My first attempt at Cedar Shake Roof Shingles - Certified SoftWash Roof Cleaning

Mark Fermoyle · Lead Tech Certified

My first attempt at Cedar Shake Roof Shingles

John Smith · Lead Tech Certified

Good Job Mark

Zach Maynard · SoftWash Systems Certified Applicator

I think it looks good, cedar jobs are very satisfying.
Like you said, I would rinse but in my experience you want to rinse with no more pressure than your soft wash pump will produce. The old cedar will fur up bad with any high pressure after it has been cleaned.

Michael Derose · SoftWash Systems Certified Applicator

Mark looks good. I would only say that yes you should have rinsed and use some oaxilic acid or bleach wash to stop the bleaching effect. With that said the repairs needing to be done would not of allowed you to fully rinse without causing damage to the interior.

Schall Bradley · Sophmore Member

Mark I have not done a Cedar Shake roof yet, not that many here, what % did you use ?

Mark Fermoyle · Lead Tech Certified

I used the 2% solution and did two coats. As AC stated in training, it sure did DRINK IT UP. Two light coats on a shake roof is much different than a composite roof. Have plenty on hand if you decide to try one!!

Zach Maynard · SoftWash Systems Certified Applicator

It really is great how little run off you have to deal with when cleaning cedar roofs. I enjoy doing them and the money for them is nice too. I am marketing directly for cedar roof cleanings this year.

Eric Seitz · Sophmore Member

We will be marketing them to this year.

Mark Fermoyle · Lead Tech Certified

Do you all use a Water-Broom to get the debris out of all the nooks & crannies, or some other method. This roof was so delicate I couldn't get on it to wash anything out ....bummer.

AC Lockyer · Administrator

Good alignment on the before and after pix!

AC

Ray Burke · Community Member

Nice job Mark! Shakes can be pretty darn challenging! Looks like you did a great job.

Danny Cronauer · SoftWash Systems Certified

I haven't popped the cedar shake cherry yet. It makes me nervous! Looks good.

Mark Fermoyle · Lead Tech Certified

I was nervous too. Still would be with another roof in that condition. I was wishing I had a push broom head on a 25 foot pole so that I could pull down some of the debris first. I had rigged up a roof ladder to hook over the ridge, but alas, it was not long enough to reach the peak.

If I decide to do anymore shake jobs I'll probably invest in a water broom boom to both clear off debris as well as rinse the roof as I do each section. At the moment, I'd rather stick to composite roofs. There's only a handful of shake roofs remaining in the Richmond area anyway.

Zach Maynard · SoftWash Systems Certified Applicator

I never broom the roofs first, in my experience pine needles and such are usually just hung up on the algae. Once the algae goes so does the other debris.

Mark Fermoyle · Lead Tech Certified

This roof had twigs and sticks and a whole bunch of those oak seed fluff things caught between the shakes. Just seemed to me that it would be good to remove as much of that as possible so that it's not decaying between those pieces so that they are not continuing to hold water like the sponges they are.

Please correct me if I'm wrong in that assumption.