Pool enclosures

"Red"

"Red"

Graphic Designer
Not sure if pool enclosures fall into the roof cleaning category, but I am curious what are some of the preferred methods of cleaning them.

This video shows a guy using an very long lance.


Another video I saw a fella using (what appears to be) a soap tip and basically 'fogging' the screens. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLSxOvTWqMA

What's a good mix for screen enclosures?
 
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I use a soap nozzle. What's the big deal if they get a little chlorine in their pool? I have an airless foamer that I got used with my other equipment that seems to help a little bit. It doesn't really foam though, it just makes more suds. I've never tried another one, so I don't know what it's supposed to look like. Maybe I should buy a new one and see how that does? Foam seems like it would be a good idea for pool screens. I wonder if there is a way to fix mine if it is broken?

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Chlorine in the pool is no big deal, I was thinking about the soap foaming up in the system. Might get diluted enough it won't matter, dunno. When I was in high school, one of the pranks kids did was to put soap in the fountain outside one of the banks. It was a sight to see, which is what prompted me to mention it in the first place.

How long is your lance (stop with the jokes already), and do you wish you had a longer one for doing pool enclosures?
 
The only reason I add soap to my mix when cleaning a cage is so I can tell I am drawing chemical. It wont hurt anything we use it all the time for many years plus u get a little cling time on the aluminum.
 
"Red" said:
Chlorine in the pool is no big deal, I was thinking about the soap foaming up in the system. Might get diluted enough it won't matter, dunno. When I was in high school, one of the pranks kids did was to put soap in the fountain outside one of the banks. It was a sight to see, which is what prompted me to mention it in the first place.

How long is your lance (stop with the jokes already), and do you wish you had a longer one for doing pool enclosures?
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If you put a couple ounces of undiluted Roof Snot directly into the pool filter I could see that would be a problem. But the little bit that comes through your downstream mix won't hurt it. I would probably make sure I use Roof Snot though, for cleaning pool cages though, because it's chlorine stable and pH neutral. I wouldn't want to mess with the chemistry of the pool.

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JDhomeservices said:
If you put a couple ounces of undiluted Roof Snot directly into the pool filter I could see that would be a problem. But the little bit that comes through your downstream mix won't hurt it. I would probably make sure I use Roof Snot though, for cleaning pool cages though, because it's chlorine stable and pH neutral. I wouldn't want to mess with the chemistry of the pool.
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Do you have an opinion on the length of the lance (for reaching the high peaks)? Thinking about getting a 6' length of 1/2" SS tubing and threading on a QC.
 
"Red" said:
Do you have an opinion on the length of the lance (for reaching the high peaks)? Thinking about getting a 6' length of 1/2" SS tubing and threading on a QC.
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I use a 4 foot lance. Works fine for pool screens. Nothing wrong with having an extension just in case though.

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When you think about it, whatever gets into the pool will be diluted with about 10,000 gallons of water so I doubt there will be any soap bubbles after the water circulates a while.
 
Use a 0030 nozzle. No long lance required. Downstream a good house wash mix to it. Green all gone.
 
We use 12 ft and 8 ft aluminum wands all the time. You get used to them after a while. Especially when you need to wash something nasty off that you dont want flying in your face. There just threaded on the ends with quick connects and there light.
 
Steven Button said:
soap tips 0030, 0040 and soap fan tips for the low corners... that way you avoid the spray back and higher impact pressure of being too close. As with majority of house wash jobs, let the mix do the work.
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+ 1000000000
 
How do you charge for pool enclosures? Are they really time consuming? Do you have to be really careful with them? Havent done one yet but I have one I need to price and Im sure there is many more coming with where I live. lol
 
Use soft wash techniques and warn the owner that if any of the screens are loose or worn out that they may tear or get blown out. Your choice to take responsibility or not for that, I won't, just be careful not to hit anything too hard or for too long. Use soap to help the mix hang on and let the mix do the work. After 10-15 minutes of dwell rinse and inspect. If there's any trouble spots, hit em again.

The first time I did one, I used a fan tip + 3000psi and that screen took off like a kite. Fan tips create an enormous amount of 'wind'. It wasn't really the pressure and tip that blew the screen out, it was that the screen was old and the rubber gasket was dry-rotted and wasn't holding very well. I just gave it what it needed to unseat the gasket.

As far as pricing goes, get whatever you can. If you're going to learn on someones nickle, you might consider a price break. Might offer to do their patio furniture for free as an incentive too (again, soft wash). In general, I wouldn't go over 100. Always throw something in for free or give a discount. People like getting more than they bargained for, for the most part.

This is just my opinion as others may think differently.
 
"Red" said:
Use soft wash techniques and warn the owner that if any of the screens are loose or worn out that they may tear or get blown out. Your choice to take responsibility or not for that, I won't, just be careful not to hit anything too hard or for too long. Use soap to help the mix hang on and let the mix do the work. After 10-15 minutes of dwell rinse and inspect. If there's any trouble spots, hit em again.

The first time I did one, I used a fan tip + 3000psi and that screen took off like a kite. Fan tips create an enormous amount of 'wind'. It wasn't really the pressure and tip that blew the screen out, it was that the screen was old and the rubber gasket was dry-rotted and wasn't holding very well. I just gave it what it needed to unseat the gasket.

As far as pricing goes, get whatever you can. If you're going to learn on someones nickle, you might consider a price break. Might offer to do their patio furniture for free as an incentive too (again, soft wash). In general, I wouldn't go over 100. Always throw something in for free or give a discount. People like getting more than they bargained for, for the most part.

This is just my opinion as others may think differently.
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You only get $100? I usually charge around $200 for a pool screen. That includes the pool deck though. I may even charge a little more if it's really big (high peaks) , or really dirty. If there is a lot of debris to blow around pool decks can be a pain. It all gets stuck in the screen.

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JDhomeservices said:
You only get $100? I usually charge around $200 for a pool screen. That includes the pool deck though. I may even charge a little more if it's really big (high peaks) , or really dirty. If there is a lot of debris to blow around pool decks can be a pain. It all gets stuck in the screen
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That's generally... and that does not include the deck or furniture, just the screens and framework. Kinda hard to justify 100 bucks for 30 minutes of squirting water (i.e. mix). Haven't had one yet that wasn't combined with a house wash.

I take complexity into account when pricing as well.
 
"Red" said:
That's generally... and that does not include the deck or furniture, just the screens and framework. Kinda hard to justify 100 bucks for 30 minutes of squirting water (i.e. mix). Haven't had one yet that wasn't combined with a house wash.

I take complexity into account when pricing as well.
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Oh. It makes sense now. I usually include the deck wash with my price. Its hard getting all that grit/dog hair/whatever out that comes up when you use a surface cleaner on the pool deck. It tends to get stuck on the screen. And I probably wouldn't charge much more than an extra $100 if it was included with the house wash anyway. I get a lot of requests for just washing the pool cage. Plus, I have not found one that I can get done in 30 minutes. I spend probably that long moving patio furniture, covering up TVs, speakers, etc.

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