Problem Roof - Certified SoftWash Roof Cleaning

Gregory Miller · Freshmen Member

Problem Roof

Jeffrey Kirby · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

IF you are really treating with a 4% mix of your bleach with 1 oz / gallon of GW, then your bleach is cooked.

Gregory Miller · Freshmen Member

i have never had that happen before but that was the only answer I could come up with. I removed my tanks today and I am flushing the whole system out. I think
I may have had a backwash somehow of final rinse when running a cleaning cycle through the pump and hose reel. Thanks

Gregory Miller · Freshmen Member

i have never had that happen before but that was the only answer I could come up with. I removed my tanks today and I am flushing the whole system out. I think
I may have had a backwash somehow of final rinse when running a cleaning cycle through the pump and hose reel. Thanks

Troy Layman · Lead Tech

Greg,

Sorry you had tht aproblem. If you ran Final Wash or Plant Wash through your primary mix tank, that soulds like a likely option for neutralizing your bleach if you did not thoroughly rinse your mix tank. It does not take much of either product to neutrailize or incredibly weaken an enitre 50 gallon mix. AC was cleaning a neighbors roof once and had plant wash in his bulk rinse tank and somehow pulled a few gallons of plant wash (maybe 5 ounces of dry granules or less) into the SH mix tank and nuked his entire mix. He added more SH to the mix tank twice and all the additional SH was killed as well. The bleach neutralizing power in these products like final wash, plant wash and wood restore are powerful bleach neutralizers.

Something to keep in mind since I see there are no gutters on the roof in the photo you attached. Even though you may have neutralized the SH, the salt content in the SH is still there. If you have been over the roof 2X with 4% SH, that is going to be a lot of salt concentrated under the drip line. I don't know how much runoff has reached the ground, so I'm wondering if it may be advisable to use CH for the next mix so you can avoid adding more salt to the ground?

Gregory Miller · Freshmen Member

Thanks Troy. I thought of that and I will be going back with the CH. I have been back to this home twice to rinse the plants and coat with Plant wash. Luckily this customer is a friend and lives just a few miles away. I need to upgrade and get a softwash system `over the winter and get away from the method I am using now. This trailer worked great for me in the beginning but I have out grown it quickly and being in a hurry

Brandon Vaughn · SoftWash Systems Pro Staff

I agree that your bleach is not full strength. Just out of curiosity, who is your supplier?

Troy Layman · Lead Tech

Gregory Miller wrote:
I have been back to this home twice to rinse the plants and coat with Plant wash. Luckily this customer is a friend and lives just a few miles away.

Greg,

I love plant wash...it is a miracle solution. If AC's chemists could make it neutralize the salt, (would probably require a magic wand), I'd probably put it up on a pedestal. :0)

My SW equipment is currently on a trailer. It's a great solution for me, but it would be nice to have a truck with a nice wrap dedicated to Soft Washing equipment. Best of luck, and welcome to the forums!

Steve Mazzuca · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

Just my two cents- I stopped using FW at the end of the day to flush my system for this very reason. I just use 5 gl of fresh water and ironically the bleach pump currently being used has lasted longer than the three previous ones combined. Again, I'm always trying to put on the 'employee hat' and the chances of an employee getting some FW by mistake in the bleach tank is just too high for me.

The math isn't good either. 50 gls of 4% roof mix for me is worth $100 in just material cost alone. Add in the potential callback costs, or job delay costs, or customer dissatisfaction costs in a scenario like Greg's- not to mention the extra labor costs to clean your system and it just doesn't make good business sense or cents, in my world.

Gregory Miller · Freshmen Member

Thanks Steve. That is exactly what I am going to do. I don't think the FW adds enough for the risk im taking at this point. I am going to upgrade equipment over the winter but for now I am going to use the FW in Back pack sprayers only. What is the best way to be 100% sure to get the tanks clean. Do I need to mop them out the best can on the inside or just rinse , rinse , rinse. Greg

Gregory Miller · Freshmen Member

Leland Chemical but the bleach was fine. The problem was with me. Thanks

AC Lockyer · Administrator

Glad you got it figured out.

AC