Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

As a rule we do NOT rinse. But rules are made to be broken,..so with that said,..I can't check off any of the choices.

If we are working for a realtor and the roof is gray, has very bad staining and they need it COMPLETED by the weekend,..then we rinse,..doesn't happen that often.

If we are cleaning any gray shingle roof with really bad staining,..we will spray multiple light applications to kill the mold,..sometimes though on gray there will still be a brown haze on the spots that were really bad. No shame in that,..after all we just killed something so there's bound to be a brown patch of dead stuff left behind. Many times the flow of the product will pull most of it off, which is why I don't like a soapy mix..but really bad spots can leave a patch of brown no matter what.. Then we will rinse the heavy spots and blend it with the rest so be residual o there aren't eye catching patches of brown haze.

If the customer is a really hot chic and I'm trying to be on the job longer than need be. Plus I'll do her concrete at no charge.

And finally, if I feel like it,..and that's not very often neither.

Jeff

I've tried it both ways. I've played with my mix and made it stronger and weaker. In the end I now rinse all.

Honestly it's the one area of this business I just don't get. I have watched others (via video and in person) spray a roof and their mix drips off the roof without a care........when the're done they go into the rinse the plants and grass mode and no worries. If I allow any mix at all to drip off, without my ground guy spraying it, I end up with burned grass and plants.

I thought my mix was too strong so I toned it done. Sprayed.......waited.......waited....waited (I'm not patient at all) and the streaks remained. I then sprayed 3, 4 and five coats to get the desired results.

Now I spray a light coat at the edges and go heavier elsewhere and I rinse. I rinse because stuff dies if I don't.......maybe it's just the humidity here???? but if I do not rinse......gutters or not......stuff dies.

If they have rain gutters I am sure to end up with dead grass at the downspouts if I don't do two things.
#1. I bag the gutters.
#2. I rinse at least the first 5 feet.

I do think the heat has been my biggest problem this year. The mix is insta heated to 170000000 degrees when it hits the roof so any roll off is an insta kill on anything it hits.

I rinse.

Do roofs in the morning if possible. Calm air and the Sun isn't blazing as much. It also allows the mix to stay wet longer.

Jeff

Our official policy is to not rinse unless they request. Then we charge for it. We tell them it will immediately look 10 to 15% cleaner. Sometimes I just go ahead and rinse where I know it will make a big difference or it is an area that is very visible.
We always do multiple light quotes but that doesn't equate to not needing to rinse. The brown haze of the dead bacteria is always there to some degree unless we rinse. Another reason we will decide to rinse is that in the summers we commonly go moths without rain. I don't like the idea of leaving it looking like that considering what I charge.

Rinse .
A have just left a bit to the rain also .on my last job CBA standing on the opposite ridge on a friday night ..
but will have to rinse as a compete with peoples ideas of pressure washing a roof clean for peanuts over here .
HO .are getting wiser slowly .about pressure washing a roof .The damage and mess they cause is helping my buisness .pick up

We rinse cedar, slate and metal. We do not rinse asphalt unless there are no gutters and around here 95% of the homes have gutters.

waxman18324 wrote:

---

Are these posts and poll view-able by the general public/non members?

Hank

---

 You need to vote before you can see them and you need to be a member to vote

waxman18324 wrote:

---

Thanks Art. I'll hold off as one of my competitors is a member here and I'm not looking to share my methods with him.

Hank

---

 Who?

I sent you one back

Admin wrote:

---

Google Bot just hit this thread 3 times

---

 Good to know Google likes us!