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Cleaner08


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New Guy. Thanks
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I am new to the site and roof cleaning.  My father wanted to replace his roof because he was embarrassed of his dirty roof.  Not a good idea for him to spend $ in this economy.  The roof is not leaking it’s just dirty.

After some searching and reading on the net, most of it bad advice, on how to clean roofs I found RCIA.  All I can say is Wow!!!  I have been reading for a couple of weeks now and am so intrigued that I decided to try the roof cleaning business. I have been in construction and remodeling all my life.  Needless to say we are very slow right now.  Roof cleaning is not exactly remodeling but it’s something new and different to me.  There are hundreds of contractors, driveway sealers, etc.  I have not even heard of cleaning roofs until a couple of weeks ago. 

I mixed a small batch of Apple Cedar Sauce and since I do not have a pump, I applied the Love with a paint roller 3/8” nap.  Not the best way to apply but it was safe and I wanted to test out the Love before I went any further.  As you can see by my pictures it worked!!!  There are some brown areas that I assume will wash off with the next rain.  My father was happy and his neighbor impressed.  I applied it to the lower roof and am saving the top part for future experimentation.  Hopefully with a pump.  I purposely missed a few spots for comparison.

I talked to Lori a few minutes ago.  I had a good laugh with her.  Good sense of humor. She will be emailing info and pricing this afternoon. Unfortunately, due to the economy I will have to start with the bare minimum while staying safe and go from there.  Being in the Chicago area the cleaning season ends in a few months.

I will be registering a new corp this week and buying insurance.  Hoping to set up a trailer and start selling.  Since I found the RCIA site, I have been looking at roofs as I drive.  Dirty roofs everywhere.  I have my father’s roof to finish and found a couple of friend’s roofs that could use a good cleaning. I will offer them a free cleaning so I can get some experience before starting.  And of course more reading.

I just wanted to complement the RCIA on the great website and thank everyone for all the info. 

Before I go I just have one question. I applied the Love with a paint roller. I am assuming that when using the pump I will be applying a heaver coat of love?

Thanks again.

Pete


DSC03591.JPGDSC03592.JPGDSC03646.JPGDSC03647.JPGDSC03649.JPG



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Cleaner08


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I guess I have to learn how to make thunbnails for pics.  Sorry

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Glen


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Hi Pete and welcome.  If you look at the bottom of the reply you will see a box for attachments, you can attach your pic's from there.



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Glen Evans
 First State Roof Cleaning
Non Pressure Roof Cleaning
Soft Wash House washing
Lewes, DE.
(302)827-3551
Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa FL (813) 655-8777


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Listen Son, I have cleaned Hundreds of roofs with a paint roller and a 5 gallon bucket of roof cleaning chemical! You get you a big roller designed to paint stucco or concrete, and roll away! This roof cleaning set up of a paint roller on a pole is called an "Apple Stick" This is the way we did it, back before roof cleaning pumps. I am proud of you for using your head. Welcome to the forum, we will show you better ways to clean roofs.

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Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa Florida

711 Westbrook

Brandon, FL 33511

813 655 8777

See our website here 

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Cleaner08


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Thanks for the support. We used an Apple Stick with a ¾” nap stucco roller for the top part of my dad’s roof. It came clean but had to apply a second coat to the bad spots. I do not think that we are applying enough love with the roller. The pool supply only had 2 gallons of SH 12 ½% in stock. Yes it was fresh. We mixed it according to the Apple Cider Sauce mix. Since we only had two gallons of SH we basically divided the recipe by 7.5 and mixed. We ended up with 5 gallons+ for an 800 sq ft roof.

We decided to start and see how far we can go with this amount. The roller got matted down and we had a hard time applying a good amount of love. We had enough to cover the roof with one coat and recoat the bad spots. I am assuming that if I had 10 gallons to spread and were able to spread it properly, one coat would have cleaned it.

I will be calling Lori tomorrow to order the Delavan pump. Rolling is to slow, hard to apply enough love, and since we have to walk every inch of old roofs there is a good chance of damaging the shingles. I also contacted Univar for SH. They quoted me a price under $2 per gallon. Better than the $4.99 per gallon at the pool supply store.

We still have a lot of prep work and testing to do before we can go selling but am looking forward to it.

I was using this formula listed below. Is it the latest and greatest mix?

Thanks again for all the info and quick responses. You guys are great.

Pete

APPLE CIDER SAUCE - 40 gallons/average roof job

15 gallons of bleach - 12.5% sodium hypochlorite
25 gallons hot water
5 lbs. TSP (Tri-sodium phosphate)
64 ounces of isopropol alcohol
1/2 bottle of Ajax or Ultra Concentrated Dawn.
or 1/2 ounce/gallon - 2 ounces/gallon depending on the pitch of the roof.



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Baltimore MD Roof Cleaning 410-482-4367


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Hi and Welcome Pete.
Very innovative of you to try the roller. It worked pretty good. You are probably right that the brown will rain off, but not that dark streak on the far left eave. The brown is a little darker than we want to leave. we don't want to leave any thing that won't rinse off in one rain except moss, and lichen. Just wanted you to know for your next attempt.

I would save some money and headaches using this mix

15 gal SH
25 gal water
1 cup Lauramine oxide
1 cup borax

ISP alcohol is a penetrate and fights the strength of your mix while allowing it to soak in faster.
TSP can etch windows is expensive and is marked as an environmental hazard by the epa.
The amine oxide surfactants will work more effectivley and cost less than Dawn.

Hope this helps.

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Bill Booz

Accuwash LLC

Cell-240-425-2845

 
Washed-up


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Look there, someone took the time to read, then try working outside the box. Good job! Too many times people will get here then ask questions instead of reading. Now you have a guys here that will respect you and be MORE than willing to help you any way they can!
Again, good job!

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Dwayne Miller
FLORIDAWASH
safe roof cleaning

Lake Marion Citrus & Sumter Counties in Florida


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Jo Jo


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good job! everyone here is a wealth of information. once you think your onto something you read more and find out more, and more, and more..



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Keystone Pressure Washing & Roof CleaningLLC

Joe Botti

412-477-5431 / 412-477-5064

Pittsburgh, PA

Roof Cleaning Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Monroeville PA

Pressure Washing Pittsburgh, Greensburg,Monroeville PA
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