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Roger Oakley

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Posts posted by Roger Oakley

  3. Posted · Report reply

    I'm surprised Rick is letting you go with ATO. Your product choice must be limited. For what it's worth, your moisture content will not be low enough by tommorow to use the ATO. You may end up with extractive bleeding and your finish is going to turn black. I'd either get a moisture meter or wait more like three days.

    Ken,

    Product's choice over here are not as extensive as the States, plus this is the owners choice, it what it was finished in originally, We have had excessive tempretures over here lately in the high 80s-90s most days for about a month, but guess what it is now raining so today looks like it's cancelled. Will wait the three days if no more rain.

    Thanks Ken. :sunshine:

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Roger,

    I was just over in Stevenage last week. I saw a lot of things that needed to be cleaned down that way. I was there for job training and wishing that I had a pressure washer with me. Of course I wouldnt have known the regulations there nor where I was going. The whole driving on the opposite side of the road thing 'bout drove me nuts. I narrowly missed getting run over on multiple occasions due to looking the wrong way to cross the traffic.

    Take care over there and keep cool. It was different with no Air Conditioning. I never thought that I would stay in an approx $700K (USD) townhouse that had no method of cooling in it.

    Anthony

    Hi Anthony,

    Wasn't the heat just to much last week over here !!! I was working on a property in the region of £4 million (GBP) and it had NO A/C either, I was outside but owners were just dying inside with the heat we have been having. A/C is still only really in shops etc, not that many homes have it as standard. I know we are the only country in Europe that drives on the left, most probably why our cars are so expensive :mad:

    Anyway hope you enjoyed your stay in England, Stevenage is about an hour away from me, via the M25 might just have to have a drive over that way.

    Roger

  11. Posted · Report reply

    I hope you suggested sealing to keep it that nice.

    Hi Jon,

    You don't really seal Indian sandstone, it's to porous for one, plus sealing would take away the feel of the stone make it sort of false.

    This stuff is really just high maintenance, needs to be cleaned say twice a year to keep it looking this good, this one had not been cleaned since new about 3-5 years owner thinks.

    Roger

  12. Posted · Report reply

    Roger,

    Looks great, is Indian Sandstone from India?

    A quick conversion shows ~ 2125 sq. ft. and 16 gals. of bleach. Did this 16 gals. include water to dilute the bleach or are you saying it took 60 liters of say 12.5% sodium hypochlorite? If so, that "black mould" must be some really tough stuff.

    Rick,

    It was neat 15% bleach, Black Mould can be a pain to shift, it really gets deep into whatever you are cleaning. I had tried a couple of weaker mixes but to no avail.

    Some Indian Sandstone the real expensive/good quality stuff does come from India, but there is a lot of "copies" about that have been no closer to India then the local take-away india resturant. This one cost somewhere in the region of £5-6000 GBP, so I really needed to treat this one will kid gloves.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Here's a before and after photo of some Indian sandstone I've just cleaned.

    200 sq mts. It took 60 liters of Sodium Hydrochloride, to clear the Black Mould, that seems to be around these houses. Also one of the worst water pressure's I have come across (no pressure) Owners want the Teak furniture restored at a later date.

    Roger

    post-1658-137772161394_thumb.jpg

    post-1658-137772161398_thumb.jpg

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Roger,

    Nice job. Looks like the property should be in the U.S., decking lumber without those strange ridges and even a Weber grill.

    Did you have any luck obtaining sodium percarbonate and sodium hydroxide from your chemical supplier?

    Rick, yes my chemical supplier has sodium hydroxide which they say is caustic soda is this correct ? They will sell it to me, but I will need to speak to Shane, to get some info, as they want to know how I intend to mix it before they sell to me, as they state it is dangerous stuff to handle in raw form. I have now got citric acid from them, so this is good for neutralizing and brightning.

    Have a deck wash furniture wash, patio and two paths tomorrow so need to search the boards for citric mix.

    Roger

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Hi everybody,

    I've just purchased an 18 inch Whirlaway on castors (pressure washer 3000 psi, 4 gpm) and had a couple of questions I hoped someone could answer.

    1. What height should the nozzles be above the surface of the ground? I had to adjust the castors to level it up and was wanting to know what the standard height should be.

    2. How can you tell what degree nozzles you have installed in your surface cleaner and what is the best angle to use, or is it just trial and error?

    3. Most of my work will be mainly cleaning concrete pavers which should handle 3000 psi but I am assuming I will be asked to clean a range of different surfaces, so what is the best pressure to clean:

    - Concrete (new)

    - Concrete (older and showing aggregate)

    - Concrete (sealed with a wet look sealer - would you treat this the same way as you would wash a house?)

    - Asphalt

    Thanks in advance,

    Brett

    Hi Brett,

    I can't really help with the Whirlaway, (mine's a UK brand) but here is some info that might help.

    The nozzels I have are 25025 qt meg, which work great on pavers etc. I have used 025 high impact nozzels and they were fine to.

    I use my machine flat out with a flat surface cleaner so around 3000-3500 psi, never had any problems, but aways check the surface you are going to work on, if there are any already broken/cracked pavers tell the owners first, and used reduced pressure on these, same for concrete/aggregate surfaces, you don't want the owners pointing finger saying you trashed their surface. I photo any already damaged surfaces before (at time of quote) with a date and time stamp on photo. Most concrete I do these days I chemical first results are better. I don't do ashfelt/tarmac so can't help you there.

    Hope some of this helps.

    Roger

  25. Posted · Report reply

    Brett

    Another way to stop garden dirt/mulch small stones/pebbles is to cover the area closest to paving with a strip of polythene, if you are covering plants water first if it's a hot day as they will wilt in the sun. Have a piece of timber say 4x2 about 1 metre long to hold the polythene down in place.

    With regards to puddling, I have a small pump if it's that bad, run the water off on to flower beds etc.

    Hope this helps.

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