I had a fellow Realtor in my office ask me about doing roof cleaning. A house she has listed (her in-laws) had a couple complaints about the roof being bad. It was pretty stained but still has probably another 7-10 years life in it. Anyhow, I told her I would try to help her out as it was a 4/12 walkable roof (2300 sq ft ranch) and I didn’t have a lot going on but I’d have to wait until it warmed up a bit. She had a quote of $600 from someone else and I’m thinking 1) help out a fellow agent. 2) get my feet wet and learn. 3) make a little extra money before the end of the year if possible. Well, the weather warmed up to upper 40’s to mid 50’s for two days and I tackled it. I walked this and sprayed it with a 2 gallon sprayer (Never again) mixing 50/50 with 12.5% and about 2 ounces of Cling On. Roof turned out nice and the home owner was happy. I asked her how $450 sounded and she gave me $500. Not the greatest pay for about 8 hours of work and 20 trips up and down a ladder but I learned.
I am looking around at 12V systems and will probably put that paycheck straight towards it. I am a bit leery of dumping too much into a system at first as I don’t have a good feel for what my local market’s demands are yet. I see a ton of houses with roofs that need cleaned and my hopes are to network with other agents and let them help sell my services to their clients. My business name is Better Curb Appeal and I chose that for a reason. I have seen far too many properties that need Better Curb Appeal before they should be listed for sale. It helps immensely via the pictures that are posted in the MLS and when a potential buyer pulls up to the property. It’s the first impression a buyer gets.
I have been searching here but one concern I have that I don’t think I’ve seen is over spray onto the house itself. Can a 5-6% mixture do damage to vinyl? I’m talking more about hitting a roof that has a wall of vinyl beside it going to the next story. I am aware of having a ground guy to keep from killing plants and collecting runoff if needed. Also, for those who clean roofs, what do you typically up-charge for rust stains around chimneys?
$450 for that roof was perfect - normally about $.20/ft for those. With a regular 12v system that would have been about a 45 min job.
You just have to be careful spraying when you have adjoining siding. Vinyl not so much as like stained wood. You can prewet the siding, then after roof has dwelled about 10 min rinse the siding. But just be careful when spraying, use a very narrow easy stream and try to shoot parallel with siding. May get a little bounce spray on it, but shouldn’t be much. Common problem with dormers too. You’ll figure it out. Plus you don’t really need to be that strong unless really cold. 5% max I go and most the the time it’s 4% or less.
Adding Roof washing doubled our profits this year easily. Best 1600 dollars I ever spent. Cheaper systems are everywhere but the bandits trailer footprint sold it for me. Plus a turnkey system made it well worth the added expense. Especially since I have a very limited understanding of the overall system. Made it easier for me to learn the overall concept having a fully assembled product.
Yeah, I was figuring pre-wetting to help out. Thanks for the input. I would love to tackle that job in 45min. I wasn’t sure on the % due to the colder weather. I still had to hit a few spots a second time.
Thanks. I have considered the Bandit system. Greetings from Newark, OH.
Not too far off from us in Youngstown. Pressureteks an hour north on the outskirts of Cleveland so if you call ahead and arrange it you can save yourself 200 bucks in shipping!
You’re not far from Mid-Ohio raceway in Mansfield. One of my favorite top 3 tracks
I’ve asked Bob at Pressuretek about picking up product as I come thru that area weekly.
He said no go!
But he ships like lightning!
I can place an order today and it’ll be on my porch next day!
Never more then 2 days!
I know some stuff is direct shipped and they are super busy, but since they build the bandit in house I think they will allow it. Maybe something has changed since last year though.
Wv/Pa/Oh border.
I contacted Bob this summer about picking stuff up as I frequently come thru the area. He said no go. Maybe for big stuff you can I’m not sure. I got a no.
Bob’s place isn’t set up for customers. One side is a custom gym he had built. You can’t pick up anything there, large or small. His old shop was full of hot rods but they didn’t make the move to the new place. Plus the Laidback guy is kinda a jerk so no one would probably want him showing up at their place of business.
Do it! Roof washing is one of those niche markets that many don’t know is a possibility. I started in business by cleaning mine and several neighbors roofs first to gain some before and after photos for relatively cheap, using the same pump sprayer method (ugghh). I built my first soft wash system for less than $500 total. 5.3 gpm 12 volt pump, marine battery, 200’ chemical hose, wand with Jrod and craigslist tank. Getting connections from realtors has been helpful. I did a mildew removal job one time in a garage for a realtor and was able to use them to network and gain business to their clients. Best of luck to you!
Hey all 
So is the bandit the go-to starter machine? I know you can build your own, but the turnkey solution appeals to me too.
Merry Christmas!
I like the Gen 3 because it’s a dual pump system. I use one to transfer and one to work with always having a back up
I agree with Kenny. If I was going to buy one then I’d go with the Gen 2 or 3 from pws. I like the backup.
Can you link to the specific one you mean please?
Thanks!
