Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

Bruce Sullivan · RIP

Cedar Roof Cleaning/Tannin

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Tannin stains disappear during the second step of a normal cleaning,..cleaning first then neutralizing with oxalic or ox-citric blend. Nothing to worry about really, even if it takes a second application. High PH cleaners will also cause tannin stains to become worse during the first step of cleaning,..but as stated, the neutralizing will remedy the issue.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Tuesday 17th of June 2014 05:56:58 AM

Fred W · Guru

It would be great to see a good article written on proper cleaning techniques of cedar.....with pictures.....:}

Andy Hinson · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Is the process chemical cleaning only?

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Hey Andy,..if the Cedar is just grayed out it is a fairly simple clean and neutralize. If it's got alot of growth then it is a little modification of the cleaner,..and ALOT of rinsing,..the edges of Cedar holds onto growth very well.

Jeff

waxman18324 · Founding Member Rest in Peace

Jeff,

You just described the one recent cedar roof cleaning we did with the growth(moss) holding to both the edges of the shingles/shakes. We spent most of the time rinsing as the actual spraying was the easy part. Thanks to Mike DeRose I was able to price it accordingly. The customer and his realtor stated it looked like a brand new home after we finished.

Hank

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Good to hear Hank,..yea,..no secret to Cedar,..just tedious at times.

Jeff

Dan Dykstra · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Here is our next Cedar roof cleaning, quoted it back in March. It is now scheduled for this week.

Andy Hinson · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Im still staying away from them because I have never cleaned one.

-- Edited by Andy Hinson on Monday 23rd of June 2014 08:10:38 PM

Dan Dykstra · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Andy,
no need to shy away from a Cedar roof, its really good money when you clean them.

Fred W · Guru

Andy Hinson wrote:
Im still staying away from them because I have never cleaned one.

-- Edited by Andy Hinson on Monday 23rd of June 2014 08:10:38 PM

Andy,

How did you ever clean your first roof? If you stay away from things you have never done you would not be where you are today. You are obviously strong enough to overcome the obstacle!

There are too many good people here willing to help and answer your questions.......use them as the greatest tool on your truck.

Andy Hinson · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Baton Rouge Roof Cleaner wrote:
Andy Hinson wrote:
Im still staying away from them because I have never cleaned one.

-- Edited by Andy Hinson on Monday 23rd of June 2014 08:10:38 PM
Andy,
How did you ever clean your first roof? If you stay away from things you have never done you would not be where you are today. You are obviously strong enough to overcome the obstacle!
There are too many good people here willing to help and answer your questions.......use them as the greatest tool on your truck.

Yea, Thats not it. The first hood vent I ever cleaned I convinced Captain D's I was the guy. I had never seen one be cleaned. My experience with cleaning cedar sided homes and using sodium hypo. it left a film that had to be removed with pressure to get the wood back to natural look. That's why I stay away.. I am not positive I can get the wood to a natural color without pressure. I know some of you have found a way.

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Hey Andy,..Sodium Hypo does leave that skin of white on just about anything wood. But Sodium Hydroxide or Sodium Percarbonate,..and even a combination of the two will provide you easier rinsing results. You still have to get the growth off,..but the proper mix will make the wood itself rinse free with a garden hose,..or even rain. But,.yea,..I know that white haze your talking about you get with Hypo. Will do it to any wood. It should be used sparingly on any wood in my opinion. Alot of the staining you see on wood will actually come out with the oxalic neutralizer. In fact Oxalic is also sold as a wood bleach.

When neutralizing do not use just any acid,..like Hydrochloric or Hydrofluoric,..they will turn the wood a very unappealing gray.

Oxalic or Citric is the way to go,..although I've never used the Citric,..I remember years ago people talking about using it,...and even a combination of the two in a product called "Citralic"

Jeff

Andy Hinson · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Jeff Wible wrote:
Hey Andy,..Sodium Hypo does leave that skin of white on just about anything wood. But Sodium Hydroxide or Sodium Percarbonate,..and even a combination of the two will provide you easier rinsing results. You still have to get the growth off,..but the proper mix will make the wood itself rinse free with a garden hose,..or even rain. But,.yea,..I know that white haze your talking about you get with Hypo. Will do it to any wood. It should be used sparingly on any wood in my opinion. Alot of the staining you see on wood will actually come out with the oxalic neutralizer. In fact Oxalic is also sold as a wood bleach.

When neutralizing do not use just any acid,..like Hydrochloric or Hydrofluoric,..they will turn the wood a very unappealing gray.

Oxalic or Citric is the way to go,..although I've never used the Citric,..I remember years ago people talking about using it,...and even a combination of the two in a product called "Citralic"

Jeff

I have all three of those items in 50lb bags. Did not know you could mix hydroxide and precarb together, I plan on experimenting on removing the 4 year old stain from my cedar home. I tried sodium precarb and hypoclorite but it did not cut it well.

Im along way from Bruce Sullivan and called him in an attempt to buy his product to use on a roof but things did not work out. I don't get many calls, but the ones I get want it done

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Hey Andy,..you don't need Bruces product(s),...The Hydroxide and Percarbonate combo will work fine. I'm sure Bruce still sprays alot of water when rinsing,..so even if his product is different, the end result and amount of work in rinsing is most likely the same. Cedar is not hard,..just a pain,...but if you live in an area where there's lots of Cedar shingles,..then it's worth learning,...But,..it isn't hard,...just harder than asphalt shingles cleaning.

Sodium Percarbonate and Sodium Hypochlorite go wild when mixed together,Ha,Ha,...Foam volcano!!

Jeff

Andy Hinson · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Yes Jeff they do. Thanks!

Zach Maynard · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I personally think that cedar is easier than any other type of roof. You have less runoff to deal with and they clean up very easily.

tjteed · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Cedar is very profitable. Not many guys are comfortable cleaning them. Don't over promise the results and when you exceed the expectations the customers will be very happy. The key is to rinse with a volume of water. Booster pumps work very well for rinsing. Our first job a couple years ago was $3600 and we were nervous - but got great results. Just don't chase the ones that have already been sealed or stained.

Bruce Sullivan · RIP

Tannic acid is brown in color, so in general white woods have a low tannin content. Woods with a lot of yellow, red, or brown coloration to them (like southern yellow pine, cedar, redwood, red oak, etc.) tend to contain a lot of tannin.

As to the cedar cleaning process, there are a couple different ways to clean them. All are effective. Whatever works best for the cleaner. When I first started, about 5 seasons ago, they were a hand full cleaning them. Today they are very easy and fast because the process is second nature. Thus we can price them reasonable but yet profitable. 95% of our roof cleanings are cedar. All we do is roof cleaning only, all other work requested we past on to other exterior cleaners. We clean 2 to 4 cedar roof a week, weather permitting and of course the size of the roof.

This is a cedar roof we finished last Tuesday, took us 17 hours over two days and was 6,640 sq. ft., had a lot of tree cover thus moss, pretty common, lichen and tannin. Couldn't get pictures of the back because of all the trees but was much more roof than the front.

George Front Before & After.jpg