Florida Roof Cleaning by The Roofing Manufacturers Method Is Not Pressure Cleaning!
At Chuck Bergman Roof Cleaning and Pressure Cleaning, clearly we do all types of pressure cleaning and have done so since 1989 here in Charlotte County, Fl We just don't pressure clean roofing, because it is the wrong way to clean a roof and causes too much wear and damage to roofs.
Chuck Bergman Soft Wash Roof Cleaning has been serving Charlotte and Sarasota Counties in Florida since 1991 { Prior to that as Chuck Bergman Pressure Cleaning since 1989 }
With years of experience , it became clear to me that while pressure washing roofs made them look clean, damage was occurring on the roofs. Pressure cleaning machines can only be turned down so far and still accomplish roof cleaning and any amount of pressure, even as low a setting as 200 psi { 200 psi won't clean a roof, it takes a minimum of 600 psi to accomplish that and it would take a very long time! }
{ 3000 to 4000 psi is what most pressure cleaning contractors use }
Even if 200psi would work, will still remove around 15-20% of the granules that make up the color and protection of your shingle roof per cleaning.
Ugly black algae, left in place on the roof, eats around those granules and the rain removes them. Still eventually destroying the roof and spoiling it's appearance and resale value. With tile roofs, pressure removes the glazing many tile roofs come with. Pressure also blows pieces of cement that hold the ridge-caps in place off into space! If your tile roof is painted, pressure will blow portions of paint off all over the roof, leaving it in need of an expensive paint job!
I started out strictly as a Pressure washing Company! So, what to do?
In 1991 I started developing a system to clean roofs without using pressure.
Now these roof cleaning systems are available for purchase commercially. Even some of these "Non Pressure" systems are what I consider overkill, so I have tried them all and settled on what I consider the best for my customers. Some are designed to do a roof very quickly, using 7 gallon per minute pumps on up! Others [because they are inexpensive] very slowly- 1 gpm pumps. I am in the middle and pleased with my results with a system of 3 gpm output. I want the cleaning solution to remain on the roof, not to run off the roof or into the gutters.
If you would like your roof restored [most of the time to 90% like new!] using only the methods suggested by your roofing manufacturer, call us for a free estimate! We have been a father and son ONLY business since 1994-so you will always get a professional and never get a crew or a new guy in training on your property!
-- Edited by Bergman Roof Cleaning Port Charlotte FL 941-698-1959 on Saturday 27th of August 2011 01:16:53 PM
-- Edited by Bergman Roof Cleaning Port Charlotte FL 941-698-1959 on Saturday 27th of August 2011 01:18:02 PM
-- Edited by Bergman Roof Cleaning Port Charlotte FL 941-698-1959 on Thursday 21st of March 2013 10:03:06 AM
-- Edited by Bergman Roof Cleaning Port Charlotte FL 941-698-1959 on Thursday 21st of March 2013 10:06:59 AM
-- Edited by Bergman Roof Cleaning Port Charlotte FL 941-698-1959 on Saturday 23rd of March 2013 09:11:35 AM
Good post, hope potential customers see this in full one day. I see these products online that say no bleach or bleach ruins shingles or discolors tiles and I think that after cleaning roofs for 14 years with bleach I beg to differ.
I have people all the time ask what do I use to clean roofs or they say you do not use bleach right? I say I use the same stuff every "Real Professional Roof Cleaner" uses. They ask what is it? I tell them and educate them on it, let them know that these "magical" new roof cleaner products are a total waste of money and if all roofing manufacturers recommend SH, H2O and TSP then it is what should be used. Why would the roofing manufacturer want to lose money by having to replace a roof for free.
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ORLANDO / CENTRAL FLORIDA "SAFE NO PRESSURE ROOF CLEANING" AND PRESSURE WASHING Since 1998.
Good post, hope potential customers see this in full one day. I see these products online that say no bleach or bleach ruins shingles or discolors tiles and I think that after cleaning roofs for 14 years with bleach I beg to differ.
I have people all the time ask what do I use to clean roofs or they say you do not use bleach right? I say I use the same stuff every "Real Professional Roof Cleaner" uses. They ask what is it? I tell them and educate them on it, let them know that these "magical" new roof cleaner products are a total waste of money and if all roofing manufacturers recommend SH, H2O and TSP then it is what should be used. Why would the roofing manufacturer want to lose money by having to replace a roof for free.
I'm glad you like it!
I too have to explain the truth about these new fad products to an uneducated [on roof cleaning] public, who see all the hype green roof cleaning junk on TV and hardware store shelves.
If the roofing manufacturer was not trying to protect their customers for real, they could say nothing and most people would think of pressure washing as the logical solution. Or just say "Most people with roof discoloration have their roofs cleaned by pressure washing" and get to replace the roofs more quickly.
Or they could recommend one of the so called "green" cleaners, knowing that those guys always end up pressure washing the roofs anyway, because the green junk isn't even damaging to simple house plants, let alone that powerful plant growing on the roof!
I would live and let live-except that that's not the approach used by the new green salesman!
Their approach is to cut down professional roof cleaning methods, calling us "Chlorine Cowboys" or our work a "Bleach Job" and speaking negatively of our method and going so far as to make up ridiculous lies [Like on "Hoover Pressure Cleaning" website,] saying we use 80% - 100% chlorine to clean roofs, [obviously, not someone who knows what he is talking about, or more likely, just trying to scare the public with lies. Just one of the many lies, common among those who push the new "Green" junk and those who pressure wash roofs. They can not stand on their own 2 feet and make a living, so they do like politicians do and try to discredit everyone else.
But, how can they dispell the facts from the manufacturers? THEY CAN'T. So I bet they will hate reading my post!!!
Hmmmm, I could go on and on and on.
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Serving Englewood Rotonda North Port Cape Haze Venice Port Charlotte Punta Gorda Boca Grande Charlotte and Southern Sarasota Counties in Florida.
I got a few emails from posting this on Craigslist. 2 from "Green" sales guys "Eco-Friendly" "Bio-Foam" stuff - and 1 from a roof pressure washer. I just told them all to refute my post publicly, if they think the roofing manufacturers don't know their own products and how to clean them.
__________________
Serving Englewood Rotonda North Port Cape Haze Venice Port Charlotte Punta Gorda Boca Grande Charlotte and Southern Sarasota Counties in Florida.
Florida Roof Cleaning by The Roofing Manufacturers Method Is Not Pressure Cleaning!
At Chuck Bergman Roof Cleaning and Pressure Cleaning, clearly we do all types of pressure cleaning and have done so since 1989 here in Charlotte County, Fl We just don't pressure clean roofing, because it is the wrong way to clean a roof and causes too much wear and damage to
Chuck Bergman Soft Wash Roof Cleaning has been serving Charlotte and Sarasota Counties in Florida since 1991 { Prior to that as Chuck Bergman Pressure Cleaning since 1989 }
With years of experience , it became clear to me that while pressure washing roofs made them look clean, damage was occurring on the roofs. Pressure cleaning machines can only be turned down so far and still accomplish roof cleaning and any amount of pressure, even as low a setting as 200 psi { 200 psi won't clean a roof, it takes a minimum of 600 psi to accomplish that and it would take a very long time! }
{ 3000 to 4000 psi is what most pressure cleaning contractors use }
Even if 200psi would work, will still remove around 15-20% of the granules that make up the color and protection of your shingle roof per cleaning.
Ugly black algae, left in place on the roof, eats around those granules and the rain removes them. Still eventually destroying the roof and spoiling it's appearance and resale value. With tile roofs, pressure removes the glazing many tile roofs come with. Pressure also blows pieces of cement that hold the ridge-caps in place off into space! If your tile roof is painted, pressure will blow portions of paint off all over the roof, leaving it in need of an expensive paint job!
I started out strictly as a Pressure washing Company! So, what to do?
In 1991 I started developing a system to clean roofs without using pressure.
Now these roof cleaning systems are available for purchase commercially. Even some of these "Non Pressure" systems are what I consider overkill, so I have tried them all and settled on what I consider the best for my customers. Some are designed to do a roof very quickly, using 7 gallon per minute pumps on up! Others [because they are inexpensive] very slowly- 1 gpm pumps. I am in the middle and pleased with my results with a system of 3 gpm output. I want the cleaning solution to remain on the roof, not to run off the roof or into the gutters.
If you would like your roof restored [most of the time to 90% like new!] using only the methods suggested by your roofing manufacturer, call us for a free estimate! We have been a father and son ONLY business since 1994-so you will always get a professional and never get a crew or a new guy in training on your property!
Meant to add this video of us cleaning a tile roof:
Here is a 2 minute video and you can watch a large portion of this blackened tile roof come clean before your eyes. http://www.tubechop.com/watch/474113
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Serving Englewood Rotonda North Port Cape Haze Venice Port Charlotte Punta Gorda Boca Grande Charlotte and Southern Sarasota Counties in Florida.
I just noticed recently, that many of the links I have on my website, were now dead. I researched how the roofing manufacturers say to mix a cleaning solution and apply it and have new links. Now, to go through the ordeal of changing them on my website! Here they are:
"If a new roof is not an option, GAF recommends cleaning the roof with a special mixture. That mixture is:" 'bleach and TSP'
"What NOT To Do! Do not power wash the shingles to clean the shingles. Some roof cleaning companies offer this service. However, it is not recommended."
From ARMA roofing manufacturers Association-how to clean roofing.
"Algae discolorations to remove from roofing surfaces, applying a solution of chlorine bleach, trisodium phosphate, and water. Solutions for these ingredients depend on the amount of discoloration. Solutions range to one cup TSP and 2.5 gallons each of bleach and water. Caution! High pressure washing systems for algae removal should not be used."
From Owens Corning Roofing Manufacturers :
"USE CHLORINE and TSP" "DO NOT USE A PRESSURE WASHER"
This one from the ARMA says not to allow anyone to apply any *after coating* such as Algaecides, Fungicides, Copper, Zinc, or other Roof treatments - not anything!
Bergman Roof Cleaning Port Charlotte FL 941-698-1959 wrote:
I just noticed recently, that many of the links I have on my website, were now dead. I researched how the roofing manufacturers say to mix a cleaning solution and apply it and have new links. Now, to go through the ordeal of changing them on my website! Here they are:
I had a link from the ARMA that said "After coatings have not proven to be of any benefit" Plus more warnings about using such "field coatings" on shingled roofs.
I would like to locate a link to that?
Mine went dead? Coatings like Roof-A you know" Because I have a local competitor, whom I started [the original owner, John Hoover] in business back 18 or more years ago. The new owners push these coatings. They are strictly pressure washers and do not clean roofs as we do. If you read a Roof-YouKnow" ad, you will see they actually offer nothing, because the application of, what I assume is copper sulfate? Is only guaranteed 2 years. Most roof I clean last twice that long, with no coatings added.
Anyone know of a link to a statement about the danger, or lack of functionality of such "After Coatings"??
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Serving Englewood Rotonda North Port Cape Haze Venice Port Charlotte Punta Gorda Boca Grande Charlotte and Southern Sarasota Counties in Florida.