The customer was happy. Once I got up to the roof to do the pre-work inspection, however, it was obvious that the 30 year old shakes were not long for this world. They felt more like cork to me than wood. I advised the HO that this was the final cleaning and last hurrah for this roof and that it had definitely "paid it's rent" over the 30 years.
I also pointed out where he needed repairs immediately due to a missing shake that was allowing rain to go straight down the inside of his wall. He was thankful for that information and said he'd get someone to fix it the next day. (Not expecting rain until next week)
There was/is still a ton of debris between each shake as it appears they have shrunken up some as they dried. Moss, lichens and oak "fluff" are in every nook & cranny. I am hopeful that all that debris will ALL dry up, get brittle, and wash away soon. There was no way to get up on this roof to attempt to wash anything off.
Did not know until I got home and revisited my PM that I was supposed to rinse. Everything up there is now a sort of Honey Gold. I'll return in a month or so to see how it's progressing.
Please feel free to critique me on this job.
-- Edited by Mark Fermoyle on Sunday 3rd of March 2013 06:27:00 PM
I think it looks good, cedar jobs are very satisfying. Like you said, I would rinse but in my experience you want to rinse with no more pressure than your soft wash pump will produce. The old cedar will fur up bad with any high pressure after it has been cleaned.
Michael Derose said
Mar 4, 2013
Mark looks good. I would only say that yes you should have rinsed and use some oaxilic acid or bleach wash to stop the bleaching effect. With that said the repairs needing to be done would not of allowed you to fully rinse without causing damage to the interior.
Schall Bradley said
Mar 4, 2013
Mark I have not done a Cedar Shake roof yet, not that many here, what % did you use ?
Mark Fermoyle said
Mar 4, 2013
I used the 2% solution and did two coats. As AC stated in training, it sure did DRINK IT UP. Two light coats on a shake roof is much different than a composite roof. Have plenty on hand if you decide to try one!!
Zach Maynard said
Mar 4, 2013
It really is great how little run off you have to deal with when cleaning cedar roofs. I enjoy doing them and the money for them is nice too. I am marketing directly for cedar roof cleanings this year.
Eric Seitz said
Mar 4, 2013
We will be marketing them to this year.
Mark Fermoyle said
Mar 4, 2013
Do you all use a Water-Broom to get the debris out of all the nooks & crannies, or some other method. This roof was so delicate I couldn't get on it to wash anything out ....bummer.
AC Lockyer said
Mar 4, 2013
Good alignment on the before and after pix!
AC
Ray Burke said
Mar 4, 2013
Nice job Mark! Shakes can be pretty darn challenging! Looks like you did a great job.
Danny Cronauer said
Mar 5, 2013
I haven't popped the cedar shake cherry yet. It makes me nervous! Looks good.
Mark Fermoyle said
Mar 5, 2013
I was nervous too. Still would be with another roof in that condition. I was wishing I had a push broom head on a 25 foot pole so that I could pull down some of the debris first. I had rigged up a roof ladder to hook over the ridge, but alas, it was not long enough to reach the peak.
If I decide to do anymore shake jobs I'll probably invest in a water broom boom to both clear off debris as well as rinse the roof as I do each section. At the moment, I'd rather stick to composite roofs. There's only a handful of shake roofs remaining in the Richmond area anyway.
Zach Maynard said
Mar 5, 2013
I never broom the roofs first, in my experience pine needles and such are usually just hung up on the algae. Once the algae goes so does the other debris.
Mark Fermoyle said
Mar 5, 2013
This roof had twigs and sticks and a whole bunch of those oak seed fluff things caught between the shakes. Just seemed to me that it would be good to remove as much of that as possible so that it's not decaying between those pieces so that they are not continuing to hold water like the sponges they are.
Please correct me if I'm wrong in that assumption.
The customer was happy. Once I got up to the roof to do the pre-work inspection, however, it was obvious that the 30 year old shakes were not long for this world. They felt more like cork to me than wood. I advised the HO that this was the final cleaning and last hurrah for this roof and that it had definitely "paid it's rent" over the 30 years.
I also pointed out where he needed repairs immediately due to a missing shake that was allowing rain to go straight down the inside of his wall. He was thankful for that information and said he'd get someone to fix it the next day. (Not expecting rain until next week)
There was/is still a ton of debris between each shake as it appears they have shrunken up some as they dried. Moss, lichens and oak "fluff" are in every nook & cranny. I am hopeful that all that debris will ALL dry up, get brittle, and wash away soon. There was no way to get up on this roof to attempt to wash anything off.
Did not know until I got home and revisited my PM that I was supposed to rinse. Everything up there is now a sort of Honey Gold. I'll return in a month or so to see how it's progressing.
Please feel free to critique me on this job.
-- Edited by Mark Fermoyle on Sunday 3rd of March 2013 06:27:00 PM
Like you said, I would rinse but in my experience you want to rinse with no more pressure than your soft wash pump will produce. The old cedar will fur up bad with any high pressure after it has been cleaned.
AC
If I decide to do anymore shake jobs I'll probably invest in a water broom boom to both clear off debris as well as rinse the roof as I do each section. At the moment, I'd rather stick to composite roofs. There's only a handful of shake roofs remaining in the Richmond area anyway.
Please correct me if I'm wrong in that assumption.