I live in a townhouse community. Since I am starting a PW business, I thought I would ask who currently washes this place since I have lived here 2 years and have never seen anyone out here doing it.
They do not have anyone scheduled for it and had (3) questions for me:
Roof washing? How do you do this? I wouldn’t want any heavy chemicals like bleach or chlorine used. It would have to be a softwash method using a biocide or alegecide that is safe to use on roofs.
Cleaning of driveways and walkways. I would want a product included that is similar to wet n forget. I find that the concrete stays cleaner longer when this product is used.
Cleaning of exterior shell of bldgs.
I think I can handle numbers 2 and 3 just fine.
I have a 8 GPM unit on the way and have everything ready to go as soon as it is ready for pickup.
I also have a Classic Whisper wash surface cleaner.
I have 5 gallons of slo mo and can get 12% SH (for the building exteriors down streaming).
Tell him that the active chemical in wet-n-forget is still a chloride. Benzalkonium chloride, to be exact, and it carries the same hazard warnings as SH but is less effective. Then walk
If you’ve never washed anything, I’d tell him, “Give me 3-6 months to get a good system down and my feet planted. Then I’ll contact you.” Right now it seems you only know slightly more than him. You want to know way more than him before you try to get the contract especially if he thinks he knows as much as you.
Not sure your level of experience with roofs or this forum but it sounds like you said your just starting out, I would do a deep dive into roof cleaning (on here) if I were you and dig up some solid knowledge on the topic before trying to sell him on the reasoning behind using SH, there’s a reason it Is the gold standard in our industry
Couldn’t agree more with @qons aswell. If your desperate for work maybe offer to just do concrete and building and save roofs for next year. Roofs aren’t something that you should jump right into as you can hurt vegatation and yourself working on a roof of that height, you will also need a separate 12v system just to get the roof done, if you end up doing concrete your gonna want to post treat aswell to achieve professional level results
I would have informed him that SH is the only chem specifically approved by most roofing manufacturers for cleaning their roofs. And that the guy who actually owns the trademark on the word “SoftWash”, has built a national franchise off of teaching people to use Bleach/Chlorine on roofs and other outdoor surfaces. In my research, SH breaks down much more quickly and has less potential environmental impact than Wet & Forget and similar slow-acting formulas.
But I agree with previous posters, that you would do well to learn more, and gain some experience before tackling roofs.
Love all the little bits of knowledge I get out of reading here everyday. I’ve had customers swear by wet & forget and scoff at you when you mention bleach
dude hit the nail on the head when describing bleach
