I’ll be the first to admit “I don’t got this down”! After all the reading through the roof cleaning forums, here on the WCR forum…I believe I have the “formula” for a roof cleaning job, but would like to get the experts input before I head out (not heading out right now…it’s 11PM in TX!)… early next week.
So…about the mix. What amount of 12.5% SH & water in a 50 gal mix? If adding Simple Cherry, Roof Snot, etc…I’ll follow the recommended dosage. I notice using SoftWash’s product, Green Wash, that a slightly weaker SH of 10% is used & the SH amount per 100 gal is less? Is Green Wash available without the SoftWash cert? If so, what are advantages to using it?
Procedure. Spray down all vegatation around the house & keep a 2nd man during the application stage to continue spraying down around the house. Start from the bottom up, careful of spraying any skylights or solar panels(?). Any concern for spraying any mix on fence, patio, wood railing unless it is sprayed down with water. Once mix applied to roof, allow it to stay on & no rinsing required? Final step is spray down around the house again.
This is my interpretation so far, which could be completely off & that’s why I’m here Would like to offer the best service and product for my upcoming customers and ensure that business continues with referrals!Oh…I have a Fatboy pump, 1/2" setup arriving tomorrow.
Throw it at me! All answers and input will be read with gratitude!
Sounds like you got a pretty good idea of it. Couple things… Gutters: pay attention to where they empty out. If near plants, bag the downspouts or divert to safe area. Personally I like to rinse, because it never rains in Texas, and the roof will look better if you rinse. Just make sure it has adequate dwell time before you rinse. Try 30 gal water to 20 SH. If that don’t cut it up the SH. I guess the SH I get isn’t too hot, but I’ve found a 50/50 mix has worked best on the roofs I’ve done so far.
Thanks for that extra tidbit of info Larry…all of it is great info. Never thought of bagging the downspouts. Now I’m alot clearer on the mix ratio. Hope this thread will help someone else out in the future…I just needed to see it all condensed into one thought. I appreciate all the input you have provided!
15 gals 12% sh
30 gals water
simple cherry is ok
less sh with green wash not weaker.
Water everything down not just vegatation and keep watering where spray is coming off the roof.
Wash from the top down. Not bottom up. This way you will use less product because as the product runs down the roof it will continue to work. Washing from the bottom up you will have to much runoff. You want to use as little product as possible.
We do not rinse nor do the majority of roof cleaners. Leaving the product on the roof will allow it to continue to work. Plus rinsing will cause more runoff of your solution.
Eliminating runoff eliminates potential problems. More than one roof cleaner including myself have killed shrubs due to excessive runoff.
Has anyone tried Spray & Forget. I have used it a few times on roofs I can walk on and it’s real easy. You spray it on and forget about it. The product kills the organic matter on the roof and then the ensuing rain does the rinsing.
Also in my mix ratios I account for SH becoming weak during shipping, storage and from pool supplies and distributors thinning it. (do they really do that? LOL) So 12% SH you buy can be as weak as 10% by the time you get it.
Green Wash will make hypochlorite cleaning solutions clean better with less bleach in the solution. Normally many use a 50 / 50 mix of SH to water. Withe using Green Wash as your additive you can use 30 gal of SH to a 100 gallon mix (easy math). That can be a savings of as much as $40.00 per 100 gallons of mix.
In many cases you can also replace 10 gallons of SH with 128 ounces of Bleach Wash (CH). So if you want to make that 55 gal drom of bleach last and stay legal on the road use 20 gal SH, then add water to fill the 100 gallon tank, then add 128 ounces of Bleach Wash, then Green Wash as desired. Remember add the Bleach Wash (CH) to water, not reverse. Adding water directly ontop of Calcium Hypochlorite will cause a chemical reaction!!! BOOM
Do not rinse the roof! If you have effectively killed all of the algae then it will be bleached completely clear if not tea colored and completely transparent. Brown algae is not dead and if rinsed the roots will grow back!!! You wouldnt ask the pest control guy to clean up his chemicals after he was done?
Plant damage is the number one negative in this industry! Rinse the plants, rinse the gutters out, divert the gutter flow with flex tube, take care of the plants if you don’t the rest of the business you may have received will be dead from the ****ed off customer complaining about dead plants. Remember SH is is bleach made from salt. Go look at the ingredients list on a container of round-up. Salt is poison to plants!!! CH is bleach made from calcium. Calcium is a nutrient used by plants. Go look at the list of ingredients on a package of bone meal supplement for plants. Though CH will leave some residue on a roof it is far better than dead plants, and easier to explain away!
ALL great feedback & input…thanks to all of you for this. I have never seen this info in any forum all in one posting, so just wanted to get it all together at one place. OK…a few more things. What has been the typical price range for liquid SH & the powdered CH that y’all have been paying? Best place to get these from?
On a typical 2500 sq ft home (typical = 1 story, ranch style), how much “mix” would one expect to use?
That’s great tidbit of putting the SH & CH in the batch to cut back on SH…I get you add the CH to the water…otherwise, BOOM! Thanks!
After this, I believe it’ll be wrapped up.
Delux in Ft Worth has a bunch of the CH that we packaged but decided not to sell. Make them an offer???
SH in Florida is about $1.20 a gallon CH is about $2 to $3 a pound depending on strength and age. It works out that CH and Green Wash at roof cleaning strength is about $.90 a gallon and SH and Green Wash is about $.70 a gallon finished solution here in Florida. CH will cost a little more.
A 2500 foot rancher will take about 50 gallons to clean. Chem cost about $45.00, I would charge .20 per square foot for shingle.
After all the reading through the roof cleaning forums, here on the WCR forum…I believe I have the “formula” for a roof cleaning job, but would like to get the experts input before I head out (not heading out right now…it’s 11PM in TX!)… early next week.
Would like to offer the best service and product for my upcoming customers and ensure that business continues with referrals!Oh…I have a Fatboy pump, 1/2" setup arriving tomorrow.
