Cleaning Asphalt Roof with Bleach ("SH")

[@backspace12399]

Really appreciate this upload. I’m sure these videos are great for customers to see. But Iv been getting into roof washes myself and I get allot of anxiety worrying about my customer’s property. I know that’s what I’m payed for, but the anxiety had been pretty difficult to the point where I’m not selling roof washes. Thanks for sharing your process, I actually think I might have been over doing the watering a bit but I didn’t rinse all my roofs. I think not rinsing makes me more anxious but I wasn’t doing it cause I thought if you let the SH dry all the chlorine would gas off and the plants would only need to deal with the salts. Accept it you don’t get a big enough rain you’ll hurt the plants anyway 🤷‍♂️ so I go back and fourth

[@OutsideCleaners]

Glad it helped. Biggest thing is to be mindful of overspray. Thanks for watching.

[@lightball1414]

I’ve been using a fresh water nozzle in one hand and SH nozzle in the other when working solo and spraying near vegetation. It creates a “water shield” over the plants. You can water tree leaves and plants all day long but if any SH gets on the leaves without the water shield, they will shrivel up and die.

[@OutsideCleaners]

@@lightball1414 I've been thinking about your comment and gotta disagree about the term "water shield." Sodium hypochlorite is highly water-soluble; wetting plants etc with water really just serves to dilute any stray SH to levels where it will not be noticeably harmful. Spraying things down with water doesn't make a shield of any type - it merely fills up the sponge - though I'm sure the snakeoil salesmen in our sketchy industry will latch onto that term nonetheless. Thanks for watching.

[@mauwuang874]

Do you rinse them straight away? I thought doesn’t need to be rinse unless is metal roof

[@lightball1414]

Thanks for the videos. We need to watch these as cleaning wood can be extremely complex and daunting. I would love to see a video on cleaning a roof or siding that has been stained. Does it always need to be re-stained afterward or can you acheive satisfying results with just a clean? Does the stain need to be removed somehow? That would seem like an impossible task on a roof that has been previously stained and is filthy when the client wants to have it restored.

[@OutsideCleaners]

Thanks for watching. Good questions, probably best to address on a video for cedar roofs rather than asphalt as was done here. I'm trying to do a video each week or so... Maybe a video just addressing all the random questions would be good!...

[@waydemorgan2555]

Nice work. Filming was great. Like the comment about the bees 🐝 we need to bee smart about the cover scents and the repercussions from using them. Have you ever used neutralizer on plants or stained decks when doing roofs?

[@OutsideCleaners]

Thanks for watching I’ve only used neutralizing solution on the grass, in cases where the downspouts unavoidably dump out into an area of vegetation. In those cases, I just make a solution of sodium sulfite to neutralize the sodium hypochlorite. I haven’t found it necessary to put a neutralizer on decking or plants; I’ve done fine just keeping those surfaces wet with water and then rinsing after the roof is done.

[@hillshepardson9537]

Damn!..Nate Knows!

[@Camo-Dan]

Where do you find the cleaning agent and what percentage mixed with water was it supposed to be again? Great video, thanks for sharing

[@OutsideCleaners]

I used 6% sodium hypo here. Depending upon the roof and situation, sometimes as low as 3% will do the trick. Sodium hypochlorite is available from most hardware stores, pool supply houses, and chemical supply companies.

[@Camo-Dan]

@@OutsideCleaners thank you so much. I found some at a pool store and completed my first $1200 roof cleaning job today. Took me a few days on/off to complete. Had. No process yet or any idea what to use until i researched SH. Mine was/is 12.5% and i mixed it 50/50. I had to do two treatments or more for best results. I ended up using 8 gallons

[@jn2400]

Any situation where you'd brush moss off before SH? or would you just spray before anything regardless?

[@OutsideCleaners]

Thanks for watching. Absolutely. Moss typically brushes off easily on a dry day and so that's step #1 when moss is present. Telescopic roof brush or even a roof rake is good for that. Process shown here is really for algae & lichen, neither of which brush away like moss does.

[@jn2400]

@@OutsideCleaners Ahh cool thx. Nice channel btw. I do lawns, hedge trimming, etc but slowly adding extras like pressure washing, gutters etc to keep the days full.

[@salscavo3110]

Maybe I missed it but how long do you let the SH sit on the roof before rinsing?

[@OutsideCleaners]

Typically about 10-15 min. Many variables though: roof temp, age of SH, roof pitch, extent of organic growth on shingles, breezy or no, etc. judgement required.

[@samsteiner-qd2wu]

Nice !

[@OutsideCleaners]

Thanks for watching

[@justinsellers8450]

What nozzle are you using on your pressure wand ? It’s got a big fan with more gpm than a typical wand tip.

[@OutsideCleaners]

Just an oversized (low-pressure) jrod. Pressuretek.com.

[@davegill7614]

What mix of SH to water mate...call it hypo in uk

[@OutsideCleaners]

from 3 to 6% depending upon freshness of your bleach, surface temperature of the roof, and the details of whatever detergent or additive you may use. .

[@Gkir1]

Hi. Where did u get the ladder attachment for the top. Please

[@OutsideCleaners]

Hi. Link for the ladder stabilizer is in the video description. Please.

[@fran73968]

Ay Nate do i need a osha certification to do power washing in mass

[@OutsideCleaners]

Never hurts to be more educated on safety but I'm not aware of an OSHA requirement for us residential sole proprietors in MA. If any viewers know that to be incorrect, please share the info here.

[@fran73968]

@@OutsideCleaners thank you i want to put my buisness next year in foxborough, but im just trying to learn what i need to do power washing

[@tomalley798]

In Australia, anything that is 5000 psi and above requires OSHA certification. Hope that helps 🤓

[@OutsideCleaners]

@@tomalley798 I’m surprised you use those non-metric units in Australia.