How many ft² a 100 GAL tank of Chemical last / Pricing help!! - Certified SoftWash Roof Cleaning

Jocsan O Santiago-Nieves · Freshmen Member

How many ft² a 100 GAL tank of Chemical last / Pricing help!!

John Aloisio · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

We price per job and service. There is no real exact estimate on your questions, because there are waaaayyyy too many variables. Surface being cleaned, how infested, pitch, wind, temps, etc....On average we use one to two 50 gallon tanks on n average size house here in the NorthEast, for shingle roofs. That is just an average. Some jobs less and some jobs way more.

-- Edited by John Aloisio on Monday 2nd of January 2017 01:35:04 PM

Troy Layman · Lead Tech

Welcome Jocsan,

I think I read somewhere that a base ball park figure is ~100 square feet per gallon, but like John said, there are so many variables that it is a very basic rule of thumb. I've had roofs that are not too dirty take 40 gallons of 3% to clean, and a week later the same basic size roof and same pitch took about 125 gallons of 4% because it was heavily covered in bacteria and took multiple coats. As the weather gets colder, the SH takes longer to do the work as well. Being in Florida though, you probably won't run into nearly as many issues with this as others. Just be sure to have enough spare SH to do the job, or carry CH as a fail safe to augment your mix if you see yourself getting low. Not only would it be embarrassing to run out of product on a small job, it's a huge waste of time, effort and profit. if you do use CH though, your ground person really has to be on the ball rinsing both before and after or CH will leave a white chalky residue that is a pain to remove if you allow it to dry on vehicles, decks, glass, wood, paint, trash cans and even plants.

Jocsan O Santiago-Nieves · Freshmen Member

Im planning to use ch since i see is lot more cost effective. Thank you guys for the info this will really help me in this new journey that i will start. Also i was planning to quote/ charge per hourly rate what do you guys think? Thank you.

Chad Eneix · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

I only price roofs per square foot, and that varies quite a bit. For siding I have a formula that basically has a starting price for houses that are "extra small" through "extra large." The starting price assumes they are fairly simple in design, then I add for each side of the home that has a "complicating" feature, such as a front porch, several dormers, or an exposed basement. Windows are priced per window. Decks, patios, etc. are add-ons that are judgments based on time. Other non-standard jobs are priced per job, estimating time and materials, and based on what I want my truck to produce per hour or day.

We mix up 50 gallon batches, and rarely use it all on a average upper income home for roofing, and use right around 50 gallons or just under that on the siding a lot of times. I would mix up 50 gallons at a time at first.

Chad Haugen · Authorized Professional

Hi Jocsan,
I think of most every job in price per SQ ft. Modify the # depending on the conditions you see.
Keep track of all your data as you!

Typically in the PNW we use more SH than the south. I dont think of total solution but rather focus on the volume of SH I will need.
We budget 200 Sq ft for 1 gallon of SH.
SO, 50 gallon tank should spray 10,000 sq ft.

Sometimes we use more than this becuase of cold, wind, pitch, heavy moss etc..

Hope that helps..

Jocsan O Santiago-Nieves · Freshmen Member

Thank you guys for all this great info all this really help. Thank You

Troy Layman · Lead Tech

Jocsan O Santiago-Nieves wrote:
Im planning to use ch since i see is lot more cost effective. Thank you guys for the info this will really help me in this new journey that i will start. Also i was planning to quote/ charge per hourly rate what do you guys think? Thank you.

Jocsan. I compiled a list of pro's and con's of SH/CH a while back and copied it here. Also, another thing to consider with the number of square feet per gallon of SH is the strength of their SH. Some people can get 15% SH and maybe higher, where others can only get 10%...and of course higher is better. This is just a short term concern as after several jobs you'll quickly figure out a rough idea of what each job will require, and you'll learn that you need extra bleach (SH or CH) because some jobs just end up taking more coats to come clean than you expect.

This is the original post in case you want to check out the SoftWash Mix Calculator Brandon uploaded for everybody.

http://softwashsystems.activeboard.com/t60777635/softwash-mix-calculator-10/

Also, the best place/price I could find for CH was Pool Supply World. For all of my orders they have shipped quickly, usually the same day if you place the order in the morning. They currently sell 50 pound buckets for $114.99 on their website, and $109.99 on their ebay account. If you find better pricing, please let me know. If you call and talk to their sales team and tell them you will be buying hundreds of pounds of this over the next few months you can probably negotiate a better deal. I did this last year and they gave me a code to put into the website for a discount, but I can't find it offhand.

http://www.poolsupplyworld.com/PoolSupplyWorld-Cal-Hypo-50-lb-Bucket-Super-Strength-Pro-Pool-Shock-73-Strength/PSW50CH.htm?displayreviews=true&utm_source=bm23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Image+-+%25%25%23feat_review_url%25%25&utm_content=LaymanSoftWashing@gmail.com&utm_campaign=product_review&_bta_tid=222487731676000317736024183384035293365995330693342058552298636747294345734512664430126&_bta_c=gbu5z4t3pmkucrhq0nrcyoyt5xodj#contact_bar

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/311162006820?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

Several differences between the two (SH and CH). This is not a 100% complete list, but what I could think of off the top of my head.

SH: Pro's
Very easy and very fast to mix with water and your surfactants - mix and agitate briefly and you're ready to go to work.
With the SoftWash Calculator it is pretty quick to figure how much SH to add to give you the the strength mix you need.
You can quickly bump up the strength of your mix if it is too weak.
The mix stays useful in your tank longer than CH when mixed.
SH mix does not need to be agitated as much as CH.

CH: Pro's
No salt in the mix - so the CH is safer to use around plants.
CH (when dry) can be stored for years without losing potency.
You can carry enough CH on your truck to clean for days.
The Calcium in the mix is beneficial to plants.

SH: Con's
SH (Sodium Hypochlorite) has a 119 gallon restriction via DOT. To carry more you need a CDL with an endorsement. As stated you can augment your mix if you think you will use more than 119 gallons of SH in a single day, or if you want to reduce the amount of salt in your mix for some sensitive plants.
SH has salt (Sodium), which is poisonous to plants.
When the job is done, the bleach can be neutralized but the salt remains.

CH: Con's
CH takes a lot longer to mix with water to get it all to dissolve. Warm water helps the CH dissolve faster. CH dissolves VERY slowly in cold water....probably about 1/3 the speed as normal summer temperature water.
CH needs to be rinsed before it dries or you can have a chalky residue that needs to be cleaned off - requires manual agitation to clean.
CH has a higher specific gravity - meaning the bleach settles faster and requires a lot more agitation to keep the bleach mixed and a consistent strength mix. If not, the bottom of the tank will end up being a lot higher strength mix while the top will be weaker.
At the end of the day you will end up with sludge in the bottom of your tank, which is partially water hardeners that make pools more crystal clear and other items. You can get this out with a wet/dry vac though.

At the end of the day though, unless you have a system set up to handle CH effectively, SH is going to be more profitable because it is faster and easier to use. Although CH is a bit safer for plants, if you are using good spray techniques and your assistant tech is doing their job effectively rinsing plants and property, SH is typically going to be the better and more cost effective choice. AC has equipment that filters the CH and keeps it agitated, and if you go that route, CH much better option than before as most of it is automated. You still need to have a ground person that is on the ball to make sure you don't have chalky spots from allowing over spray to dry before it is rinsed off.

Chad Eneix · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

Another way to dial in your pricing is to price jobs several different ways. I do this as an "exercise" to check myself once in a while; price per square foot, price per hour or day based on production goals, and price by calculating cost of consumables + labor + fixed costs/hr X %profit desired. I find that all of them are very, very close almost every time I do this.

Jocsan O Santiago-Nieves · Freshmen Member

wow!!Thank you guys so much for all this great info. i have ordered my equipment it will be a humble start on the back of my Pick-up truck. The Set up i'm planing is 12v 5.5 GPM Pump-in-a-Bucket Starter Kit, one hose reel, Hose- 1/2in 200ft Clear Braided, two 50gal tanks one tank for chemical other tank will serve as a buffer tank or as secondary batch of chemical, one deep cycle battery, a solar battery charger and 75 feet of garden hose for water supply. My goal is to get AC Powdered Bleach Module, DPI Mixing Module, Bulk Rinse Module, RHG H2Pro Conversion Bracket w/ 3 GPM supply pump and a 4 GPM pressure washer with surface cleaner for those heavy infected surface. From there keep growing.

Tim Teed · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

try to get to Softwashapalooza. You will get a lot of knowledge and tips

Jocsan O Santiago-Nieves · Freshmen Member

for sure i'll look into it now. thanks