My Very First Roof Cleaning In 1976

Apple Roof Cleaning

Apple Roof Cleaning

Roof Cleaning Instructor
The First Roof I Ever Cleaned And W/O A Pump Too! - As a young man attending the University Of Washington in Seattle, I worked my way through school as a roofer.

I remember my boss telling us we had a shingle roof to CLEAN!
So, I went with him to the Seattle customers home, and here is how we did it.

Seattle has many spa's and hot tubs, so we drove to a spa supply store, and bought many jugs of chlorine.
We carried them up the ladder, and poured em in a bucket.
Then, using a pole with a stucco roller attached, simply rolled it on the roof!
Of course, we used safety glasses to keep the stuff from rolling into our eyes, and rubber boots, gloves, and safety suits.

There were 4 of us up cleaning, all sharing the same chemical trough!
We took that roof down in no time at all, and when I watched the boss collect an 800 dollar check for about an hours work, I knew what I eventually wanted to do.

Dont underestimate this method of roof cleaning!
There is almost ZERO run off!
You need as soft a roller as possible, and they do go bad too, but so what ?
Back then, all we could get was wooden poles, and the Chlorine ate em up.
But now, there are poly poles available, cheap too!
I think it would be slick to make or find find a self feeding pole!
Think how many steep roofs could be done from the ground ?
Hey, maybe I will patent a roof cleaning device like this, LOL
Instead of the Pitch Witch, I will call it the "Apple Stick ?

It's kind of a pain carrying all that chemical up the ladder, but I was young and cock strong then, and didn't care.
I just thought I would share this with everyone, to show all how us old roofers did it, back when we didn't have pumps!
Chris
 
russ s said:
Thats A Dinasour Idea But I Can See How It Would Work ,however I Am Not Gonna Try
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That's how us old roofers did it Russ, before there were pumps.
 
Dear Apple,

What do you know, so what you cleaned 3 million roofs, so what if you are considered the leader in the roof cleaning industry, so what when people hear roof cleaning they think of you, so what if your work is beter then the rest, big deal!

What have you done for me lately...

Il chris mi è il joe dal charlotte di porto/porto del nord. ...just ha voluto la rompere appallottola un pezzetto. ... Parlare con lei presto.

le torte su,

Joe
 
I wonder how well that would or would have worked on a Barrel Tile Roof? Not that that I'm gonna try it...
 
swrest said:
Dear Apple,

What do you know, so what you cleaned 3 million roofs, so what if you are considered the leader in the roof cleaning industry, so what when people hear roof cleaning they think of you, so what if your work is beter then the rest, big deal!

What have you done for me lately...

Il chris mi è il joe dal charlotte di porto/porto del nord. ...just ha voluto la rompere appallottola un pezzetto. ... Parlare con lei presto.

le torte su,

Joe
Click to expand...
LOL Joe, you are still as crazy as ever Bro. Can't wait to see you in Tampa at the Roundtable, and maybe we drive up to Charleston together as planned ?
Chris
 
Hell....yea big daddy......

Charleston is at least 2 jails away....get that bail $$$$....tell the boy to keep close...with the bondsman.....and bail is always at least five bills per stop.....and I am not sure if they let NY boys in that neck of the woods.....they are al kinda back woods.....no nothings if ya ask me.....other wise they would never be threatened by us.....ya know.....they are still fighting the civil war....they still Yankees are there to take their women....and while they are correct in thinking so..... they still just dont get it....the war is over.....you can go and try to find a job now young Beauregard or Davis or Early or Forrest or Hampton or Jeb or what ever the hell your weird name is....we;ll be over here drinking your whiskey and taking your money....fools....

For sure I'll see you in Tampa.....you going to bring the LOVE truck?......show them how to do it budy....

I was in Tampa yesterday.....but was packed tight.....just how we like em'.

See ya there Chris.....is that Irish place still around???? Gota tell all these single guy's what you can show em'.....did I hear a cougar growling behind me??????

Joe.....C
 
Hell....yea big daddy......

Charleston is at least 2 jails away....get that bail $$$$....tell the boy to keep close...with the bondsman.....and bail is always at least five bills per stop.....and I am not sure if they let NY boys in that neck of the woods.....they are all kinda back woods.....no nothings if ya ask me.....other wise they would never be threatened by us.....ya know.....they are still fighting the civil war....they still think Yankees are there to take their women....and while they are correct in thinking so..... they still just dont get it....the war is over.....you can go and try to find a job now young Beauregard or Davis or Early or Forrest or Hampton or Jeb or what ever the hell your weird name is....we will be over here drinking your whiskey and taking your money....fools....

For sure I'll see you in Tampa.....are you going to talk about roof cleaning....h'mmmm what do you know about roof cleaning? Ok I got a question for you.....how do you get the black stuff off of shingle roofs? Do you acid or pressure? Is taking it off of barrel tile different? COme on man...I need to know.... Cause all this information on the INTERNET is confusing me....it says to use bleach.....I looked this bleach stuff up and it said that it is actually sodium hypochlorite....what in the world is that? I am confused....does that stuff really take off the black stuff? HELP Chris....!!!! Cause I wanna advertise in the yellow pages and tell everyone that i am the best.....and we promise never to harm your plants....why not everyone else is doing it in Tampa! Come on Chris .... share your secret to succsess....I am broke and want to become a roof cleaner....or else I will be forced to move back home to NY with my family....and I really dont want to do that.....

Will you bring the LOVE truck?......show them how to do it buddy....?

I called Frank and asked him to come....but he was unsure....all in all I really do like him.....he just takes a different approach to things...he is really a good guy......a good family man......I wish I could use him to sub more out to but I just cant find a great spot for him at the preasent......and once again....I really do like Frank....he is a good guy......I hope he comes to Tampa.....

I was in Tampa yesterday.....but was packed tight.....just how we like em'.

See ya there Chris.....is that Irish place still around???? Gotta tell all these single guy's what you can show em'.....did I hear a cougar growling behind me??????

Joe.....C
 
swrest said:
Hell....yea big daddy......

Charleston is at least 2 jails away....get that bail $$$$....tell the boy to keep close...with the bondsman.....and bail is always at least five bills per stop.....and I am not sure if they let NY boys in that neck of the woods.....they are al kinda back woods.....no nothings if ya ask me.....other wise they would never be threatened by us.....ya know.....they are still fighting the civil war....they still Yankees are there to take their women....and while they are correct in thinking so..... they still just dont get it....the war is over.....you can go and try to find a job now young Beauregard or Davis or Early or Forrest or Hampton or Jeb or what ever the hell your weird name is....we;ll be over here drinking your whiskey and taking your money....fools....

For sure I'll see you in Tampa.....you going to bring the LOVE truck?......show them how to do it budy....

I was in Tampa yesterday.....but was packed tight.....just how we like em'.

See ya there Chris.....is that Irish place still around???? Gota tell all these single guy's what you can show em'.....did I hear a cougar growling behind me??????

Joe.....C
Click to expand...
It's gonna be a blast Joe, for sure ! My love truck split BOTH it's tanks at same time! If I didn't know better Joe, I almost thought someone was foolish enough to stick my tanks! That would indeed be foolish, for it is well known that during fits of anger I am not "all there", and have many Guns that are, LOL Seriously Joe, this was my first and LAST time buying chemical tanks with a metal bar hold down, vs the straps I have always used.
What happened is the Love rusted the metal hold down bars, and they rubbed the tanks like sandpaper till both split and leaked all over. The truck is getting brand new tanks , as we speak. I have to talk with Ron, to see whats up as far as what is needed and wanted from me at the roundtable. But I may bring it up there. In fact, my guys will probably drive it, and I will come in my Pick Up. It's bed is all rusted now, that is inevitable with a hard working roof cleaning truck.
 
Kory said:
From Wayne's world "were not worthy,were not worthy" the apple man has done roofs longer than I have been alive
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LOL, I have not done only roofs that long, there were other things, in between. I started Apple Roof Cleaning around 1991, with a donated 4 by 8 yard trailer, a 125 gal tank and marine battery from a junkyard, a shurflo pump, 200 feet of dollar store 5/8 hose, and a pawn shop ladder. Non Pressure Roof Cleaning was a hard sell back then, since it was relatively unknown. There were maybe 5 of us in Tampa offering it, 6 if you count Mallard from Orlando. There was an unspoken agreement back then that no one would get up on, much less clean any roof for less then 300.00. Jobs being done now for 300.00 used to be 575.00 jobs.
 
Is mallard doing business under a different name? I had someone taking pics of us a few weeks ago and the guy said he was from a company that mallard owns or sold or some other deal. I have never seen a mallard truck in person. I thought that they were only in Orlando.

And those jobs you say are done too cheap, we just go beat out on a 500k warehouse by 10K, so ouch is the word. They had a company come from Illinois or Indiana do it, I have no idea how they could do it for free. I am still at the same facility as them and there are 10 guys with pump up sprayers and 10 guys scrubbing and a few guys with regular hoses rinsing, so where is the profit? But it is all good, we took their water away last week for a few days and they are letting whatever doesn't evaporate on the roof run into the retention pond, and ever day that pond just gets a little cleaner and clearer.

Joe
 
Terra-clean is his shop I believe.
On that other topic: Sending that many guys from Illinois is insane. The low ballers are out in force right now across the country it seems. I guess the recession didn't provide them with a job when their business failed so here they go cutting throats.
 
apwasher said:
Terra-clean is his shop I believe.
On that other topic: Sending that many guys from Illinois is insane. The low ballers are out in force right now across the country it seems. I guess the recession didn't provide them with a job when their business failed so here they go cutting throats.
Click to expand...


Yea...that was the name... Terra Clean....

I should clear it up tha the warehouse was 500k square feet not a $500k project.

I have no idea how they are doing it, cause they all have their own rooms at a local Hampton Inn, they all get paid per diem...I just can't figure it out, I looked up their workers comp, and they do not have Florida WC, so I will surely pass that on to the powers that be.

But cutting throats is ok,BUT you still need to make a profit, otherwise you are just flooding he market with under priced - under performing work that serves nobody in the long run. Do they think that they will run everyone out of business, then jack up the $$$$, perhaps, but at the rate they are going they will bankrupt them selves in the process, and then you are just opening the door for smaller under capitalized companies to fill the vacuum that is left, that is what is going on in Florida now with certain types of PW'ing work. The crappy economy has opened the door to the desperate, who are also amateurs or little or no experience. The workforce development council in Florida is doing some job re training and I think that some of the new companies starting out are in those programs, where if they were collecting benefits for a while and it looked like their industry was not going to pick up enough to put them back to work, they were eligible for re training, some took truck driving jobs and others pick PW'ing. Plus they get some stimulus funding, (I THINK) in the form of grants and loans to start up the business. So much for the guys that took care of their credit, did the right things , worked hard, didn't default or screw anyone out of $$, cause all you need is to be in the right zip code and they hold your hand till you get started. It wasn't so bad when EOE and minority status holders were given a boost in business, I could see that till a certain point, but now it is anyone who cant find job, go down to the Florida One Stop offices and there ya go. :hang3: These days being black, blind, a women, or crippled just doesn't open the same doors as it used to. Now you just need to be able to walk in the door hold out your hand and say, Yes mam....I wunna beee a power pressure roof cleaner guy...

Is it a democrat thing.....no it is a culture thing, where the govt is trying to right the ills of the country through hand holding. This crap started poking its ugly head up 5 or 6 years ago around here when we had a monster hurricane come through our town and wrecked everything, thats when the FEMA gods held everyones hand and fed them truck loads of govt food and said we are here to help. But they didn't, they just hurt an already bad situation. Their approach was to teach them to fish so that they wouldn't have to ask for more fish, but you can't teach the unteachable, you just throw govt $$ at them till there is no more $$ left, then you abandon them. And at least that is why my little part of the world is all jacked up.
 
swrest said:
Yea...that was the name... Terra Clean....

I should clear it up tha the warehouse was 500k square feet not a $500k project.

I have no idea how they are doing it, cause they all have their own rooms at a local Hampton Inn, they all get paid per diem...I just can't figure it out, I looked up their workers comp, and they do not have Florida WC, so I will surely pass that on to the powers that be.

But cutting throats is ok,BUT you still need to make a profit, otherwise you are just flooding he market with under priced - under performing work that serves nobody in the long run. Do they think that they will run everyone out of business, then jack up the $$$$, perhaps, but at the rate they are going they will bankrupt them selves in the process, and then you are just opening the door for smaller under capitalized companies to fill the vacuum that is left, that is what is going on in Florida now with certain types of PW'ing work. The crappy economy has opened the door to the desperate, who are also amateurs or little or no experience. The workforce development council in Florida is doing some job re training and I think that some of the new companies starting out are in those programs, where if they were collecting benefits for a while and it looked like their industry was not going to pick up enough to put them back to work, they were eligible for re training, some took truck driving jobs and others pick PW'ing. Plus they get some stimulus funding, (I THINK) in the form of grants and loans to start up the business. So much for the guys that took care of their credit, did the right things , worked hard, didn't default or screw anyone out of $$, cause all you need is to be in the right zip code and they hold your hand till you get started. It wasn't so bad when EOE and minority status holders were given a boost in business, I could see that till a certain point, but now it is anyone who cant find job, go down to the Florida One Stop offices and there ya go. :hang3: These days being black, blind, a women, or crippled just doesn't open the same doors as it used to. Now you just need to be able to walk in the door hold out your hand and say, Yes mam....I wunna beee a power pressure roof cleaner guy...

Is it a democrat thing.....no it is a culture thing, where the govt is trying to right the ills of the country through hand holding. This crap started poking its ugly head up 5 or 6 years ago around here when we had a monster hurricane come through our town and wrecked everything, thats when the FEMA gods held everyones hand and fed them truck loads of govt food and said we are here to help. But they didn't, they just hurt an already bad situation. Their approach was to teach them to fish so that they wouldn't have to ask for more fish, but you can't teach the unteachable, you just throw govt $$ at them till there is no more $$ left, then you abandon them. And at least that is why my little part of the world is all jacked up.
Click to expand...
Sometimes it sucks to be just an honest, hard working white boy in America anymore :welcome:
 
swrest said:
Yea...that was the name... Terra Clean....

I should clear it up tha the warehouse was 500k square feet not a $500k project.

I have no idea how they are doing it, cause they all have their own rooms at a local Hampton Inn, they all get paid per diem...I just can't figure it out, I looked up their workers comp, and they do not have Florida WC, so I will surely pass that on to the powers that be.

But cutting throats is ok,BUT you still need to make a profit, otherwise you are just flooding he market with under priced - under performing work that serves nobody in the long run. Do they think that they will run everyone out of business, then jack up the $$$$, perhaps, but at the rate they are going they will bankrupt them selves in the process, and then you are just opening the door for smaller under capitalized companies to fill the vacuum that is left, that is what is going on in Florida now with certain types of PW'ing work. The crappy economy has opened the door to the desperate, who are also amateurs or little or no experience. The workforce development council in Florida is doing some job re training and I think that some of the new companies starting out are in those programs, where if they were collecting benefits for a while and it looked like their industry was not going to pick up enough to put them back to work, they were eligible for re training, some took truck driving jobs and others pick PW'ing. Plus they get some stimulus funding, (I THINK) in the form of grants and loans to start up the business. So much for the guys that took care of their credit, did the right things , worked hard, didn't default or screw anyone out of $$, cause all you need is to be in the right zip code and they hold your hand till you get started. It wasn't so bad when EOE and minority status holders were given a boost in business, I could see that till a certain point, but now it is anyone who cant find job, go down to the Florida One Stop offices and there ya go. :hang3: These days being black, blind, a women, or crippled just doesn't open the same doors as it used to. Now you just need to be able to walk in the door hold out your hand and say, Yes mam....I wunna beee a power pressure roof cleaner guy...

Is it a democrat thing.....no it is a culture thing, where the govt is trying to right the ills of the country through hand holding. This crap started poking its ugly head up 5 or 6 years ago around here when we had a monster hurricane come through our town and wrecked everything, thats when the FEMA gods held everyones hand and fed them truck loads of govt food and said we are here to help. But they didn't, they just hurt an already bad situation. Their approach was to teach them to fish so that they wouldn't have to ask for more fish, but you can't teach the unteachable, you just throw govt $$ at them till there is no more $$ left, then you abandon them. And at least that is why my little part of the world is all jacked up.
Click to expand...


It really makes you wonder were it will all end up in 5 years. I think a lot of these guys will be gone, but a lot of damage will also be done to the industries image and price points. When they are done hitting themselves in the head:speechless:, we will have to pick up the pieces as usual and resell what we had to sell a million times. our quality, professionalism and know how.
 
Cheap roof cleaning WPB

that's why sometimes I wish it were a litlle harder to get that occupational license. Too easy for unemployed people to collect unemployment and clean roofs without paying their taxes, insurance and maintain equipment. Amen to the cut throat rant!
 
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