caused it. What it if it rained and caught fire when they were sleeping. That was obviously some faulty electrical work.

Roof Cleaning New Jersey · Jul 2, 2012

Yup, its a good thing. Their insurance company villafies us and wants reimbursement, when in reality we are heros and should get a reward.

sweetwaterfish · Guest

On an over sensitive and complex landscaping package, sometimes we will backpack spray the bottom 4 foot of the roof with a 50/50 mixture. Takes a little longer but eliminates a lot of runoff

Roof Cleaning Raleigh NC · Jul 3, 2012

A few months ago I was standing on a customers front porch and all of a sudden I started getting zapped. Not bad but a little tingle. I was 8 ft. from the outlet.

-- Edited by Roof Cleaning Raleigh NC on Tuesday 3rd of July 2012 12:48:31 PM

MJ · Jul 3, 2012

Last week during during a house wash we heard a kaboom, the low voltage landscape light plug was physically blew out of the GFI receptacle, it was smoking and shorting out. We were lucky, had to replace the GFI. Protecting the outlet and flipping the breaker and giving it time to dry out just in case is good advice. Good news it was my house.

Apex Roof Cleaning · Guest

So is this becoming a trend that we should be duck taping outlets?

waxman18324 · Premium Member Roof Cleaning Institute Of America

Dan,

When house washing I sometimes use Glad Draw Tite Bags to wrap around exterior light fixtures and outlets. Although this adds time to the work it's better than having to go back if there is a issue later on. Many years ago I learned that if you think it might be a liablity it probably is one.

Hank

Apex Roof Cleaning · Guest

Ya that is probably a good idea, so far I have been spraying and praying. Those of you with power washers, does down streaming/xjets, make house washing much quicker. I currently use my fatboy to spray and then lug around a pressure washer to rinse.

garyw · Jul 3, 2012

If you are cleaning alumimum siding on a house, It is a good idea to test the house siding for current usuing a voltage tester. It is standard practice at all telephone companies to test houses with alumimum siding and mobile homes especially. They can be energized and then you (body or liquid) furnish the path to ground. There were several killed during my career at Bellsouth from this happening. Voltage testers are cheap and could save your life.

Stay SAFE!!

Kleen Roof and Exterior Cleaning · Jul 4, 2012

Not a time saver but a heads up. We cleaned a roof about a month ago and they had ice melt cable in the gutters to keep them from freezing in the winter. Well, about 3 hours after we were done wit that side of the house, I was walking around and heard some sizzling noise. It was coming from the gutter. Then all of a sudden the gutter was on fire. This was in a gutter we were flushing while we did the roof. The fire burned out right away without any damage. The homeowner was with me and seen the whole thing. They called the company that installed the system, and they said it happens quite often. ! Chipmuncks and mice run inside the gutter and chew through the wire. So, know I ask the homeowners to make sure there ice melt cable is turned off.

Eric SCHNAIBLE · Jul 5, 2012

I choose one centrally located, easily accessible downspout on gutters with multiple downspouts. We bag this downspout and plug the rest. This reduces the labor of downspout bagging and collection 50 - 75 %. There are a few factors that need to be taken in to account but the principal is a real time saver.

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum "Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum
"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"