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Washed-up · guest

RE: Using a roof setup to wash houses.....

mfulton · Guest

Good stuff to know I also am planning to use mine on houses as well. Thanks for the info guys

Mike

mfulton · Guest

Hey Ky do you use the SH through your powerwasher in your house wash or standard bleach?

Mike

Washed-up · guest

mfulton wrote:

Hey Ky do you use the SH through your powerwasher in your house wash or standard bleach?

Mike

Search dont ask.

AC Lockyer · none

Justin Murphy wrote:

I know that this has probably been talked about before but I'm gonna ask now.....

Do any of you (or have) used your roof setup to clean homes with?

I just think this would be awesome in theory. Just one tank to mix. No downstreaming. No noise or gas. I'm guessing I could just put a 3 way in line to cut off chemical and go to rinse.

Give me some opinions and suggestions.....

Thanks in advance....

I have used the same equipment to clean the house for nearly 20 years. You should check out the NCE event in Charleston, SC the ned of this month.

Go to www.ProfessionalBusinessGuide.com for more info.

AC

zjim · Guest

I did a few apartment complexes this year using both. I would apply the soap with my fat boy and rinse with the power washer using the soap tips.

PA Roof Cleaning Pros · guest

I second what Michael says. Downstreaming is hands down more efficient for house washing and often times.. you need some pressure. Concrete, brick, up high.. you need some pressure behind the flow. I would go through pumps like water if we did that method. You have to clean the pump, you need a big chem tank. I can't see any advantages in using a roof pump for house washing other than it being more quiet.

-- Edited by PA Roof Cleaning Pros on Tuesday 7th of September 2010 08:48:13 PM

Washed-up · guest

PA Roof Cleaning Pros wrote:

I second what Michael says. Downstreaming is hands down more efficient for house washing and often times.. you need some pressure. Concrete, brick, up high.. you need some pressure behind the flow. I would go through pumps like water if we did that method. You have to clean the pump, you need a big chem tank. I can't see any advantages in using a roof pump for house washing other than it being more quiet.

-- Edited by PA Roof Cleaning Pros on Tuesday 7th of September 2010 08:48:13 PM

I know everyone has their own opinion, so here is mine..
My washer is 3700psi at 4 gpm
My roofer is 60 psi at 5 gpm. So I can put more on the home in less time. PSI=damage in my eyes. People want low psi here, and for what I am cleaning it works best.
I can clean a roof in 45min and a home in 45, my only down time is adding water to my mix...10 min..
When I started roof cleaning it was 45-1hour for roof then switch over to PW and another 1.25 hrs to wash. PWing a home takes more time for me.

Like I said, this is what works best for me.

Guest

PA Roof Cleaning Pros wrote:

I second what Michael says. Downstreaming is hands down more efficient for house washing and often times.. you need some pressure. Concrete, brick, up high.. you need some pressure behind the flow. I would go through pumps like water if we did that method. You have to clean the pump, you need a big chem tank. I can't see any advantages in using a roof pump for house washing other than it being more quiet.

-- Edited by PA Roof Cleaning Pros on Tuesday 7th of September 2010 08:48:13 PM

+1 to Michael and Kens posts. Another advantage to DS'ing ...... you are only pulling one hose and dont have to walk back and forth to the trailer to switch between rinsing and applying soap. I apply with a low pressure tip and rinse with an xjet nozzle. Too easy.

mfulton · Guest

I look at this as school and spend several hours a day reading and searching. Sorry, didn't realize there were certain questions not to ask. I didn't have to search far. looks like you answered my question on another post smile

Mike

Guest

The proper tips on the end of a pressure washer wand will give you the same pressure as your roof cleaning pump with more distance and volume. I use roof cleaning size nozzles on my PW and I can reach the top of any home I need to with cleaners and then rinse with the same nozzle.

There are a lot of different methods to clean a house. You have to experiment with them and see what works best for you. If it cleans the house properly, doesn't cause damage and can be done quickly then that is the best method for you.

Most of my methods are self taught. I try a lot of different ways to see what is most effective. My advice to someone new is to do the same thing. It is all about what works for you.

Brian

Baltimore MD Roof Cleaning 410-482-4367 · guest

In Charleston you may just experience the softwash revolution!!
Pressure washers are expensive to maintain compared to a water tank and spray pump.
We usually softwash with 2 gal fresh SH 40 gallons water a sip of lauramine oxide and 2 gallons limeoloene or emulsifier plus from Envirospec. Make sure to flush with plenty of water. If the homeowner water is too weak we use our 10gpm AOD pump from IR.

I agree that it requires carrying more chem, but not much more. The ingredients can be mixed on site and placed in pre sized containers for employees.

PA Roof Cleaning Pros · guest

You guys that use low psi pumps:

How do you melt daubber or wasp's nests on a second story?
What about the concrete on the porch, at the garage entry and side steps?
What about rear patios, pavers, sidewalks, concrete driveways?
How do you wash the remanants of thick mold up high. You can kill it but it takes a little uumph behind the stream to get it.

Just wondering how you deal with all those things. Also curious about how much chemical you have to mix up to do an average house?

Sorry about all the questions, just curious how shortcomings of a pump setup are overcome.

Washed-up · guest

PA Roof Cleaning Pros wrote:

You guys that use low psi pumps:

How do you melt daubber or wasp's nests on a second story?
Not too many second story homes in Fla. I never have that issue YET
What about the concrete on the porch, at the garage entry and side steps? Roof pump with chem.
What about rear patios, pavers, sidewalks, concrete driveways? Roof pump. But I do have a surface cleaner as well just incase.
How do you wash the remanants of thick mold up high. You can kill it but it takes a little uumph behind the stream to get it. I can shoot about 50-60 feet with my roof pump and it pushes 5 gpm

Just wondering how you deal with all those things. Also curious about how much chemical you have to mix up to do an average house? For a house wash, I mix 40-50 gal

Sorry about all the questions, just curious how shortcomings of a pump setup are overcome.

Like I posted above, I do have a pressure washer and surface cleaner, but rarely use it. It's all in the mix. I hope you dont mind I changed colors to help others understand you and me..lol

Roof Cleaning Little Rock Arkansas · Guest

My roof pump has saved my tail before on a job when my old pressure washer died but Id see major drawbacks to using it all the time to wash houses. Mainly having to mix tons of chemical, not having that extra ooomph when needed, and being slow.

We can flat roll with our housewashing setup. We soap with a 5gpm 2000psi machine and rinse with an 8gpm machine. Pretty soon we should be setup where we dont even have to make a housewash mix instead we will just ds out of a straight tank of sh.

PTC · Guest

not to stay off roof cleaning topics but with pw a dual lance with down feeder works great open for low pressure chems close for rinse come in multiple lengths working off ladder allows you to release pressure to reduce the kick when you squeeze the trigger on flat work allows you to apply chem on low pressure control of chem close handle do edges then surface cleaner unless cleaner has wand built in as the landa does but longer hose for wand attachment comes in handy for down feeders a good chem feeder last longer one for acids ect but a roof pump is great for high locations what works best and safe for you have a safe day

Palmetto Roof Cleaner · Guest

Can you explain your downstreaming process.

PTC · Guest

their are plenty of pw sites that can explain this and other things but if you locate a pw distributor in your area they can show you equiptment and a demostration some will come to you and demo at a fee but hands on is best they want you to buy so they will explain and demo also can help with locating chems they dont carry they usually have trade ins and parts and rentals for ok prices good luck hope this helps you

Matthew · Guest

Justin Murphy wrote:

swee****erfish wrote:

I haven't used a pressure washer to wash a house since 1998! I use my "roof set-up". Typically on a house my mix will be around 8% SH

Just using the magic of chemistry to do the work for you rather than the power of pressure!

Sometime stubborn brick will require a bit of pressure, but 90% of the time my softwash pump can handle most any housewashing task!

How are you rinsing? I know I can use the customer's hose but yesterday I did a house needed rinsed over 30 high. The hose alone would never make it. Are you just hooking the water up your chemical pump?
Oh yeah....what pump are ya using?

Thanks guys....this is changing the way I look at this!!!

Almost any house puts out enough gpm/pressure to rinse 30 feet if you use a 3/4 inch or 5/8 hose and a sweeper nozzle with a ball valve.

Matthew · Guest

PA Roof Cleaning Pros wrote:

You guys that use low psi pumps:

How do you melt daubber or wasp's nests on a second story?
What about the concrete on the porch, at the garage entry and side steps?
What about rear patios, pavers, sidewalks, concrete driveways?
How do you wash the remanants of thick mold up high. You can kill it but it takes a little uumph behind the stream to get it.

Just wondering how you deal with all those things. Also curious about how much chemical you have to mix up to do an average house?

Sorry about all the questions, just curious how shortcomings of a pump setup are overcome.

A 3/4 or 5/8 hose with a sweeper nozzle is all that I use to rinse anything verticle or the roof. I spray on the chems and then rinse.

For non painted concrete:
You can use the chem and wait a few days, or use the strong chem and rinse it. This will do the job 2/3 of the time.
Bare concrete is the only thing I use my PW for.

I spray chem with low psi wait 20 minutes and PW the rest off.
Because while the "mix" does an excellent job on biologicals it doesn't do much for gum, tar, grease, latex paint, etc. that I find on driveways everyday.

-- Edited by Matthew on Friday 10th of September 2010 08:03:38 PM

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