Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

njacobson · Veteran Member

cleaning a 20 yr old 3 tab shingle

waxman18324 · Founding Member Rest in Peace

Great before and after photos. They tell the story.

Hank

Fred W · Guru

Nothing wrong with cleaning old shingles so long as the homeowner knows ahead of time. I've cleaned lots of older shingles that, still had a few years left, for clients that were getting ready to sell.

Awesome to see you off to a great start.

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Yea,..that looks good. Made the house look better overall.

Jeff

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

A totally different home Nicholas!

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Nice work Nicholas

njacobson · Veteran Member

Thanks everyone. yes, it made a huge difference. I had to spray, rinse and spray again because it hadnt been cleaned in 7 yrs and the shingles were deteriorated pretty bad. The algae and pollen was so thick and really holding on. I did learn that i need a booster pump for rinsing. I used my twelve volt system to rinse, and wasnt very efficient

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I don't use the 12v if I rinse, just garden hose, 12v will cycle. I know water pressure is different everywhere but we have got good pressure where I work.

Real nice difference before and after ! Good job!

-- Edited by Maverick Contracting on Saturday 19th of March 2016 10:20:42 AM

Roof Cleaning Virginia · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Excellent work. Well done.

Fred W · Guru

Just use a garden hose from the house to rinse.....but use your own hose....not theirs.

Bryan P · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Baton Rouge Roof Cleaner wrote:
Just use a garden hose from the house to rinse.....but use your own hose....not theirs.

Yeah I bought some little fire hose nozzles for my hose and it sprays to the top of my 2 story house.

I put a valve behind it so I can control the water flow.

61VyXkuwZ5L._SL1110_.jpg

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

njacobson wrote:
Thanks everyone. yes, it made a huge difference. I had to spray, rinse and spray again because it hadnt been cleaned in 7 yrs and the shingles were deteriorated pretty bad. The algae and pollen was so thick and really holding on. I did learn that i need a booster pump for rinsing. I used my twelve volt system to rinse, and wasnt very efficient

Nicholas we are Soft Wash Contractors. Blasting away at a roof with a Booster pump is not soft washing. Most of us don't even rinse. We let the rain take care of the rinsing.

Fred W · Guru

Using a booster pump isn't blasting away at the roof Art. Your standing on the ground or even a ladder and getting more volume. We rinse every roof no matter what and we use our booster every single time. We hit the roof with less force than most rain falls.

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

njacobson wrote:
Thanks everyone. yes, it made a huge difference. I had to spray, rinse and spray again because it hadnt been cleaned in 7 yrs and the shingles were deteriorated pretty bad. The algae and pollen was so thick and really holding on. I did learn that i need a booster pump for rinsing. I used my twelve volt system to rinse, and wasnt very efficient

We have a booster plumbed and installed permanently on the truck. Some homes have great water pressure while others won't make it to the sill of the second story. It is so poor we can't water bushes and trees. We use two nozzles, the one Bryan posted and the Little Big Shot. I have only seen it at Home Depot. I have tried almost every nozzle out there. The Little Big shot is small and works well. The hose has a ball valve that stays there and everything has good quality quick connects. If you use the booster without a pressure switch just as it comes, don't shut the nozzle off. It will build pressure on a hot day and burst the hose.

njacobson · Veteran Member

question about the booster. Is anyone running a "y" on the outlet, allowing you to utilize two hoses? one for ground guy, one for roof rinse?? does thjis hinder the performance??

Fred W · Guru

You really cant use a standard garden hose because the pressure is too high for it....which is funny because the garden hoses are rated at around 400 psi and there is no way the booster goes anywhere near that.

So adding a Y would just not be cost effective when you would need another higher pressure hose (about $300) and another reel to hold the hose (about $300).

tjteed · Approved Exterior Cleaner

The only reason guys down south rinse is because no gutters and there is concern about SH dripping on shrubs. And when they rinse they are just getting a volume of water without trying to knock of any moss or lichen. I don't think I've ever rinsed an asphalt roof and I've done plenty worse than that. A good line is It took 15 years to look like that, why can't you wait another 8 weeks for rain to wash everything off. When I'm asked to rinse off moss or lichen I refuse except for some of the big clumps of moss that kind of fall apart.

Dave · Approved Exterior Cleaner

We use this hose from Home Depot on our booster pump. Haven't blown out a hose yet. That is even when closing the nozzle and letting pressure build in the hose.
www.homedepot.com/p/Continental-ContiTech-Premium-5-8-in-Dia-x-50-ft-Commercial-Grade-Rubber-Black-Water-Hose-20258074/100676339

DirtyRoofcom · Approved Exterior Cleaner

No rinsing. we only rinse skylights and windows. i want that solution to sit on the roof and work as long as it can

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Ted Saunders

Founder, American-ProTech