Liberty SoftWash
Roundtable Host 2009
Great video Zach.
Check it out!
- Thread starter A to Z Roofing
- Start date
Apple Roof Cleaning
Roof Cleaning Instructor
Detroit is my Hometown! Grew up in Hazel Park and Warren, Michigan!
Diamond Jim
New member
Sure, it's a good video but the content about cedar restoration is wrong and misleading the public . I restore cedar siding and that process decreases the life of the wood .
Its very bad for the industry to promote this content and practice.
Its very bad for the industry to promote this content and practice.
CL Scott
New member
I grew up off Mack ave. on the East side down the street from Belle Isle. My parents moved to Sterling Heights, 19 & Dequindre, I moved to W. 7 Mile Rd. After I got my life together w Christ, I got settled, saved some money and here I am!
Apple Roof Cleaning
Roof Cleaning Instructor
I was born in Detroit Osteopathic Hospital, and we lived close to the Jeffries Housing Projects, until we moved to Warren and Center Line ( 11 and Van Dyke) area.
We moved to Tampa in 1971, but I go back all the time, to see my old friends.
I hang out here http://roofcleaninginstitute.org/, and if you ever need my help with any roof cleaning related questions, call me at 813 655 8777
I wonder if Sterling Heights Cops are still as bad as they used to be ?
We used to street race in Sterling Heights, and I have out run them, a time or 2.
A to Z Roofing
New member
Thanks guys.
Nice video Alejandro!
Nice video Alejandro!
Great video , any issue of the cedar siding Jim brought up?
A to Z Roofing
New member
Not at all, I have cleaned cedar that was cleaned using the same process every other year for the last 12 years. It looked awesome and was very sound. I have done repeats and touch up of past jobs as well and the cedar was still rock solid.
It is especially useful to our customers who have let there roofs go untreated for far to long (but have no leaks yet). We get there and the shingles are so soft you could punch a hole through in spots with garden hose pressure. We can add years to the life of the roof where as other companies couldn't touch it because they are using a 3 step method.
It is especially useful to our customers who have let there roofs go untreated for far to long (but have no leaks yet). We get there and the shingles are so soft you could punch a hole through in spots with garden hose pressure. We can add years to the life of the roof where as other companies couldn't touch it because they are using a 3 step method.
AC Lockyer
New member
NO, the wood guys bring up that SH sodium hypochlorite is not good for wood breaking down the ligimen. However they endorse the use of SH sodium hydroxide a drivitive of sodium hypochlorite to clean the wood. Fact is either chemical used in high concentrations on a regular basis will eat into the soft wood, ligimen. However I get what they are saying.
AC
Ralph Q
New member
I think you mean lignin, and I don't think you clean wood with Sodium Hydroxide. You strip deck sealer off of wood with sodium hydroxide.
Diamond Jim
New member
Soft washing a cedar roof or cedar siding with bleach and at the concentrate used for roofs will decrease the life of the shake dramatically. Pre-carbs, hydrogen peroxide, or acidic cleaners can be used, or just water and pressure. They won't break it down. If you are oiling the shakes after you can use bleach but you have to know the age and condition of the shake.
After five years the shakes loose most of their natural extractives that keeps moisture out. The shakes stay wetter longer, develope mold and get dirty. Introduce bleach into the situation to dissolve the mold and saturate the wood will break it down more, accelerating the aging process. Not rinsing the bleach and let the salts dry it out even more.
I have seen to many roofs and siding ruined by bleach over the last twenty years and have restored many by oiling them.
It's kind of funny that you would have a plant wash to protect plants but put bleach on wood that was a plant. Just think what its doing ? Common since anyone !
I thought AC was a horticulture grad?
The wood professionals use chems, neutalize, and protect wood. We know the effect of all our chems on wood.
Another point is it white cedar or western red on the roof. Huge difference in quality and resistance to decay. How thick the wood is how much of a reveal is there.
You can see a huge cedar roof being oiled on my roof page and one in my photo gallery done.
I have a lot to say about this subject but I'm sleepy .
After five years the shakes loose most of their natural extractives that keeps moisture out. The shakes stay wetter longer, develope mold and get dirty. Introduce bleach into the situation to dissolve the mold and saturate the wood will break it down more, accelerating the aging process. Not rinsing the bleach and let the salts dry it out even more.
I have seen to many roofs and siding ruined by bleach over the last twenty years and have restored many by oiling them.
It's kind of funny that you would have a plant wash to protect plants but put bleach on wood that was a plant. Just think what its doing ? Common since anyone !
I thought AC was a horticulture grad?
The wood professionals use chems, neutalize, and protect wood. We know the effect of all our chems on wood.
Another point is it white cedar or western red on the roof. Huge difference in quality and resistance to decay. How thick the wood is how much of a reveal is there.
You can see a huge cedar roof being oiled on my roof page and one in my photo gallery done.
I have a lot to say about this subject but I'm sleepy .
SullivanRoofCleaning
New member
I always find this subject in any roof cleaning forum. There are many variables to consider when dealing with cleaning cedar. To many to go into detail but there is research that details it all. We clean about 150 cedar roofs a season here in the Midwest. We use a soft wash application and rinse with a garden hose. Our number one issue here in the Midwest is moss because of a lot of tree cover in most cases. Our second would be lichen and third is lignicolous fungi. Because cedar does leach out it's natural preservatives and it's natural 3% oil content in short time because of the climate here in the Midwest there is the brown, white and soft rot fungi concerns. White being the most deteriorating to lignin. These fungi’s do not have chlorophyll and cannot manufacture its own food. It feeds off of the cells in the wood. The fungus secretes enzymes that break down the wood or lignin; this is the substance that holds the wood cells together. Though moss causes the cedar to retain moisture and soften the cedar. One needs to be very careful using any form of pressure in this situation. I have seen cedar roofs you could grow a garden on. LOL 
Diamond Jim
New member
You soft wash without using bleach according to your video ? I restore them rebuking the shake with oil after cleaning.
SullivanRoofCleaning
New member
Yes that is correct. Oiling is a good thing if done right, as you know cedar needs to breathe. Here is a roof we cleaned three weeks ago on Orchard Road, Cologne, MN. the high was 38 degrees that week but all went well.
How are you ?
Apple Roof Cleaning
Roof Cleaning Instructor
Hello Jim, you might want to check out this http://roof-cleaning-institute.acti...n-the-greater-dc-area-checking-one-more-time/
The whole North East is one big mystery to me, and I don't know if you are close enough to be able to take advantage of this offer from one of our busiest RCIA Roof Cleaners, or not.
AC Lockyer
New member
lol I may be wrong
I deal with live plants traditionally not ones transformed into building materials. But yes I only know what I learned taking the PWNA wood cert.AC