just built a roof pump,now what?

OK I know the machine is crude. thats a given, but before i drop some serious cash i want to experience the roof cleaning first hand. If i like it i will upgrade to a better system with the quickness.

Assuming i get this roof job,

I figured i would start with 50 gallons of the apple mix for this roof. there is a 2 car garage roof that cant be seen and i will get a better idea of how much that will take after i do the house roof.

I priced both roofs at $700.00

This is a relativly easy roof to acsess because of the flat roof behind the sloped one that is visible.

Unlike most posts that i have read the roof cleaners in my area are almost nill.

I may need to raise my price, i may need to lower it I wont know until i do it.

saftey first

what would this roof sell for in YOUR market?

Thanks for looking

Steven, thats a great roof to start out on. Pricing seems to be in line. Not sure, in fact, I know I wouldn't go to the trouble of mixing up the Apple mix per se. For a 50 gallon mix I would mix up 15 gallons of SH, 35 gallons of water and 32 ounces of roof snot. The Roof Snot is the best I have found a helping the mix stick to the roof, and one that has steep like that and no gutters you will definitely want to keep all the mix on the roof you can.

Thank you for taking the time to respond

Roof snot , check ( ordering tonight )
15 sh/ 35 h2o check

My only problem falls with the sh. at $4.25 a gallon and thats at 100 gallons ordered. I will need to search some more and come up with a better price. but if i can't then my numbers may need to be adjusted.

after i do a roof or two and a tweek here and a tweek there I will get a better feel for the $$$$ figures. I quoted this one a little high because of the inexperience and to not leave myself short .

I will be checking back with several h/o's the middle of next week. I have a good feeling about this.

again thanks Doug now i feel better yahooo rock and roll

Yes, 4.25 a gallon is high, BUT, you should not need to use more than one 50 gallon mix on that roof, front and back. The key is spraying correctly and not FLOODING the roof. A Nice even coat just so it is wet and allow it to sit at least 15 to 20 minutes between applications. Remember, "if it's wet, it's still cleaning"
You may need 3 even a 4th application to get that roof totally clean. Feel free to call me at anytime if I can help you, even when your at the job site.

TAKE LOTS OF PICS, especially the landscape, so as not to get blamed for any pre existing damaged plants.

thanks Doug,

just ordered the roof snot. 5 gallons, so far i think i have everything in place, chemicals, machines running good, advertisements, brochures, web site, insurances, ppe, etc etc. just need to puond the streets and the doors. cold call, sell, sell, sell, I have a couple jobs lined up but would love to get some roofs done also.

one more question, out of curiosity how many hits does your website get a day? i average 15

thanks again

just make sure to catch the runoff if it spills flood the area for a while and for first couple of roofs bring some miracle grow could come in handy. depending on the ends of the gutters you could use garbage bags or those extendable bendy gutter catches .

Excellent advice brad.

I did a roof at a restaurant and i needed to catch the greasy run off. I was in lowes and found "THE BAGSTER" it's put out by waste manegment.it is meant for demolition refuse but i bought one to use for the runofff. they work great. they will last forever and were only 30 bucks. check em out.
as always thanks

First of all, your set-up looks just fine. How many gpm's is that pump? You don't want too many or you will create too much runoff. I would recommend that you have jumper cables handy - in case the battery dies.

For anyone that has never washed a roof with what I call "3 dimensional fungus", you must warn the homeowner that, even though you will "kill" it, it will still be there! Moss/lichen have roots, unlike the black streaks of algae that are usually the reason the phone rings, and will turn white - but it can take several rains to rinse the roof clean. The homeowner must be prepared for this, or they will not be happy! I always explain the "roots" issue as the reason not to use any pressure to coax the stuff off the roof. That roof will look great, but in all likelihood, it will look worse at first.

This roof does not have gutters - at least not in front - so you will want to not only flood the shrubs with water, but cover them when spraying the roof. Your roof mix is toxic to plant life - and the hotter the mix (and the hotter the air temp too!) the faster the damage will be done. If there are any downspouts, you can zip-tie a trash bag to the end to catch runoff. (There is a product you can buy that will neutralize the chlorine, and I'll post it when I remember. LOL) Remember, any residue will runoff the next morning if there is a heavy dew, so especially on houses without gutters, you have to take extra precautions.

Finally (?), safety. Roofs are slippery when wet. Even more so when coated with roof wash mix and even MORE slippery when there is 3 dimensional fungus + steep pitch. Please be safe. Also, a respirator will come in handy - especially on really hot days. The fumes can be pretty bad. I also highly recommend a ladder stabilizer. Not only will this keep the ladder in position, it will prevent you from damaging the gutters/shingles.

Be safe, make some money!

John

P.S. My phone is always on!

Doug Rucker said:

Yes, 4.25 a gallon is high, BUT, you should not need to use more than one 50 gallon mix on that roof, front and back. The key is spraying correctly and not FLOODING the roof. A Nice even coat just so it is wet and allow it to sit at least 15 to 20 minutes between applications. Remember, "if it's wet, it's still cleaning"
You may need 3 even a 4th application to get that roof totally clean. Feel free to call me at anytime if I can help you, even when your at the job site.

TAKE LOTS OF PICS, especially the landscape, so as not to get blamed for any pre existing damaged plants.

Click to expand...

\

Yahooo, I did get A roof job but its a couple of weeks out.

but Doug, couple more questions if i may, you stated that i may need to do a few applications, thats fine with me but would i rinse in between applications? and second, on the final application there is no rinsing? I should leave the final application, allow it to work until it rains and let mother nature rinse for me?
I have been banging my head trying to figure out how a trash bag is going to hold all the rinse water

Thank you to all.

junker1 said:

\

Yahooo, I did get A roof job but its a couple of weeks out.

but Doug, couple more questions if i may, you stated that i may need to do a few applications, thats fine with me but would i rinse in between applications? and second, on the final application there is no rinsing? I should leave the final application, allow it to work until it rains and let mother nature rinse for me?
I have been banging my head trying to figure out how a trash bag is going to hold all the rinse water

Thank you to all.

Click to expand...

I do not rinse in between applications or on the final. You must tell your customer to run their sprinkler system immediately after the first two rains or heavy, dew. Especially if there are no gutters and a row of shrubs under the drip line.

A trash bag will hold the run off as long as you are spraying correctly and not flooding the roof. I never have more than a gallon run off of any shingle roof. Instead of using bags I use this.

Doug is giving you some very good advice!
Tell us about the job when it's done and how it goes.

You should also get a lawn sign and ask to leave it there for a week cause I'm sure neighbors will notice the difference and you don't want them to assume its a new roof.