The occasional roof washer

Patricio

Patricio

New member
I have been reading all I can find and what I find is I keep going in circles and get no solid advice.

I almost hate to throw this one out there because I am going to use the words "pressure washer"

Roof washing is not my main thing. However I am fascinated by it and fully expect someone to ask me to do it someday. The equipment is specialized, expensive and I have no room for it. But, Can I not use my pressure washer to clean a roof? All you are doing is pumping a wash on there. I have some good nozzles that will shoot a stream about 30'. This is enough to reach most everything I would need to. I do not have access to 12%SH but I can get as much 10% as I want. My pressure washer is 3500PSI at 6GPM so even with a low pressure long range tip I understand it will take longer than with a proper roof pump but this is the occasional roof wash.

What else is good to use in a mix for roof wash?

Any reason I should not use my pressure washer to launch the cleaning solution up there and for rinsing?

What considerations am I missing?


Thanks
Pat L
 
Without an accurate parts and labor list, I can only imagine that the repairs to your pump after cleaning a few roofs will exceed the cost of the $352.00 kit that Bob sells. And then you'll still have to buy the roof pump after you rebuild your PW pump. Seriously, $352.00 is going to keep you from doing it right? I didn't think so.

Go sell two roofs, order the kit from Bob, call Russ for a bucket of snot and quit trying to make something that is so wrong feel right just because you're too cheap to handle it like a pro.

I'm smiling as I type. It just sounds like I'm being mean, but I'm not.
 
Thanks Tim,
Presumptuous is far from mean so I can understand why you would smile while typing that well thought out response.
Perhaps you could drop some more knowledge on me from your well of professionalism.

Why would I need to re-build my pressure washer pump after cleaning a few roofs?

Thank you for your help. Being new to the industry I look up to professionals like yourself in hope of fully satisfying my customers and furthering the good name of the industry.

Pat L

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Pat you can washs roofs however you like. Pressure washing is not the right way. Unfortunately the customer may not know whats the right way and depend on some handsome chap like yourself to sell whatever method you see fit. I would like to repair truck tires for extra cash but the equipment is to expensive and cumbersome so Im just gonna use vice grips and Super Super Glue.
 
Thanks Ed, I hear what you are saying. If I were in an area where I could say "If you would like your roof cleaned also I will have my friend Ed call you" That is as long as my friend Ed did not also clean houses and concrete.

My intent is not to pressure wash the roof. I know this is not a good practice. My thought is using my pressure washer, a foaming tip and chemical injector. Now, I say foaming tip but it is not so good for that but it makes an excellent high volume low pressure attachment. Then maybe using my house wash mixed a bit different / stronger. I would have no problem holding my hand through the spray with this tip and at the range it strikes the roof I imagine it is less pressure and mass than a regular roof pump. Although a bit longer of a process. I do not have room to carry a pre made roof wash mix.

Where I may be missing the point is in the concentration of bleach required. I would not mind if it took me a bit longer with this method but I would want it to work. How many gallons of bleach do you use on a roof of a typical single family home?

If my problem is getting more mix I could consider this pump.
http://www.envirospec.com/ecatalog/Injectors.htm

I agree having the right tools is important. But why do I NEED the electric screwdriver when I only turn a screw once a month? My hand screwdriver does it just as well but not as fast and it fits in my toolbox.

If this is a bad idea or will not work I am asking why not? Where am I failing. If I could get enough roofs I would probably buy a trailer and a proper set up. I am just not there yet.

Thanks
Pat L
 
You can't go wrong in doing what Tim recommended - if you're going to buy the chemical induction system, you would be as well spilling out the extra $100 or so to have the equipment to do the job right. By right, I mean right by YOU! Sure you will probably do a better job with a low pressure system as you can control flow, hit all areas of the roof, control runoff, control chemical mix, etc... but you need to make money.

You may only wash the occasional roof - but spending probably at least twice as long (conservative estimate) with a pressure washer compared to a low pressure system seems like a waste of time. Time is money as far as I am concerned. Also, you will have the right equipment for the future ocassional roof - heck, it might become a cash cow service offering for you!

Good luck!
 
Thanks Steve,
Spending is not the problem. I will invest where needed.
I admit that part of my issue here is lack of knowledge. This why I com to the Pressure washing Institute.

I have done some more research and recieved some good information. I think I get it now.
Thank you all for your help.

Pat L
 
Patrick to answer a couple of your questions, I use on average about 14-16 gallons of 10% SH for the average size roof. The problem is that if you try to use your pressure washer and Downstream or Xjet or a foamer, you will need more SH than what the Roof Cleaner uses that uses a Dedicated Roof Pump type system. IMO opinion the way you want to clean a roof, while you CAN get it to work, you would have to use way more product and time to get the ratio to work, not to mention the time you would use filling up 5 gallon buckets, only to exhaust your mix in about 2-3 minutes. Unless your in a market that you can name your price, I just don't think it would be profitable.Hope this helps, feel free to call me if you want.
 
Thanks Doug, I was missing on how much SH I would actually need. You cleared it up for me and I now understand the why of why it wont work so well with the way I had in mind.

Pat L
 
Here is some more info.
1. Don't ever run SH through your pressure washing pump, it will eat up the pump quickly, don't do it ever.
2. Downstreaming (no matter what the vendor says, claims the injector will pull or any other B.S. you are about to believe without asking here first) will not be strong enough to clean roofs, it will clean houses but not roofs.
3. The injector system (12 volt pump pushing chemicals into the injector for a stronger draw ratio, stronger than using just the injector itself) but do the math and see what the final ratio will be, there is a small possibility that it might be almost strong enough for roof cleaning. Think about a 3gpm pump pushing maybe 2gpm into the system with the water from the pressure washer and the final ratio of the chemical will be about 20% based on the gpm of the pumps then do further math so that is about 1:5 ratio more or less (depending on the gpm of the pressure washer and the 12 volt pump actual gpm pushing into an injector) so using 10% you are probably going to get about 2% or less % of SH onto the roof, my math might be off but it is probably close to being realistic and that will probably not clean the roof unless maybe you sprayed one coat, let it dwell for an hour, spray another coat and another hour dwell, might have to do a few more coats and maybe it might probably maybe might almost work.
Rigging this up might only cost about $300 more or less for a good 3gpm electric pump, injector, hoses, fittings, etc.... or if you buy a system that is ready to use might be only 1gpm or 2gpm, maybe a little bit more but you have to figure out a good loss since you are pumping through a 1/4" opening (injector) and maybe get 1/2 more or less of what the pump is rated for.
4.Instead of trying to re-invent the wheel (chemical application system) of #3 above, it would be a lot easier to just get a good air-diaphragm pump with large air compressor, good brand of 12 volt pump with at least 5gpm and at least 1/2" hose or larger inside diameter and understand, realize, comprehend, know and listen to what I am writing here that the pumps are not made to handle these chemicals and will get eaten up with the SH so it is a matter of time before you replace it with another, just a fact.
5. With the #4 above electric pump, you can also use this for applying chemicals to really bad areas of houses, buildings, concrete, etc.....when downstreaming is not fast enough or when you need really strong chemicals to hit the surface.
6. You could get an X-Jet and deal with 2 hoses up on the roof but that will be more chances to fall off the roof by tripping over the hoses or stepping on them and falling down as they roll out from under your foot or worse. I know there are maybe a couple guys that do roofs with X-Jets so it can be done but comes with it's own learning curve.
7. You can do this as simple or as elaborate as you want to once you decide what you want to use to apply the chemicals.

There is the roof cleaning section of the PWI with a lot of discussions and debates over the different types of pumps, it is personal preference and how many roofs you plan to do that will help you determine which way you will go as to applying chemicals.
 
You get what you pay for. More people are getting into this business everyday. Already have seen damage this year, couple of my signs have been hijacked . Loads of certified roof soft washers on the loose and wood destroyers leaving there marks. El Marko Zero degree stone cleaners are in the house. Great start too the season and happy baseball !
 
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