Well then. Today was the first day as a somewhat professional pressure washer. I have been researching pretty heavily for some time now and amassing the things I thought i would need for success. Here is a blow by blow of what happened.
I have two friends who happen to be next door neighbors so I offered my services at a discount for before/after photos as well as experience. One wanted their metal roof cleaned. The other wanted their concrete driveway cleaned. I decided to start with the roof as it was going to be a S___T show. It did not disappoint.
I load up my little 5.5ft bed f-150 and try my best to not look like a 99$ guy.
It was covered in pine needles and a lot of black, gross stuff. I think thats the technical term 
Ok, so everything is blown and free of debris. Time to start washing. the house was around 1500sq ft. It was in the high 40s. I didnt use my 12v setup because im an idiot i guess. I went the xjet ORIGINAL route and oh what a pain in the butt. wowzers. I ended up blowing through 21 gallons of bleach on this bad boy hitting with a mix of approx 2.88% wide open with the xjet. I coat the roof a few times letting it dwell and good news. some stuff is changing color. Its still slimier then ever though. I am working from a ladder because id like to not die…at least on my first day…
Heres what im looking at as I am starting…
Half the gutters on this guys house are absolutely full. The other half are not even attached. The pitch of this roof made water/chemical just launch right past the gutter line and all over me/driveway. I am disgusting like 3.4 seconds into this and it doesnt get any better.
I hit the stuff several times with the mix. A lot has cleaned up with rinsing but theres a lot thats not budging at all. I have to get close to it and hit it with pressure and that seems like a no no. so heres a question for you guys. Do i let that sit, and will rain/the elements deal with that over time? I know on shingles you do, but i was unsure with these. I decided to rinse as much as i can and clean it up manually as best i can without shooting water up into vents and where the metal overlaps. I lost 2 countem’ 2 rinsing tips because im a dummy who cant make sure to doublecheck they are seated correctly. luckily they werent pointed at windows but now i need to re order some as those ones i had flew probably up to the moon.
From beginning of cleaning to finish is like 5 hours. This roof is not perfectly done. I feel like i might need to get up and hit it from above to clean off the rest of the stuff. I did as best as i could for the day and feel like its Joe 0 Roof 1. I feel like there was more than just algae there and it was a much bigger job than anticipated. In a perfect world i would throw that xjet right in the trash and go 12v and hit everything with a hotter mix. Or not do metal roofs. The jury is still out on that one. Heres what it looks like after im done. These before and after pictures suck so i apologize in advance.
After this i head next door to my buddies house who would like a cleaned driveway. This is my first time using a surface cleaner and wowee…this is kind of fun. Much less curveballs being thrown at me with this. I pre treat with 2.88% using that xjet. Have I mentioned i hate this thing? yikes.
This driveway has definitely seen better days but good news is its older than 2 years and i dont have to worry about any cream being left. hahah. I am taking it real easy as theres some exposed aggregate.
I do the outer edge first and then do horizontal lines back and forth just like @Racer showed in his youtube video. Forward on line, backwards on line. It cleans up quite well in my opinion. My opinion isnt worth much but its all i have to give.
I post treat with 2.88% and knock on the door to grab a beer. I feel like ive earned it. I spent 7 hours total on 2 jobs and then packed everything up and headed home.
I feel ashamed to admit that i did a less than stellar job on that roof. I feel like im going to need to take another crack at it in the future. It looks a million times better but i dont think it would be as good as any of your guys’s. I also feel pretty beat up. Backs on fire and shoulders are a little tired. Im sure that will go away with more practice but all in all i feel like this was quite a learning experience and i am glad that i got out there and got some experience. Also glad that these are my friends not customers and are only paying for the materials i used.
