I cleaned a roof for a client about a week ago everything went great and I thoroughly rinsed the roof. The client called me saying that the roof foamed up the first time it rained. Is this normal or could the runoff damage anything? I used 10.5% sh in a 30 gallon Chem tank 10 gallons of sh 20 gallons of water and about 10 oz of dawn dish soap. I’m new to this so it’s only my 5th roof job. Any input would be greatly appreciated
That’s a pretty weak mix. If you rinsed even half of it off there is no way you will have any issues. We usually don’t rinse and even then it’s somewhat rare to have issues. We’ve started to put some gypsum pellets at the downspouts to help neutralize the runoff just in case there is a light rain. Adds about $2 to our costs each job I think.
What mix do you normally use? I noticed on the shady side of the house my mix didn’t do much. On the sunny side it brightened right up. Any tips on that? Where do you get the pellets? Thanks for the reply
Another question what do people mean when they talk about bagging gutters? I’m very new to this and trying to learn the best method
Home Depot, Lowes, etc on pellets - usually come in a bag, just get a 5 gal bucket with lid to carry on trailer.
3-3.5% mix is fine unless really dirty. Even then 3.5 usually enough, but may need to hit twice or more or go to stronger mix. Give it a little time in between, 10 min or so. Was probably dirtier on shady side. Let it sit for a little while stand back and look at. Still dirty just just hit it again. I tend to go a little weaker than some because usually for most homes that will be fine for a big portion of roof if asphalt shingles.
Bagging just what it says. Get some heavy duty garbage bags and tie around gutter downspouts. Be careful though, can get too heavy and tear bag if you have too much runoff, which you shouldn’t have. If you’re going to rinse, don’t worry about bagging rinse water, will be diluted enough if you prewet and rinsed plants, just capture your mix runoff. If you’re going to use bags, may want to get a roll around plastic trash can, dump bags in there and then roll to someplace you can dump. That way don’t have to worry about tearing bag trying to drag across yard. But if you get your technique right, really should be too much runoff per gutter. Or you can get a couple of rolls of this and just extend to some place safe - https://www.rainguardusa.com/downspout-extension-tubing/50ft-extension-tubing/rainguard-50ft-extension-tubing-green.html
Would also strongly suggest a real surfactant for roofs instead of dawn. About as cheap. Something like roof snot or green wash. if you want to use something you can buy local get some Arm and Hammer with oxi clean laundry detergent. About $8 gal anywhere and put about 2 cups per 50 gal of mix if hot day, more if cooler. Laundry detergent doesn’t bubble up like Dawn and is made to mix with bleach.
I always tell customers that when it rains it help reactivate the cleaning, they love seeing suds come out of downspout after a rain.
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Aaron,
Here’s a video I put together covering how I protect lawns and landscape on a house with gutters.
The tubing can be found here @ Poly Tube
I use 6 mil 14" which as you’ll see in the video is way overkill for diverting gutters, but I have other uses for the poly tube too. It is reusable just roll it up and store it. I usually use mine a couple of times then trash it as it’s kinda funky and messy to deal with. My clients love seeing me take the extra step and it doesn’t add much cost or time so for me it’s a win even if not needed.
I appreciate the info and I will definitely check into the surfactants and industrial SH I just didn’t wanna buy in bulk and invest too much until I knew for sure it’s something I wanna add to my list of services. With the gypsum pellets you just put a small pile right under the gutters or do you spread it all over the ground in the general area?
I watched the video, that’s a pretty safe way to do it. I will definitely try that for homes with expensive plants. I appreciate the tip
Usually just spread some around where runoff is going to go, little heavier right around downspout. The gypsum helps neutralize the salt leaching into soil. I usually spread it out right before I do my final rinse of the plants that way it has some time to start dissolving. But I don’t use it all that much except maybe where you have a gutter that catches a lot of the roof… Just pre-water and learn to spray and you really won’t have a lot of runoff if you don’t rinse.
