Rick2

No trade secrets here, pretty common knowledge in this field of work. I'll cover some of the basics, that should get you started in the right direction. First thing is NOT to powerwash a roof, you will ruin it. It's going to take a little patience to clean it but it will be worth it. You'll want to coat the roof with a diluted mixture of sodium hypochloride (a very strong bleach). Some people will call it S.H., some will call it "Love", but it's just sodium hypochloride. It can usually be bought as 12 (or 12.5) or 15 percent strengths. Call around to your local chemical suppliers. Out here I have to fill out quite a bit of paperwork in order to be a regular purchaser or this chemical. It has to be cut with water; I use about 60 to 65 percent water because I buy the 15 percent drums, not the standard 12.5 percent. The next step is the most difficult... getting the chemical onto the roof. Most of us here (myself included) run special pumps, hoses and guns designed to supply the SH. This stuff will eat through the seals of regular pumps and destroy them in a matter of minutes. Be sure your equipment has Viton seals otherwise you will have to throw it in the trash as soon as the SH begins to flow through it. A bleach pump sprayer will work but I don't recommend it because 1) you can't get the volume of liquid needed onto the roof without spending all day on the roof. 2) It's not very safe spending that much time walking all over the roof, up and down the ladder spraying a nasty chemical. A couple different things are going to happen once the SH hits the roof. The black algae will vanish in a matter of moments and the green moss will turn white. This is good. When the moss turns white you will know it's dead, just give it time to allow it to kill the tiny roots stuck into the shingles. The last part is the easiest; wait for rain to wash it all away. Depending on how severe your moss problem is it might take several rain storms to remove it, (I've had roofs that have taken several months to clean). Watch for clumps of white moss at the bottom of the downspouts. Lastly, protect your eyes, your hands, and cover any plant life you dont want killed when the SH touches it. To be quite honest with you it might be cheaper to hire a professional in your area to do this for you. Rather than buying the equipment and chemicals (if you can buy the chemicals) for a one-time job it might be benificial to have someone with experience do it. For example I would charge about 150 dollars to do a small ranch style house. For that price the customer is getting my truck, my equipment, my chemicals, my time, my knowledge and a beautiful roof when I'm finished. It's a win-win for them. If you insist on doing it yourself try to plan it a day or so before a good rain storm. I'll add some pictures of roof that were sprayed on Saturday. I did them on Saturday because the forcast called for heave raid all this week and so far they have been correct. You'll see large white clumps of moss that were green just before the SH it them, you'll see black algae being desolved as the SH drips past it and you'll see the truck down below thit the chemical tanks, roof pumps attached to the front ladder racks and a extra drum of SH in the back. Well you should see these things, I haven't tried to upload the pictures yet. I hope this helps you. Honestly though, it might be cheaper and easier to hire someone that cleans roofs.

Using the "search" button will give you more information than you would want on this topic.

I can't see there being much of a profit in that, I mean how much is someone going to pay to have their Webber cleaned; twenty dollars? I'm sure most of here have a minimum of a 100 dollars to show up at customer's house. Just my thoughts.

Many years ago when I got into this line of work I bought an 11hp Honda with a direct drive Cat on it. Since then I have bought several other more powerful machines, several different trucks and trailers but I still have that old Honda with the Cat pump, the only difference is the unloader has been replaced. About 15 minutes ago I came home from acid rinsing a deck with that same machine. A very old direct drive pump but it still works perfect.

Ron's right, it is a great article. I never saw it until this morning. One thing that helps me it pictures, I take pictures of everything. Plants, overspray, damaged siding, you get the idea. You don't have to have them developed, just keep them on file until the job is paid for and signed off. I also write it in the "comments" area of my bid sheet and the customer gets a carbon copy of that. When bidding a job I always make sure the owner is there so that there are no misunderstandings. Keeping a lasar pointer with you is handy for pointing out "those spots" up high.

Some people here have good luck with AR pumps but I'm not one of them. I can go out to my garage right now and find 3 that have given up on me.

I'd check into that a little more about a buffer for a 5.5.machine, they are nice but it might be a little overkill. Check out the water supply in your area. Place a 5 gallon bucket under a water tap and see if it fills in under a minute. I think you'll find you have plenty of seconds to spare.

BT200 I think it's made up there with you in Canada.

Maybe Goo Gone or BT200 might help.

Unloader

Why? Don't you get a few hours run-time with the stock fuel tank?

Ewww, sounds like a nasty zit.

A mist of HD80

What color is it? White usually indicates water.

Yup, be sure it's non detergent for the pump. Lowes and HD sell it.

Did you hear that Joe?!

New York Jets: Boeing had plans to build their jet aircraft in New York many years ago. The New York Jets jumped on this name but Boeing decided to relocate to the west coast. WD40: Water Displacement 40. The chemical engineers got it right on the 40th try. Grinders: Guys that used to smooth rivits in newly built bridges were not paid all that much but the lunch caters took pity on them and would throw together a quick sandwich of different types of scrap meats. The guys that smoothed rivits were known as "grinders." Some of you other guys might call them hogies, heros or subs. Here's my question: What does HD-80 mean? The correct answer gets a free hot water pressure washer and a surface cleaner along with 80 hours of free labor from Beth and Rod. PS. I don't know the answer so you'll have to check with them to see if you got it right.

I think that was called the Silent Gray Fellow :]

Made the last payment yesterday, a very good feeling.

I took my boat out of winter storage yesterday and look what I found parked next to it. A real LeMons race car.

Once I was asked to powerwash the lower parts of trees. I think that might have been my weirdest wash. Hey, that might be a good thread: What's the strangest you ever washed (or was asked to wash?)

Why do Eskimos wash their clothes inTide? Because it's too cold outTide. Bahahahahaha!

You bet.

1) Broken battery charger for chemical sprayer deep cell... Check! 2) Be sure the starter rope snaps on the powerwasher... Check! 3) After charging deepcell with new charger be sure the pump make a loud noise and stops... Check! 4) Buy a pump sprayer at Home Depot and pray the homeowner doesn't see you using it... Check! 5) Attach trailer to truck and notice the trailer light adapter is missing... Check! 6) Get a flat tire on your car while going to Auto Zone to get a new adapter... Check! 7) Return home and find to toilet won't flush after reading a few pages of Car and Driver... Check! 8) Blow out a high pressure line while rinsing HD80 from a deck... Check! 9) Get HD80 on your hands while changing hoses... Check! 10) Swear and scream "God *&$! this HD80 burns like a mother!"... Check. 11) Come home and find your wife is home early. Hope she hasn't looked in the toilet... Check! Gotta love the first day back to work.

Not the Newbie Zone! Anything but the Newbie Zone! It's been many years since I was there. The deck came out beautiful and the customer was very happy with it. Before I left I asked if they had any other estimates on the work before they chose me. She said she did indeed have other estimates and I was the most costly. She also said nobody spent the time describing the problems with the deck or the two step cleaning process involved. She also pointed out that the others who looked at the deck had no idea what using a base and acid had to do with powerwashing a deck, they just wanted to hit it with water and be done with it. It's nice to know where my competition stands. There was a discussion going on recently in one of the fourms about educating the customer about chemicals used on their property and the cleaning process involved. Here's proof for those that still want to keep it a secret. You don't have to go into the smallest details but at least let the customers know what your plan is and how it may differ from your competion's plan. As a bonus the homeowner is good friends with her neighbors on the street. Beautiful homes but nasty nasty roofs. Keeping before/after pictures in the truck of roof jobs is sure to land a few jobs. Well, gotta go fix that flat tire on the car (still haven't changed it). Driving this truck all over the place is just killing me on the cost of gas.