The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum
"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

Rich,

My experience is that with ANY material, plant mineral, organic or inorganic that you are unsure of, your best bet is to wet it, water it or Tarp it or a combination of all three and you will be on the safe side.

Especially until you are comfortable with which building materials you can safely clean and get overspray on and what you cannot.

Better to bag the downspouts and remove the runoff to a sewer drain or a barren area of the yard where it can do no harm.

It is better to spray lightly with a concentrated apple sauce, and repeat , if needed, than spray heavily with a weak solution and have a massive amount of runoff and nowhere to divert or capture the run off to.

Every job and situation is different. What woirks at a strip mall may not work in a residential setting and what works for a non guttered house may not be the approach you will use for a heavily landscaped and guttered house with a manicured lawn and flower beds.

Common Sense isn't so Common. Use the instinct God gave you and think ahead and study runoff pattern of the yard, etc. and plan for the What-If's

My friend you are missing the point.

No Pressure , No Rinse. Leave the chemical on the roof and let nature rinse it.

Tell the customer that you will come back and re-apply if the next 2-3 rains do not make their roof look like an almost new roof. There will be no charge to the customer for this. You will only need to come back to a few homes to dial in the right mixture for most roofs and develop your style of spraying and mixing to meet your area demand.

You may have to re-apply a light coat of concentrated chemical to get a majority of the stains to lighten or go away.

Light coats, concentrated chemical application. This is the key and it takes time to master this application.

Start at bottom or top and shoot from the ladder and work in sections and don't apply so much as to get the roof dripping wet.

Leave a less wet, just damp space about 4 feet from the bottom and spray twice or three times even if need be, but light coats.

Don't make dripping wet with chemical. Move your spray pattern?

Move fast with concentrated chemical and with wand or ball valve and go on to next section and then when the area you applied to last has semi-dried hit the last 4-5' with a wide spray of cleaner and before you know it, your roof will be clean with minimal runoff.

You will just have to try and see how this works. There is no way to show you. You will have to experience it for yourself.
There is no right way to the method of roof cleaning. We all have different ideas and will each come up with little improvisations to make your work go smoother, quicker, easier.

Again, what works for one roof DOES NOT work for all roofs but you will, over time get the hang of the methodology used and the basic principles, methods, chemicals and use in a variety of situations will vary along with runoff and the need to bag or divert downspouts. And yes , ther are even rare occasions where a roof cleaner may want to rinse a roof, i.e. you are contracted with a homeowner or real estate agent and they are showing the house to a HOT prospect in the morning so time is of the essence is just one example.

I hope this info helps some of you, if so, when you get it all going on please PAY IT FORWARD and help another struggling newbie or roof cleanier that isn't quite clear on the proceedures or methods.

Glad to be of service :)

-- Edited by Roof Clean USA Georgia 229-227-0000 on Wednesday 18th of March 2009 11:58:09 PM