SHURflo setup for roofs

[RyanH 14]

Been wasting good time all week and not doing what I should have been doing. I'm supposed to do a roof tomorrow and I'm going to try and do it completely with a SHURflo setup. I called the friendly folks there and talked with the tech guys and we determined that the 60 psi, 1.8 gpm, 7 amp pump (currently $49.99 at Northerntool) will be sufficient. Got home tonight and hooked it up and it put water up over 15 feet with no problem. Got to go in the morning and find some braided poly hose about 100' and I should be good to go. 115 amp-hour batter from Walmart (approx $60) should carry me for quite awhile on a job. I'm going to order a 12.5 gal plastic upright tank from Northern ($20 online with $10 shipping) unless I can find one cheaper, but it won't be necessary for tomorrow. Just need to find a good way to attach the battery to the hand cart. I may just make a platform above the tank.

Many have asked here how well a setup like this works on roofs....I should know by next week how everything worked. Roofs are getting more and more steep nowadays and blasting with huge volumes of water just isn't cutting it without a dwelling compound, and that costs money. Hopefully I can get someone to take some pictures and I can put some pics of my rapelling gear like some have asked for. It'll only be one story, but the roof is very steep. I'll also be able to give some numbers on how much bleach is required for a given area.

Ryan H.

[CCPC 26]

Ryan,

What ratio are you going to mix your chlorine with water? Also, have you tried finding poly drums form a local carwash? You could save some yourself some money. I have gotten some nice drums 20gal. and 30gal from a carwash right down the road from me. The 20 gal would work great for a hand truck mounted setup. Also, why did you decide to go with a cart mounted setup versus truck mounted setup with more hose? As you know from a previous post I am in the process of setting up a Shurflo rig and can use any useful insight. As a matter of fact, the reason why it is taking me so long to get it going is because I am still not quit sure of how I should set it up. Anyways, good luck tommorow.

Lance

[RyanH 14]

Lance,

The ratio will depend upon the severity of the roof. I don't see anything wrong with putting up 5 - 6%. Since I'm not going to be flooding the roof with the bleach, I need it to be effective very quickly in case I need to do a second application before I leave. I decided against the truck mounted setup because some roofs have wierd geometries and it will be beneficial if I can have direct lines from any side of the house rather than having the hose sprawled all around the house. I'll check with a carwash in the morning....around 5am before they open. They are all over the place here, but may object to me rumaging through their garbage bins.

I'll let you know how my results are.

Ryan H.

[Rick G 14]

I have the same shurflow you have Ryan. Works great. Mine is trailer mounted with 200ft of hose on a reel. I keep an extra 50ft in the truck just in case. It could not be simpler. I have mine hoked up so I can shut off the valve to the chem tank and open one from the fresh tank and flush it out with fresh water. (very important) I also have a small hole drilled in the top of my chem tank where the inlet hose to the surflow goes, that way I can remove the hose and put it in a bucket or anouther container of a differant chem. like degreaser, oxolic, stripper whatever. I love my shurflow.

[RyanH 14]

What kind of head can you acheive with that unit? I need to have the flexibility to acheive about a 20 - 30 foot vertical rise. I was assured by the SHURflo guys that this would be possible, but I wonder how well the output is at that spec?

[CCPC 26]

Ryan,

Talk to the owner/manger of the carwash. Most will be more than happy to set the drums aside for you. Usually, all they will be concerned about is to rinse them out real good before they hand them over to you. Most carwashes use the same chemicals provided by the same large companies. They get cleaning agents in 20's, 25's, 35's, and 55's. All come in clear, very durable polyethylene plastic.

[CCPC 26]

Also, all most forgot, what are you using as far as a spray wand goes?

[CCPC 26]

Rick G.

Does your setup maintain a good amount of pressure with the 200 ft of hose? Also, what kind of reel do you have your chem hose wound up on and what kind of wand are you using?

[Mike Williamson 198]

I have the same shurflow you have Ryan. Works great. Mine is trailer mounted with 200ft of hose on a reel. I keep an extra 50ft in the truck just in case. It could not be simpler. I have mine hoked up so I can shut off the valve to the chem tank and open one from the fresh tank and flush it out with fresh water. (very important) I also have a small hole drilled in the top of my chem tank where the inlet hose to the surflow goes, that way I can remove the hose and put it in a bucket or anouther container of a differant chem. like degreaser, oxolic, stripper whatever. I love my shurflow.

Rick:

What kind of flow are you getting at the end of 200'? Are you getting enough pressure to apply from the ground?

[Rick G 14]

I am sure that there is some pressure and flow drop but it works fine for me. I use a little stronger chlorine solution than I think you do Mike. Between 5 or 7%. Remember 98% of what I clean is tile. I use about 3% on shingles. I use a 6ft PVC wand (credit Don Phelps) to put it down. I use 3/8in blue air hose cause I had already bought it. I here the clear hose is a little lighter. I keep it on a Hanny reel. I can cover a 2000 sq ft home roof in about 30 minutes (average). The trick is to unwind all the hose you need, turn on the pump and let the line fill with fluid, then carry the wand on the roof. It stays primed that way. Mike when you say apply from the ground you dont mean standing on the ground do you? I know you said your 3gpm flowjet wasent fast enough, which I cant really figure out. I think you are just so used to the XJet it must seem slow. Also I rinse the roof once (garden hose pressure) just to get the majority off, Im sure I leave some up there. That might account for my speed. Under two hours pull up to drive off on a one story 2000 sq ft home. Shingles take a little longer cause I rinse more.

[CCPC 26]

Thanks Rick, I appreciate the detailed information and so do many others on this board that are looking for ideas and methods.

Ryan, please don't forget to share your Shurflo roof cleaning experience with us when you get an opportunity.

[Firedkm 14]

Rick,

Your shurflo is only 1.8 gpm? I have a 3.8 gpm and I would think any lower would not be that effective. I have alot of loss in pressure and gpm with 200 feet of air hose. Its almost down to about 1.5gpm. Have you figured out what your loss at all?

I think your also right about Mike being use to the x-jet method. I did it today just playing around on the in-laws roof and its super quick compared to the shurflo method.

I know you posted a picture of the Phelps wonder wand! I cant find it, would you mind emailing the picture and what you used parts wise? Right now I am using a wand I got from Beth that came with the topper sprayer for applying sealer with. That may be one of my problem with the loss of pressure and gpm. If I remember right the nozzle was fairly large on the wonder wand.

Thanx,

Firedkm@comcast.net

[Mike Williamson 198]

I am sure that there is some pressure and flow drop but it works fine for me. I use a little stronger chlorine solution than I think you do Mike. Between 5 or 7%. Remember 98% of what I clean is tile. I use about 3% on shingles. I use a 6ft PVC wand (credit Don Phelps) to put it down. I use 3/8in blue air hose cause I had already bought it. I here the clear hose is a little lighter. I keep it on a Hanny reel. I can cover a 2000 sq ft home roof in about 30 minutes (average). The trick is to unwind all the hose you need, turn on the pump and let the line fill with fluid, then carry the wand on the roof. It stays primed that way. Mike when you say apply from the ground you dont mean standing on the ground do you? I know you said your 3gpm flowjet wasent fast enough, which I cant really figure out. I think you are just so used to the XJet it must seem slow. Also I rinse the roof once (garden hose pressure) just to get the majority off, Im sure I leave some up there. That might account for my speed. Under two hours pull up to drive off on a one story 2000 sq ft home. Shingles take a little longer cause I rinse more.

I can do the same home in about the same time, maybe a little less, depending on the severity of the roof. I'm just wondering if a lower gpm, higher psi pump might work better pushing chems through 200' of hose. Have you checked your output at the end of your hose to see what gpm you're getting?

Yes, I was talking about applying chems standing on the ground. I was wondering if you can shoot chems that far with the pump you have.

When I have time, I'm messing around with my flojet setup, but still don't get adequate gpms through the hose. Around 1gpm, if that, and that's on the ground. I haven't checked to see what I'm getting at the peak of a typical single story roof.

If I could get the results I"m looking for by going with a pump like yours, I'd do it.

[RyanH 14]

Bought 100' of 3/8" ID poly braid and used it. Pressure was never an issue on the house I did. I only went about 15 feet up, but I extended the wand and jetted the bleach up an additional 8 feet or so. Coverage was very nice and quick. My limiting factor was the climbing itself. House was about a 1800 - 2000 sq. ft. house with very steep roof lines, but I only had to clean half of the roof. Used 11 gallons of 6%.....would have felt better using about 15, but 11 worked. I took some pictures of the rigging gear I use and me using it as well as some before / after pics of the roof. I never had to pull out the pressure washer, so ideally I could go to do the roof jobs without having to pull around the trailer...I just need to tie the ladder into the truck. I never did get a chance to setup the nice hand truck, though, so I don't have any good pics of the shurflo setup itself. Hopefully I can get a chance in the next day or so to piece it together, but I'm having trouble locating the free poly tanks.....car washes around here just order the 55 gallon drums from what I'm seeing. And no fancy digital camera (yet), so it'll be two or so days for the pics.

Ryan

[CCPC 26]

What kind of wand did you use to apply the chem?

[Mike Williamson 198]

Rick,

I think your also right about Mike being use to the x-jet method. I did it today just playing around on the in-laws roof and its super quick compared to the shurflo method.

It is faster to apply, but is a PAIN on the roofs where I have to haul the chlorine up the ladder.

I know you posted a picture of the Phelps wonder wand! I cant find it, would you mind emailing the picture and what you used parts wise? Right now I am using a wand I got from Beth that came with the topper sprayer for applying sealer with. That may be one of my problem with the loss of pressure and gpm. If I remember right the nozzle was fairly large on the wonder wand.

Thanx,

Firedkm@comcast.net

On mine, I used about 3' of pipe, with a male pipe thread fitting on one end. I screwed a female 3/8" QC to this. This is where the hose connects. On the other end, I put a 90 degree elbow, and another female pipe thread fitting. To this, I attached a 1/4" female QC. That's where the tip goes. I have a pic somewhere....I'll see if I can find it.

[Firedkm 14]

Mike,

Appriciate it your time. What size tip are you using on the wand?

[Rick G 14]

Ill do some testing today to see if I can get some stats on my gpm. Ill also see if I can find those pics of the wand.

[CCPC 26]

I tried the X-Jet a few times on shingle roofs and it seemed like I could never quite get the chlorine strong enough to do a good job.

[RyanH 14]

Telescoping spray gun from Northern.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?addon=342811&catalogId=4006970&storeId=6970&productId=357025&langId=-1

[Mike Williamson 198]

I tried the X-Jet a few times on shingle roofs and it seemed like I could never quite get the chlorine strong enough to do a good job.

What strength is the chlorine you're using? I use 10.5%, and Xjet it straight without proportioners. That gives me roughly 3% hitting the roof, which works well. Sometimes I have to re-coat an area before rinsing, but not always. Usually, I'll coat the entire roof, then re-coat any areas that are still showing brown streaks.

[Mike Williamson 198]

Telescoping spray gun from Northern.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?addon=342811&catalogId=4006970&storeId=6970&productId=357025&langId=-1

I don't think this would hold up all that well to the chlorine. On the PVC guns, the only parts that will corrode and need replacing are the QCs on each end.

Dale:

I forgot to include in my parts list the pvc ball valve for shutting off the flow! That would help, eh? :)

[squirtgun 122]

Mike,

What diameter PVC pipe?Phelps gave me the specs on this thing once before but I have lost them.

[Mike Williamson 198]

I'm using 3/4" pipe. I didn't have anything but a picture to go from, and I had plenty of 3/4" pipe and fittings. I imagine you could use 1/2"...It would be lighter.

[CCPC 26]

I,m using the same about 10 to 10.5% and no proportioners either. I even built a homemade rig out of a step stool that sits comfortably on the peak of roof. The stool is custom designed for a five gallon pail and I added thick rubber feet to help keep it stable and to help protect the roof. I cut a pail in half the fastened it to the stool which allows me to place another pail in side the one that is fastened down. I used 50 ft. of chem line with Q Connects on both ends which allows me to disconnect the line right past the shut off valve so I can use the X-Jet nozzle without the hassle of the chem line if need be. The rig is very stable and because of its design it can fit almost any pitch of roof. The problem is that I can't seem to good results with the chlorine strength I am getting through the X-Jet.

here is a picture of the step stool rig on a house a did a couple of weeks ago.

[Mike Williamson 198]

I,m using the same about 10 to 10.5% and no proportioners either. I even built a homemade rig out of a step stool that sits comfortably on the peak of roof. The stool is custom designed for a five gallon pail and I added thick rubber feet to help keep it stable and to help protect the roof. I cut a pail in half the fastened it to the stool which allows me to place another pail in side the one that is fastened down. I used 50 ft. of chem line with Q Connects on both ends which allows me to disconnect the line right past the shut off valve so I can use the X-Jet nozzle without the hassle of the chem line if need be. The rig is very stable and because of its design it can fit almost any pitch of roof. The problem is that I can't seem to good results with the chlorine strength I am getting through the X-Jet.

here is a picture of the step stool rig on a house a did a couple of weeks ago.

Cool idea on the stool! I usually put my bucket on the ridge vents, most here have them.

How much chlorine would you use on a typical roof on a 2000 square foot house? I'm wondering if you're getting the proper draw. Maybe air leaks in the line, or maybe not enough venting in thel bucket with the lid on?

I use between 15 and 18 gallons of 10.5%, meaning I have to fill my 5 gallon bucket 3-4 times. Sometimes I'll use a bit less, but typically I start with 6 2.5 gallon jugs and sometimes need to haul one more up to the roof.

The first place I'd start is checking that the draw rate is where it should be for your machine. Unless you're running higher than a 5.5gpm machine, you should get great results xjetting 10.5% straight. If you're using a smaller gpm machine, you'd get even better results, due to the lower ratio of chems/water.

The only other possibilty I can think of is that you're getting old chlorine. ??