Searched and read that some guys carry 55 gallons and some say just carry 5 gallons of SH. Set up is coming along for my F350 with 8’ Bed. Pressure washer is a new 4HP 4400 and 150 Buffer tank cause of the price I got used. I bought the Patera valves to build a proportioner as my plans were to do it right the 1st time. Maybe a mistake dont know…I’ll be starting with driveway cleaning and roof cleaning while I learn on the job and the internet. Can you please recommend a size to go with if I were to use a mix manifold and or a min tank size for SH/Surfactant Combo? Another question is how many gallons will it take to soft wash say the roof of a 2000 Sq ft home? Thanks everyone and exciting to get my business going.
I think you’re putting the cart before the horse, there’s a lot to unpack but all I can offer is roof washing is more for advanced professionals with proper insurance. Might want to start with basic house and concrete washing.
If you’re referring to the Pentair valves, send them back they are hot garbage.
It’s my 5th year doing this and I’m still not confident I could do a proper roof wash despite having the equipment.
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What you carry is going to depend on what you have for transport and what you’re washing. What you’re washing will dictate how much SH (max) you’d need in a day, what your transport is will possibly limit that amount based on weight limits. If you’re offering all typical services, I’d say 55 is the minimum. If I recall DOT limits you to somewhere around 119 gallons based on typical ratios.
I just bought as much SH to pick up in Washington while I drive through ane they would only let me take less than 1000lbs of SH without a placard so that was 2 53 gallon drums only filled to approx 48 gallons if that helps
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That’s a trip right there.
Doing mostly house wash jobs, 50 gallon tank of SH is enough 99.98% of the time for me.
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I’d say if you can safely transport a drum of bleach at all times then I don’t know why you would carry any less.
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Starting out batch mixing is the easiest. Even just filling a 5 gallon bucket with your mix. I carry straight SH and add my surfactant to it and pull from it with a pentair valve. I’ve had great success with the pentair but I replace them once a year no matter their condition.
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As a batch mixer myself, I usually carry a 15 gallon drum mixed up that I draw from. That’ll get me 2-3 houses typically depending on the size of each home. I’ll often times carry a 5 gallon bucket of straight SH in the event I need to throw something stronger on a surface or in the event I need to make up another batch in the field. If I plan on on doing an asphalt roof I usually carry another 15 gallon drum to get me through the job.
But I’m just a small part-time guy who does 100-125 washes a year working with just one washing machine. I’m not set up to be streamlined and efficient like most of the folks here are.
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