The roof came out great after a few rains. But I killed two bushes. This is where most of the runoff(very little) was going. I had a guy rinsing a heck of a lot. Next time if they are hardy bushes I’ll try covering them and diverting it, or even bagging it. I’m think that it could have been killed from the salt being rinsed down after drying. The house didn’t have gutters so the runoff was just going to the natural area of the folds in the roof. I did order and receive the plant wash so hopefully it will help as well. This customer was also a friend so it was no biggie, I just told him to take $50 off for the bushes. With normal customers I plan to inform them that while every precaution will be taken there is still a risk that some dead vegetation will happen.
The bush in lower pic doesn’t look dead, just cut back the dead leaves. However, if you have a valley in roof where you know a lot of runoff going to happen, you’ve got to tarp those areas. Your ground guy didn’t do you any favors, those dead leaves from the mix, not salt. You’ve got to prewet and then really rinse, not just mist them. You’ve got to knock the mix which has a sticky surfactant off of them. So spray them pretty darn hard.
This makes a lot of sense regarding the heavier rinsing of the shrubs and the viscosity of the roof mix. I didn’t tarp these areas, in retrospect I should have. I still have some concerns about the less hardy plants such as vincas, tarping or even too much pressure spraying may harm them. I’m thinking it will be best just to warn the customer there will be a small chance of this happening. I’m going to take all of this advice and try my best not to. I have one coming up this week but it has gutters. Thanks again for the advisement
This is my worst fear about adding roof cleaning and not having gutters, 80%+ in my area houses do not have gutters.
In this situation are you just clamping a tarp to the roof and using it as a run off shoot to a 5gal bucket etc?
Searching and looking for videos online for roof cleaning no gutters is a rare find.
No, just lay them over plants. Prewet them to keep cool in summer and soak ground well. Typically not enough runoff to actually kill plants unless you have way too much, you’re trying to keep mix off the leaves. In summer, don’t leave tarps or even light plastic on too long or heat will get them
Thanks racer, I have bought the 12v pump just need to install and talk to lots of family members for practice. I know it will have its purpose expessialy for post treating flatwork.
Most of the roofs i clean dont have gutters either. I consider the doing the tarp/run off slid to a bucket, but most of the house’s aren’t square boxes so i would spend more time clamping and getting every side set up than cleaning. You just have to practice and learn how to “mist” the roof so you get less runs. I try to walk every roof i can so im not using a shooter nozzle which creates “puddles” which will then run.
Also get Beach Umbrellas to protect plants. It will keep the direct SH off of them, but not suffocate them with heat.
That’s a great idea. What type of nozzle do you use? I’m using the gun and j rod that came with the kit. I walked this roof, and thought I had very little run off. It was just in these two areas I had more then a few drops. I think racer nailed it. Should have rinses better with higher pressure. The roof was so bad that I basically had to do it twice. They added onto the house so some of it was new shingle and some was very old and black. It was about 75% dry for the second pass. It matches now so they’re happy with the job.
The nozzle i use wont help you much unless we had the same set up. I just use 25, 40 and 60 degree fan patterns with small orifices. The ones that come with the roof set ups are for max flow most of the time with the largest orifices. If you are using a 12V set up that does not have an accumulator then nozzling down can burn out the pump faster. Just buy a few nozzles and see which ones work best for you.
Most of the roofs i do i have to re-apply in certain areas and i like using a hot mix.
Lol… those umbrellas are an awesome idea
Don’t no why x jet doesn’t work for you or a hot enough mix. It gets almost 50/50 mix. I use for applying chemicle not rinsing. Works great for me.
Hey @Racer , or anyone else. How long will it take for the SH sprayed on the roof to turn into salt? I’m concerned about rain today and I have a roof to do. I have a 4 hour window according to the Forecast. Does the chemical reaction take place as soon as it’s dry?
You’ll be fine. that’s actually perfect. Should only take about 5-10 min for mix to work. Nice rain will do your rinse for you. The SH starts evaporating pretty quick if it’s hot. Throw down a couple of handfulls of gypsum pellets at downspouts if not piped off or they come out near anything. Just pre-water pretty heavy near them before you start.
I also have the plant wash. Should I apply it near the down spouts as well?
That’s more for overspray and protecting the grass and leaves
The roof came out great. I’m anxiously waiting until next week to see if anything is going to be dead. Followed all the rules and feel good about this one. Gypsum around gutter spouts, plant wash on landscape, used a different tip to get a good mist. I only used 13 gallons on the roof this time around. Last roof I used 17 for 1/2 of the roof. Fingers crossed. Thanks for all of the pointers
What do you mean by using a tank with a direct drive?
Don’t really understand the question
Are you saying one should not use a bigger tank with a direct drive?
