roof cleaning... heeelllllpppp!

[hoosierwindowtek 14]

I recently did an asphalt shingle roof that had major major levels of moss growth on it, and I don't know if I did it right.

I used both regular household bleach, as well as some 10% pool chlorinator. I didn't get stronger stuff because the job came up quickly and I didn't think I needed it.

Anyway, what happened is that I sprayed the chems on the moss, which included chlorine, tsp, and borax mixed 2gal/1cup/1cup. I used an x-jet and also a bug sprayer to apply chems directly on the roof.

When I applied it to the roof, the moss turned mostly white, which helped it come off, but I had to use direct spray on the roof to blast the stuff off and It still took 5 hours to do about 700 square feet.

What did I do wrong?

Thanks very much for any help.

H

[We Wash Concrete 64]

What was your dwell time? How "fresh" was your 10%? Did you mix your 10%, borax, and tsp with water before you x-Jetted? If so that may be your problem. If you x-jetting you need straight chemical, no water. And if your x-jet is matched to your machine, you would fly through two gallons.

[hoosierwindowtek 14]

Yes, sorry, i didn't explain very well that I used a total of 10 gallons of bleach, all of which was bought that day, but I don't ultimately know how fresh it was. I didn't add water to the chemical mix, but it was diluted part of the time I put it on with the x-jet. I later used the bug spray pump to put it on undiluted.

This roof had some seriously bad moss growth, though. I mean, pretty much EVERY shingle was covered with moss along the bottom edge of each shingle tab. I'd have to estimate approximately 30% coverage.

My dwell time varied, because initially I didn't let it sit very long because I didn't realize it was gonna be so stubborn. Later, I let it dwell 15 minutes in some areas, 30 minutes in others.

Did I just need a much stronger chlorine? Should moss just disolve if hit strongly enough?

[John Orr 206]

Moss is not going to just go away on its own. You either have to allow future rains to rinse it off after the roots have let go, or use a direct spray, as you did. I prefer to allow Mother Nature to do the rinsing, but you must inform the customer prior to doing the work. If you rinse immediately after applying chems, you run the risk of removing the granuals that the moss has attached itself to - leaving black "spots".

[PRESSURE PACKED 14]

tell me you had someone on the ground please

[Barry M 73]

You did nothing wrong other than probably under bid the job. That's how moss is, very different from black roof algae.

[hoosierwindowtek 14]

Thanks for the input, i greatly value the comments!

I definitely did underbid the job, and I have a feeling that the homeowner knew that because when I gave her the quote, she seemed to think it was expensive, and said she was gonna call for a couple of other quotes. A few days later, she called and said that she wanted us to do it.

After finding out how difficult the job was, I have a feeling that others were pricing it at 2-3 times what I priced the job at.

That having been said, this was a person who clearly had a limited income on a pretty old, run-down home and I viewed it as having done her a nice favor.

Pressure Packed,

Why did you ask about someone on the ground?

[hoosierwindowtek 14]

UPDATE:

The super nice lady who hired us to do the job sent us a thank you note and a check for $30.00, bless her heart, I know she's tight for money, and that was a really nice gesture on her part.