Learns me PLEASE!

randyr5150 said:
Randy,
Your just where we all started and in reality a "true" roof cleaning educational series of classes and hands on along with customer support is really needed in this industry.
As much as you will learn here, there will be a few things that will not be and those can be your costly mistakes. Those will be the ones that give this industry the "black eye" as we ( fulltimers) have to deal with re-educating the consumer. There is not one specific formula or resource available and you will be winging it OJT. You will kill some leaves or grass, you will have sleepless nights, it is not an easy trade for part time work. You may melt some paint, you may change colors on painted doors or trim, you may offend the neighbors, you may chemically burn your skin etc. etc. You will need to spend time and lots of it getting work for quite some time. It is not an easy industry as it may seem. I could go on for hours as it has been 3 years of learning and each job/customer is different. So in essence to cut to the chase it is not a cakewalk and if your going to get into this industry, educate yourself as much as you can and seek a seasoned pro for some hands on training.. please do the industry a favor if your in it for the long haul..
I hope to give you a better understanding, not to be condescending or disrespectful.
Best of Luck,
Kim Rousseau
Presidential Inc.
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Excellent Post Kim........
 
Very solid advice there Kim ... I sure to heck wish there were folks out here willing to allow us to shadow them but unfortunately this seems to be a "Dog Eat Dog" so to speak time area. OJT is the best way Uncle Sam showed me how to do my work, so there will be no fear of getting down and dirty here. Reading will shall continue to endure just wish it were easier to filter out the fiction for non-fiction but then again as you mention not every scenario is the same and may require different avenues of approach. I'm very grateful to have this site to come and visit ... lots more veterans of this fine industry to learn from versus listening to the pitch of a salesman. Thank you again for the vote of confidence ... we'll keep everyone posted as our journey pushes sail (sorry too much Game of Thrones, lol).
 
Randy Ward said:
literally misting it with like a sprayer? most of what i have seen is the roof being doused in this solution
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With the proper roof pump setup either an air operated diaphragm pump or an electric pump with an accumulator, you can use smaller orifice spray nozzles. Thus smaller droplet size. Ideally you want to apply chems like you were spray painting with no runs. Spray it move, come back and spray again as needed.

Pat Norman 662-316-7685
 
Have you guys done any market research to see if people know about roof cleaning and will even pay for roof cleaning in your neck of the woods? I would do this before I spent a dime because you can easily spend 100's or 1000's in equipment, chemicals and marketing and possibly end up not doing many roofs. Just saying.

Just because there are 100's or 1000's of dirty roofs don't mean that people will pay for that service. Florida is the exception because it is a way of life there and the HOA's there make the people living there have it done or get fined. It is not like that in lots of other areas in the country.

When you read older posts, you will see that not everywhere people will pay for roof cleaning as they have not heard of it, they don't know anything about it, they are cautious of something that they don't know about or understand and since this might be something that they have not heard about, they might wait until they see it done on another house or learn about it later.
 
Christopher said:
Have you guys done any market research to see if people know about roof cleaning and will even pay for roof cleaning in your neck of the woods? I would do this before I spent a dime because you can easily spend 100's or 1000's in equipment, chemicals and marketing and possibly end up not doing many roofs. Just saying.

Just because there are 100's or 1000's of dirty roofs don't mean that people will pay for that service. Florida is the exception because it is a way of life there and the HOA's there make the people living there have it done or get fined. It is not like that in lots of other areas in the country.

When you read older posts, you will see that not everywhere people will pay for roof cleaning as they have not heard of it, they don't know anything about it, they are cautious of something that they don't know about or understand and since this might be something that they have not heard about, they might wait until they see it done on another house or learn about it later.
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Good point Chris. Do you do any roof cleaning down in Corpus?
 
Pat Norman said:
With the proper roof pump setup either an air operated diaphragm pump or an electric pump with an accumulator, you can use smaller orifice spray nozzles. Thus smaller droplet size. Ideally you want to apply chems like you were spray painting with no runs. Spray it move, come back and spray again as needed.

Pat Norman 662-316-7685
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Hey Patt,
Any suggestions as to what particular setup to look into investing? I'm mainly asking as I know as with everything there are some brands/models one should stay clear away from, so I can only guess that it's the same within this industry too.
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone!

I realize that this isnt an industry that you can just jump into and do it perfectly from the beginning, but thats why I I have lots of family in the area with plenty of houses for guinea pigs. Roof cleaning is a goal but isnt something we are going to jump into right away so every little bit of info helps. Unfortunately knowing the area and the people in this area for the past 10 years, walking up to a business and going "Hey, can we follow you around for a few days to look at the roof cleaning" will probably not be met with the most happy of situations. Right now our main focus is concrete and houses until we can get our feet under us and take off from there. I fully intend to make this my profession full time once we get going so by no means am I trying to half ass anything or go about this in an uneducated manner. Any help is always appreciated and as always...the more blunt the better!
 
JRHernandez88 said:
Good point Chris. Do you do any roof cleaning down in Corpus?
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None this year so far, it kind of dried out the past couple years.

1000's and 1000's of postcards, door hangers, partial wrap on the truck, info on website, info on business cards, etc....over the past 6 years trying to educate the market and build up the market here has not done much. Maybe I am doing something wrong or maybe it is the economy, not sure but now I am focusing on other areas of cleaning. I know a few companies that closed shop here in Texas and a few that have changed focus as well but some parts are doing ok in roof cleaning.
 
Randy Ward said:
Thanks for all the replies everyone!

I realize that this isnt an industry that you can just jump into and do it perfectly from the beginning, but thats why I I have lots of family in the area with plenty of houses for guinea pigs. Roof cleaning is a goal but isnt something we are going to jump into right away so every little bit of info helps. Unfortunately knowing the area and the people in this area for the past 10 years, walking up to a business and going "Hey, can we follow you around for a few days to look at the roof cleaning" will probably not be met with the most happy of situations. Right now our main focus is concrete and houses until we can get our feet under us and take off from there. I fully intend to make this my profession full time once we get going so by no means am I trying to half ass anything or go about this in an uneducated manner. Any help is always appreciated and as always...the more blunt the better!
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Hey Randy, when you get a chance please fill out your signature. If you need help just give me a call. Thanks
 
Christopher said:
None this year so far, it kind of dried out the past couple years.

1000's and 1000's of postcards, door hangers, partial wrap on the truck, info on website, info on business cards, etc....over the past 6 years trying to educate the market and build up the market here has not done much. Maybe I am doing something wrong or maybe it is the economy, not sure but now I am focusing on other areas of cleaning. I know a few companies that closed shop here in Texas and a few that have changed focus as well but some parts are doing ok in roof cleaning.
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Ahh sorry to hear that. I haven't got any roofing jobs or even advertised it, i might do some more researching before I buy the set-up. Good head up.
 
I plan on starting by months end using a fat bandit set up and 55gal drum. I have customers that want me to do it already once it get here since I do other services for them. I envision a tyvek suit with gloves, boots and a full face mask...looking like something out of ET movies. I am sure my clients will think everything is toxic just from my safety gear alone. I also expect to burn a few plants, damage some paint, and probably forget to rinse off something along the way being metal/aluminum. Does everyone rinse the gutters before they leave and all the flashing around the roof? or can you come back later and still rinse. Some of these roofs out here look like carpet there is so much on it. My plan is to set it and forget it then come back for another coat where needed...
 
Set it and forget it is the way I envision this going. Just talking with family they have spread the word more than we have so have jobs from houses, roofs, concrete etc wanting to be done....here's to no failboat *raises beer*
 
Randy and Prhea1st, your signatures needs to be filled out, forum rules.
 
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