I was looking to get into Roof cleaning as a add on next year. I had a bunch of customers ask me about it. I saw a couple of topics on here about it. I went to a power washing/Roof cleaning forum and read a bunch of info on it. I see most of them mix around 150 gallons of mix at a time(apple cider and apple sauce…What are the ingredients?). I did 2 friends roofs pro bono to do a trial run…I used the same soft house Wash solution…SH,H2O, Simple cherry. I wasnt to pleased with my results…dont know if I rinsed too soon etc. For those of you who do it…whats your formula…and tactics?
That’s a pretty involved topic. At least one of the WCR chats is going to deal with roof cleaning.
As a side note- every roof cleaner you ever heard of uses commercial sodium hypochlorite, water, and some compatible cheap soap to clean roofs. No sauce or cider involved.
Did you downstream the softwash solution or apply directly with a pump?
:d :d :d
.
Sauce refers to the mix that “Apple Roof Cleaning” uses. They call it “Apple Sauce.” No apples or sauce are actually used.
I have a new company launching in the spring called “A Stain Free Roof”.
check out PT State - Index for a crazy amount of info.
Don’t use household bleach, you need 12.5% SH
I use the x-jet…and 12.5 solution…the phrase apple sauce
and apple cider was used extensively on the forum i saw…but had no clue what it meant…Brennon just filled us in…
And when you say “commercial” sodium hypochlorite…is that any different from the 12.5% that i aquire from pool stores. And I believe you have done some roofs…what is the process…Is it too involved to be a “add on service”…
I know this wasn’t directed at me, but…
Commercial SH is 10-12.5%(pool store stuff) vs store bought bleach is 6%
This will be an add-on service for me, with the opportunity to bring in the same revenue as the window cleaning. Again check out PT State for all your education and [url=http://www.pressuretek.com]Pressure Tek for your pump and supplies. I bought the [URL=“http://www.pressuretek.com/codefakit.html”]Complete Fat Boy setup and I’m using a 55gallon drum as my tank for the SH/water/simple cherry solution.
1 Like
Brennon,
I will check that out…thanks. I saw them talking about the 55 and 100, and 120 gallon drum. But now these are roof cleaners solely…they were filling these drums with 20 plus gallons of SH(12.5) , water, borax, dawn and one or two other things…but I was assuming thier drums were not for one days work. So I guess the same solution for vinyl siding wont cut it…I will look into it also…Thanks for the info
Feel free to give me a call if you want.
1 Like
We have been doing real good with concrete and clay tile roofs. We use a biodegradable soap. You want to be sure that the rain gutters are clean so the water drains right. To Make city code you should have a good discharge vacuum to re-direct the water into landscape or dispolsole away from the storm drains. Fall protection is another big investment but its the only safe way. If your cleaning just comp roofs they are a different ball park, applying your cleaner all over the roof and rinsing properly. I don’t do comp. I hope this helps you Merrychristmas.
I just found this old thread, and thought I would try to set everyone straight.
Apple Sauce and Apple Cider are two non pressure roof cleaning mixes developed by me at Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa.
Apple Cider was developed as an easier to make alternative to Apple Sauce.
You do not “need” anything but sodium hypochlorite and water to “clean” a roof, But just as you would not wash clothes in only bleach and water, myself and many roof cleaners feel adding other surfactants and cleaners to your mix make for a better looking roof.
Apple Sauce also contains Borax, a potent cleaner, but more importantly a chemical that allows the roof to stay clen longer,‘This may, or may not be importnat to you ?
You can learn all about roof cleaning at the Roof Cleaning Institute Free Forum.
We have plenty of window cleaners there doing very well adding roof cleaning to their offerings!
And, we have several vendors on our forum you can shop from for roof cleaning supplies.
We dont charge vendors to post on our forum, nor do we charge anyone for anything, We do allow you to leanr roof cleaning, and we offer roof cleaning certification.
I think roof cleaning is a perfect add on to window cleaning, and so do the many window cleaners who have beat you guys by offering roof cleaning, first!
Unlike PT State, we are not a Forum run by someone who sells equipment :o, LOL’
Just TRY asking a Ford Salesman if a Chevvy is a good Truck 
BTW, the recipes for both Apple Sauce and Apple Cider roof cleaning chemicals is on the Forum, as well as a NEW, Chlorine Stable Surfactant we have discovered.
The X Jet is a poor way to clean roofs, here is why.
The maximum theoretical ratio of most injectors is 30 percent chemical delivery. In the real world, by the time you go through all the hose, overcome friction loss and gravity, you will be closer to 15 to 20 percent.
This aint gonna do squat, unless you want to get a good sun tan ?
You need to think about about a dedicated roof cleaning pump, and keep the X Jet for long distance shooting.
It is almost useless for roof cleaning, in comparasion, to even a 125.00 roof cleaning pump.
Here is a roof cleaning pump, in action.
Roof Cleaning can be very profitable, of course, if the home has no gutters and some expensive landscaping…be very cautious. You’ll need some covers and or possibly someone watering flowers the whole time to keep from killing the vegetation.
With that said, it is a great add on for window cleaners and pressure washing guys and gals. As was already stated, there is a host of info here and on other forums. Thad and the apple sauce guy are both a wealth of info on this subject.
Below are a few pics of some roofs that we did recently. I dont do it all the time but when the opportunity comes up, I’ll jump on it everytime!! If you have any questions ask away.
windowman
Do you guys use fall protection when working on and cleaning roofs? Do the rules on this vary from state to state? I am not schooled in fall protection, and this has been one of the major reasons I do not offer roof cleaning as a service.
I like this forum for roof washing info and [URL=“http://www.ptstate.com”]PT State
great people and info plus its free.
Call me if you want to talk about roof washing
Sure, but only on steep roofs!
Many of my roof cleaning students live up north, where there are steep roofs (I am from Detroit originally) and never have to actually get on a roof.
If you learn about the right kinds of roof cleaning pumps, you can shoot roofs from the ground, or a ladder.
Most window guys I know here in Tampa are fellow “climbers” like our men.
Window guys seem to adapt well to roof cleaning, and I have trained several window guys to clean roofs, over many years.
I have also trained many Chimney Sweeps, and that is another potential add on for you window men ?
Can’t help you there, my specialty is cleaning roofs in tampa, and ofering free [URL=“http://roof-cleaning-institute.activeboard.com/”]roof cleaning certification at the RCIA Forum.
I have heard of considerable money being made by chimney sweeps, and we have a friend cleaning dryer vents here in Tampa doing extremely well!
He has a truck mounted roto brush set up, and he dont even advertise!
He gets free referrals from Sears, and other appliance repair outfits, and kicks em back some cash for each referral!
If you guys are gonna try and learn abour roof cleaning, be very careful ?
Unfortunately our industry, like some others, has very aggressive sellers of equipment in it :mad:
Some of these sellers of equipment operate or BACK roof cleaning “forums” that are basically one big Informercial for stuff the vendor sells!
These “forums” are complete with hard to spot shills, who will act like they are your “buddy” and tell you what they “use”.
Some of these Shills are what we call “salesmen in disguise” who receive a kickback from every new roof cleaner they “deliver” to these vendors, or get special pricing on equipment, in return for referrals!
Some of the “people” on these forums are actually the VENDORS themselves, posing as "fellow cleaners’ to gain your trust. :eek:
Be careful Guys you dont get sold a bill of goods, and good luck to you all!
Hey, Chris.
How about not starting drama and grinding the same old axes over here, okay?
Thad, thats just a statement to his character. if any of the newbies search for him on the other sites they will see what he is really about.
Thanks for the info.
Yeah JC, when you OWN a forum, you can make anyone “look bad” by manipulating/editing their posts, deleting comments, etc, etc, etc.
We step on toes, expose the crooks and shills, got to expect retaliation
It kind of goes with the territory ?
Can’t touch THIS though ?
