[James pryer]

Hi all,

Please can someone help me with my plan for softwashing using a hypo mix for roof cleaning. Am I on the right track? Are there any key and important bits I missed out? And pointers.

Any help would be great. Positive or negative

FOR SHINLE, SLATE, CLAY and CONCRETE ROOFS (not metal)

Inspect roof - check for broken/missing tiles. Holes in roof.

Cover/ move surrounding plants and vegetation. To stop hypo killing the plants and to collect any moss that will fall. Wet any vegetation you think might be affected by possible mist for hypo mix.

Use a set up of roof ladders and ladders to access the roof. If possible work of a mobile scaffold tower. -make sure secure and on flat even ground.

Block of drain pipes to prevent moss going into the drainage system.

Set up roof protection system. Harness attached to rope attached to a dead weight on the opposite side you are working on. If possible harness yourself the chimney. (Repeat steps when working on the other side of the roof). Scrape moss off in sections and move ladders when needed.

Scrape of any moss using a scraper, stiff broom or wire brush onto the sheets down below.

Remove blockages from drain pipes to allow a flow.

Spray hypo mix. 1 hypo 4 parts water for a medium covered moss and algae roof. and 1 part hypo and 3 parts water for heavy moss and algae roofs. Spray from top of roof to the gutters and not directly underneath the tiles. Work in sections.

Leave to soak for 20minutes. Then throughly rinse with water.

Spray hypo mix again for heavy moss and black spotted roofs. (Explain to customer lichen can take up to 4 months to drop off). And rinse with water.

Clean and rinse gutters.

Allow to dry before adding roof sealer.

Pack away tools and ladders. Tidy up fallen moss and leave how you found it. Water down all plants and grass in the surrounding area. As well as walls and windows. Clean windows.

———————————————————————————————————————

FOR CONCRETE roofs

Give the option of using Steam clean, biocide and then sealer. (Steam clean on a low psi).

[Smudger]

Dont  use the chimney - many are not strong enough to take a jolt of a falling human


Darran

[James pryer]

Thanks Darren for the tip.

But apart from that it’s seems okay plan?

Cheers

[Smudger]

Yes it’s okay if you want to work that way

Personally I think it’s outdated and dangerous and certainly won’t be getting the results you think you will - how long do you think it takes to scrape a roof using roof ladders ?

What price are you thinking of charging for all this time and effort ?

I think it’s great you plan to start roof cleaning and some interesting questions- however I see a patten that concerns me in that you are circling around the same ideas rather than look at a bigger better picture

Darran

[Smudger]

Here you go - nice and easy - bungalow - shallow pitch - both aspects heavily mossed  25ft across 45 foot long

How long - process - price

Darran

[James pryer]

Hi Darren,
Looks like you done a immaculate job!
 
As a team of 1
I would say it would take 5hrs to scrape this roof on one side using roof ladders and scraping by hand. And another 4hrs to to steam and seal the roof on one side. As these a concrete tiles I would steam. If they where clays tiles I would hypo wash them.

So at least 2days. 1.5 days if there was 2 of me.
And I would charge £500 for steam and £450 for hypo.
Am I in the right ball park?

And I’ve been told you can walk on contrete tiles (if not too old) on the edges.

If I had the money I would invest in purchasing a IPAF ticket/ cherry picker.
Also a electric rotary moss brush.
Which would save me a lot of time. But at the moment I don’t have the money to invest.

Thanks,
James

[Smudger]

Personally - wouldn't do any roof as a person of 1 - because id you slip or fall off the edge and your hanging off your lanyard who's going to rescue you ?

moss scrapping is an awful, long winded process and backbreaking - although everyone works a different speeds I doubt you would scrap off/ bag and remove that moss in under a day

so,

My question is why are you scraping (5hrs) then steaming (4 Hrs) ? - what's the sealing all about ?  - forget the scraping pressure wash or steam clean straight off
then a apply Hypo - this is max of an hour for the complete roof

mordern contete based tiles are fine to walk on - all over - we never ever walk on clay or slate ( even with roof ladders ) purely high access machinery

you are (for me) in the right ball park but got there with the wrong maths - if you see what I mean as your process is doing the same work twice over and time scale underestimated (scrapping)

this job took 1 guy 6 hrs to clean - pressure washing then hypo spray - he did have a second man there for safety and did all the clean up - washed the soffits, fascia and guttering

im not saying the exact price on the forum - because how I price is my business - not the publics but as a guide it was more than your total

I understand where you coming from - 10 years ago I started the window cleaning biz, not a penny to my name - but I did get out and canvas - before being made redundant so I knew my services I was offering were wanted - this is more important than having equipment etc.. you need to know you will get work and lots of it - that was the beauty of window cleaning the work repeats every month then you get a customer base and start to offer more services  TBH - if you haven't got £230 to get an IPAF cert then seriously think about starting this up as a biz.

here is an anadote for you:

When I started up the window cleaning the FIL decided to give up the building trade and start gutter vac'ing - he went out a spent 6k of the very best Omnivac system - top level with all the tools and generator - then sat there week after week - there was always an excuse why he didn't go you and canvass, or leaflet - he had adverts in the local magazines, newspaper etc.. but these brought in 1 job every 2 to 3 weeks -in the end I brought all that gear off him (at a fair price) because I had a base of customers I could sell the service to, its the same with roof cleaning - initially I could approach customers who needed roof cleaning before relying on advertising

you could have all the money you need, all great intentions to get out there and build an empire - but can you ? are you prepared to trapse many streets to drum up work -  be prepared for  roof cleaning biz to be going for at least a year before you really start to get a steady stream of work

As said - not putting down, but I don't want to see you go down a wrong path trying to survive when we may be able offer alternatives to help. you

Darran

[James pryer]

Cheers mate for the detailed response, really appreciate it and taking the time to do it. 

I mean if having a IPAF ticket and using cherry pickers save you that much time it’s a no brainier.

Yeah I am thinking of keeping my job on the rails and doing the roof cleaning/window cleaning on the side until my business picks up then can fully drop the rails industry.

Roof sealer - I thought after washing the roof you would then use a clear roof sealer. E.g one from smart seal. Or will cleaning the moss of then using hypo be enough? As a protection from moss as some boast about keeping it moss free for 10years.

So you would power wash on shingle roofs from a high access machine? What sort of pressure 120 bar? (To get the moss off)

Is there any roofs you wouldn’t power wash? Or just depends what the state of the roof is in?

Thanks - I am getting a much clearer picture of how roof cleaning is done now.

[Smudger]

Good God NO! - sealer is expensive and IMO a total waste of time -  it's messy and if you wind drift the coloured stuff it will be all over the neighbours cars and homes

We have pressure washed just about every type of roof tile - slate, clay, concrete, rosemary tiles, pantiles etc.. you just adjust the pressure to suit the job 80 - 140 Bar.

Shingle - as in modern rubber/felt pieces applied to a wood structure ? - yes we do a holiday park with these roofs but of course at the lower pressure range - even mineral felt roofs can be done with care

ALWAYS work from above - the biggest danger is water ingress but if you work from the top down water can not get under the leading edge of the tile

Keep away from cement/asbestos type roofs - very fragile and of course your entering serious H&S with what you can do and where to dispose of the waste - inc water

Darran

[James pryer]

Oh right fair enough thanks for that.

Sorry I didn’t mean shingle roofs I meant clay roof tiles.  And I can see from your reply you do jet wash clay roof tiles.

Yeah I’ve herd some awful stories about people that jet wash underneath tiles.

Think I’ve got a clearer picture in my head now how to tackle this. Thanks Darren for the tips and pointers.

James

[G & M]

We use a one ton rubble bag at either side of the house with four 25 ltr drums of water in each.  How  do you plan on getting someone down in the event of an accident?  We use proper climbing rope and gear, expensive but worth it with a built in rescue system.  Also the normal fall arrest harnesses are useless in my opinion because of the limited time you can survive in one while dangling off of a roof (several minutes) also extremely uncomfortable to hang in and you have to know how to deal with someone that has been dangling in one for a few minutes as the harness can cut off the circulation leading to toxins building up in the blood and cause death when the pressure is released  so we use tree surgeon harnesses which you can sit in comfortably.
We scrape the roofs and treat tile roofs with biocide.
 If you are power washing I would strongly advise having access to the loft/attic to check  regularly for  water ingress.  The channel of a tile could be broken and the moss could be keeping the water out. If the felt, presuming there is felt in the roof is damaged water can get in and cause a lot of damage. Definitely ask  the customer if there is felt in the roof or better have a look yourself. If no felt I would not power wash the roof.  Hope this helps.