Bear in mind - I'm un-trained (going to Softwashapalooza in <2 weeks).
Here's my first Softwashing job ever - on a architectural shingle roof. I'm writing all this down for 2 reasons - so new ones can learn from my mistakes along the way, and for critiques and advice along the way from the pros.
This took me about 8 hours to do this job. I was WAAAY underbid, and even though I knew that going into it, I thought worst case scenario would be around 4-5 hours.
Workflow -
1. Mixed CH & Green Wash at approx 3.5% (I would consider SH but at the moment cheapest price I can find is $4+ gallon.)
2. Sprayed nearly the entire roof with jet nozzle. Never stepped one foot one roof.
3. Sprayed a decently thick coat - worked entire way around house. Had a ground guy rinsing vigorously plants, gutter faces, anywhere it sprayed off roof.
4. After 1 coat, noticed many golden spots - hit again with another coat. Wrapped up.
Observations -
1. CH dissolves slowwwwly. Mixed by hand (ugh I know) 200 gallons in 55 gal batches. Took 30 min to empty tank and 30 min plus to measure/mix. During which ground guy was sitting around doing basically nothing. Note to self - need 2 tanks (both of them BIGGER). Also need a drum that has large mouth for dropping in a mixing paddle. Having 2 tanks would have cut my time down by 30-40% easily.
2. CH leaves nasty residue. Took some hand detailing of the gutters afterward, but spent probably a man hour scrubbing/washing any window/gutter that had overspray. When I'm not so strapped and anxious for time, I need to let the tank settle so I don't pump off the milky stuff.
3. It is dead of summer - so rain wont come for another 5 or so weeks. Managed customer expectations well enough - she was pleased with the results - but I know I need to addres residue problem. I'm hoping the light colored areas and dead moss on roof will come off.
4. Got the feeling toward the end of job that I was saturating the roof too much. It seemed like I went through a lot of material. It was a LARGE 12/12 roof, but still not exactly sure if spray was overkill.
5. Moss here in the NW seems very, very resilient and latched on. I heard from many others that moss can be sprayed off within hours or days of treatment. I went back a week or two later and shot some on the roof at full blast with a jetted garden hose and it wouldn't budge. Just me or...?
6. Material cost was about $170 for the job.
7. Green wash doesn't mask the bleach scent as much as I thought it would.
Below are some pictures of the job. Sun was a little hot in the after pic, so it's hard to see all the detail, but you can make out that there is a decent amount of yellowing on the roof still. Moss was average for the NW - which amounts to small tufts on every shingle. I told her we would wait for a couple heavy rains and see how the roof tone evened out. I told her that we are reversing years of moss and algae growth safely, and that it may take a little extra TLC to get it back to looking like new. She had no problem with the thought of paying some more for a secondary treatment if it was needed to get the leftover GM and moss off.
SERIOUSLY looking forward to flying down to Softwashapalooza and gettin' my knowledge on!
Put the powder in a paint sock and run water through it while filling barrell and it will dissolve quicker. draw your mix from barrel and spray back into barrel with your wand to mix. try augmenting mix with SH. Worry less about material cost of SH. Would you rather cut your cost by 10% or raise your sell price by 10%. Try adding 2 cups roof snot to your barrel and it will cling better. That was a tough roof for a first job. I think you will pick up a lot of knowledge at softwashapalooza.
AC Lockyer said
Jul 23, 2013
1. CH dissolves slowwwwly. Mixed by hand (ugh I know) 200 gallons in 55 gal batches. Took 30 min to empty tank and 30 min plus to measure/mix. During which ground guy was sitting around doing basically nothing. Note to self - need 2 tanks (both of them BIGGER). Also need a drum that has large mouth for dropping in a mixing paddle. Having 2 tanks would have cut my time down by 30-40% easily.
I would add an agitation line to your tank. The pump will mix the CH much better than a paddle. Paul's double pump system (I think you have) has a second pump that can mix and agitate while the other feeds the reel.
2. CH leaves nasty residue. Took some hand detailing of the gutters afterward, but spent probably a man hour scrubbing/washing any window/gutter that had overspray. When I'm not so strapped and anxious for time, I need to let the tank settle so I don't pump off the milky stuff.
You definitely need some technique coaching. You will get that next week. If you treat your cleaning solution like paint you will have less issues. IE:
A. Don't get paint on what you don't want painted. B. Spray to heavy and you get allot of runs.
3. It is dead of summer - so rain wont come for another 5 or so weeks. Managed customer expectations well enough - she was pleased with the results - but I know I need to address residue problem. I'm hoping the light colored areas and dead moss on roof will come off.
Gold mustard algae needs a few weeks to die. I saw some of that in your pix. Remember bleach both SH and CH are oxidizers and need oxygen to create a bleaching effect.
4. Got the feeling toward the end of job that I was saturating the roof too much. It seemed like I went through a lot of material. It was a LARGE 12/12 roof, but still not exactly sure if spray was overkill.
THE HEAVIER YOU PUT THE CHEMS ON THE LONGER IT TAKES FOR OXYGEN TO PENETRATE TO THE FUNGUS AND ALGAE AND CREATE A BLEACHING REACTION. Light coats actually bleach faster and better. If the roof is super hot pre moisten with a garden hose and allow to almost dry then give it light coats of chem. Figure one gallon of finshed chem treats about 200 square feet moderately stained and about 100 square feet really stained.
5. Moss here in the NW seems very, very resilient and latched on. I heard from many others that moss can be sprayed off within hours or days of treatment. I went back a week or two later and shot some on the roof at full blast with a jetted garden hose and it wouldn't budge. Just me or...?
Seems your CH may have been stale or not as strong and needed more time or agitation to dissolve. That roof should have cleaned with a 3% solution fine.
6. Material cost was about $170 for the job.
Yes that was at least a $1,500.00 roof cleaning.
7. Green wash doesn't mask the bleach scent as much as I thought it would.
How much Green Wash per 55 gallon drum did you use? CH doesn't have as much of a bleach smell as SH to begin with so if you still had issues with CH being too strong smelling that might be indicative of not using enough Green Wash.
Great start and wow that was a super challenging one to start on first. PROPS!
Thanks,
AC
Michael Derose said
Jul 24, 2013
I have also noticed that lately as well on the smell from the chlorine is stronger this time of year as it gets hotter. We use green wash and as its applied it masks the smell somewhat but once the reaction happens ( cleaning) it loses its smell and back to the nasty chlorine/ dead algae smell. We use just about 20 ounce per 50 gallon mix.
Dan Dykstra said
Jul 25, 2013
Brandon,
That was quite the roof for your first. You will be amazed at the amount of knowledge that you are going to receive at Softwashapalooza, I went to the one last January in Flordia and will be going back every year. Not only is the teaching 1st class, but the people you are going to meet will be more than happy to help you out with any questions you may have.
As far as the bleach smell. I have tried the new Lemon Aid in my mix and it does get rid of the bleach smell, now it smells lemon fresh.
Eric Owen said
Jul 25, 2013
A good job for your first roof. My first roof took me 3-days!!! it was a very big two story tile roof and I was not using CH or SH. I did make money on that one but I was way to low for a Big River Front Home!!! It all worked out form that job I got three more in the same neighbor hood those prices were adjusted up! It will only get better you will learn a lot at Palooza.
Brandon Vaughn said
Jul 31, 2013
AC, thank you for your step by step responses - that was incredibly informative! Can't wait til Softwashapalooza. Have safe travels.
I need to find out what a paint sock is, never heard of such a thing!
Tim Teed said
Jul 31, 2013
Its a fine mesh bag you can find in paint section at home center.
Bear in mind - I'm un-trained (going to Softwashapalooza in <2 weeks).
Here's my first Softwashing job ever - on a architectural shingle roof. I'm writing all this down for 2 reasons - so new ones can learn from my mistakes along the way, and for critiques and advice along the way from the pros.
This took me about 8 hours to do this job. I was WAAAY underbid, and even though I knew that going into it, I thought worst case scenario would be around 4-5 hours.
Workflow -
1. Mixed CH & Green Wash at approx 3.5% (I would consider SH but at the moment cheapest price I can find is $4+ gallon.)
2. Sprayed nearly the entire roof with jet nozzle. Never stepped one foot one roof.
3. Sprayed a decently thick coat - worked entire way around house. Had a ground guy rinsing vigorously plants, gutter faces, anywhere it sprayed off roof.
4. After 1 coat, noticed many golden spots - hit again with another coat. Wrapped up.
Observations -
1. CH dissolves slowwwwly. Mixed by hand (ugh I know) 200 gallons in 55 gal batches. Took 30 min to empty tank and 30 min plus to measure/mix. During which ground guy was sitting around doing basically nothing. Note to self - need 2 tanks (both of them BIGGER). Also need a drum that has large mouth for dropping in a mixing paddle. Having 2 tanks would have cut my time down by 30-40% easily.
2. CH leaves nasty residue. Took some hand detailing of the gutters afterward, but spent probably a man hour scrubbing/washing any window/gutter that had overspray. When I'm not so strapped and anxious for time, I need to let the tank settle so I don't pump off the milky stuff.
3. It is dead of summer - so rain wont come for another 5 or so weeks. Managed customer expectations well enough - she was pleased with the results - but I know I need to addres residue problem. I'm hoping the light colored areas and dead moss on roof will come off.
4. Got the feeling toward the end of job that I was saturating the roof too much. It seemed like I went through a lot of material. It was a LARGE 12/12 roof, but still not exactly sure if spray was overkill.
5. Moss here in the NW seems very, very resilient and latched on. I heard from many others that moss can be sprayed off within hours or days of treatment. I went back a week or two later and shot some on the roof at full blast with a jetted garden hose and it wouldn't budge. Just me or...?
6. Material cost was about $170 for the job.
7. Green wash doesn't mask the bleach scent as much as I thought it would.
Below are some pictures of the job. Sun was a little hot in the after pic, so it's hard to see all the detail, but you can make out that there is a decent amount of yellowing on the roof still. Moss was average for the NW - which amounts to small tufts on every shingle. I told her we would wait for a couple heavy rains and see how the roof tone evened out. I told her that we are reversing years of moss and algae growth safely, and that it may take a little extra TLC to get it back to looking like new. She had no problem with the thought of paying some more for a secondary treatment if it was needed to get the leftover GM and moss off.
SERIOUSLY looking forward to flying down to Softwashapalooza and gettin' my knowledge on!
1. CH dissolves slowwwwly. Mixed by hand (ugh I know) 200 gallons in 55 gal batches. Took 30 min to empty tank and 30 min plus to measure/mix. During which ground guy was sitting around doing basically nothing. Note to self - need 2 tanks (both of them BIGGER). Also need a drum that has large mouth for dropping in a mixing paddle. Having 2 tanks would have cut my time down by 30-40% easily.
I would add an agitation line to your tank. The pump will mix the CH much better than a paddle. Paul's double pump system (I think you have) has a second pump that can mix and agitate while the other feeds the reel.
2. CH leaves nasty residue. Took some hand detailing of the gutters afterward, but spent probably a man hour scrubbing/washing any window/gutter that had overspray. When I'm not so strapped and anxious for time, I need to let the tank settle so I don't pump off the milky stuff.
You definitely need some technique coaching. You will get that next week. If you treat your cleaning solution like paint you will have less issues. IE:
A. Don't get paint on what you don't want painted.
B. Spray to heavy and you get allot of runs.
3. It is dead of summer - so rain wont come for another 5 or so weeks. Managed customer expectations well enough - she was pleased with the results - but I know I need to address residue problem. I'm hoping the light colored areas and dead moss on roof will come off.
Gold mustard algae needs a few weeks to die. I saw some of that in your pix. Remember bleach both SH and CH are oxidizers and need oxygen to create a bleaching effect.
4. Got the feeling toward the end of job that I was saturating the roof too much. It seemed like I went through a lot of material. It was a LARGE 12/12 roof, but still not exactly sure if spray was overkill.
THE HEAVIER YOU PUT THE CHEMS ON THE LONGER IT TAKES FOR OXYGEN TO PENETRATE TO THE FUNGUS AND ALGAE AND CREATE A BLEACHING REACTION. Light coats actually bleach faster and better. If the roof is super hot pre moisten with a garden hose and allow to almost dry then give it light coats of chem. Figure one gallon of finshed chem treats about 200 square feet moderately stained and about 100 square feet really stained.
5. Moss here in the NW seems very, very resilient and latched on. I heard from many others that moss can be sprayed off within hours or days of treatment. I went back a week or two later and shot some on the roof at full blast with a jetted garden hose and it wouldn't budge. Just me or...?
Seems your CH may have been stale or not as strong and needed more time or agitation to dissolve. That roof should have cleaned with a 3% solution fine.
6. Material cost was about $170 for the job.
Yes that was at least a $1,500.00 roof cleaning.
7. Green wash doesn't mask the bleach scent as much as I thought it would.
How much Green Wash per 55 gallon drum did you use? CH doesn't have as much of a bleach smell as SH to begin with so if you still had issues with CH being too strong smelling that might be indicative of not using enough Green Wash.
Great start and wow that was a super challenging one to start on first. PROPS!
Thanks,
AC
That was quite the roof for your first. You will be amazed at the amount of knowledge that you are going to receive at Softwashapalooza, I went to the one last January in Flordia and will be going back every year. Not only is the teaching 1st class, but the people you are going to meet will be more than happy to help you out with any questions you may have.
As far as the bleach smell. I have tried the new Lemon Aid in my mix and it does get rid of the bleach smell, now it smells lemon fresh.
AC, thank you for your step by step responses - that was incredibly informative! Can't wait til Softwashapalooza. Have safe travels.
I need to find out what a paint sock is, never heard of such a thing!
Its a fine mesh bag you can find in paint section at home center.