When I started my business 20 years ago I used a pump up sprayer. It will take forever and wear your arm out. Ditch the injector idea as it will not clean a roof with a lot of mold on it. Use a 40% SH & 60 % H2O mix of 12.5% SH and add a little surfactant to break the surface tension (I use ammonyx Lo but liguid soap will do in a pinch.
There is no way I would go back to a pump up sprayer now. I am spoiled on a 1" AOD pump. It rocks.
For small roofs I would use a 2.1 gpm ShurFlow pump. They can be bought from PaulB (717) 738-7350 Shurflo model 8007-594-838.
No need to apologize about being blunt and I couldnāt agree with you more. I told the client that I donāt do roofs because Iām not geared for it currently. He knows Iām more set up for detailing vehicles and I plug my holes with the stuff I can āhandleā such as driveways, gutters, soffits, and exterior walls. However he has made it clear to me that he wants me to do my best on it because heās been working with me on the detailing end of stuff for some time now. I guess it cause down to a comfort/trust issue. Iām just trying to make sure it comes out that it can with what I have. I enjoy the pressure cleaning enough that I plan on dropping the detailing end and going full blown pressure cleaning as soon as I have the funds to be appropriately set up for it.
It came of great! I bought a 3 gpm shurflow pump, 150ā polybraid hose and used a 60/40 mixture with some Ajax soap. 2 hours I was done and Mother Nature provided a torrential downpour for about 2 hours after I finished spraying it. Went back the next day and it looked brand new.
I can appreciate this comment. Iām in the same boat as @Mizzle trying to figure out the roof process on a budget or simply making the transition from amateur to professional. Instead of people trying to help like yourself, I get people who try and insult my equipment and motives. Itās the people like you that help.
Always do your first job on your own house first, I found a few houses that where going to be demolished and used them to train myself on when i first started.
Best to start of with a week mix and work up to a stronger mix.
Vinny if you ever have questions PM me. This thread was a little while ago and Iāve expanded soooo much since then. Iād say about 75% of my business last year was just roof cleaning. I went from working out the back of my truck with a 4 gpm machine to a trailer, with 2 machines, and much larger tanks for roof mix. Iām about to add a second 8 gpm machine and maybe a hot water unit after this upcoming season. Thereās some thing Iād do differently if I had to do it all over again but a lot I wouldnāt. First thing is donāt dig yourself into a hole. I paid for everything cash. If I didnāt have the money for it then I didnāt get it. That way if something breaks you didnāt feel like all your income went to payments and repairs. But the biggest thing is figure out the pricing in your area! Donāt low ball because those prices you set will be forever.
Miami Florida land of the refugee Cubans that do any job for %75 less then the job cost I see people in roofs with Ryobi 2gpm pressure washer and they have a pick up with
" Antonio prasurie washerie " signs on the side itās sickeningning
I donāt use Ajax anymore. My whole system has changed a TONNNNNN since I started this thread. I run commerical bleach stable surfactants now. Stuff like roof snot, slo mo, or some stuff I get locally.
