Killing of certain plans, loss of leaves after cleaning.
Kevin B said
Jul 27, 2012
Hi All:
I am new to the industry. I have done a couple of jobs. I have problems on two of the jobs with plants that were very close to or touching the house and a couple from run off.
I used a 100 gal. total mix. = 15 gal of SH(12.5%); 64 oz green wash and the rest water.
The one job was a full house cleaing - roof, siding, porch, and walk way.
The other was two sides of a house and porch and walkway.
I rinsed all plant life and grass before starting, did cleaning, rinsed cleaning and plant life, and then final rinsed all plant life after.
The full house job got interupted by a tunderstorm and I did not get the plant wash completed. Went back next day and completed along with a few minor spots missed.
Lost several plants, flowers and tress.
The partial house I forgot to complete the plant wash. Both days were extremely hot and humid. From talking to a couple of people and reading topics/posts - I believe I need to take breaks and rinse more often since it was so hot near 100 degrees and 70-90% humidity.
Anyway, want is the best to protect in first place and is there anything to do after they are dead or dying, droping leaves? - Like adding Plant Wash after the fact again.
Is covering the best or use PW first?
Please provide help.
Thank you.
Kevin
AC Lockyer said
Jul 27, 2012
Kevin,
Have you taken the Plant & Property Protection Module yet?
Also remember the Three Ds
Divert, Dilute, Decontaminate.
AC
Chris Madden said
Jul 27, 2012
Kevin B wrote:
Hi All:
I am new to the industry. I have done a couple of jobs. I have problems on two of the jobs with plants that were very close to or touching the house and a couple from run off.
I used a 100 gal. total mix. = 15 gal of SH(12.5%); 64 oz green wash and the rest water.
The one job was a full house cleaing - roof, siding, porch, and walk way.
The other was two sides of a house and porch and walkway.
I rinsed all plant life and grass before starting, did cleaning, rinsed cleaning and plant life, and then final rinsed all plant life after.
The full house job got interupted by a tunderstorm and I did not get the plant wash completed. Went back next day and completed along with a few minor spots missed.
Lost several plants, flowers and tress.
The partial house I forgot to complete the plant wash. Both days were extremely hot and humid. From talking to a couple of people and reading topics/posts - I believe I need to take breaks and rinse more often since it was so hot near 100 degrees and 70-90% humidity.
Anyway, want is the best to protect in first place and is there anything to do after they are dead or dying, droping leaves? - Like adding Plant Wash after the fact again.
Is covering the best or use PW first?
Please provide help.
Thank you.
Kevin
Hello Kevin,
Welcome to the community!!!
Your mix is fine for roof cleaning, But if you used that strong of a mix on a house wash, that is why plants were damaged.
Waaaayyyy to strong for vertical serfaces, especially were plants are around.
In a 100 gal mix I use 2-3 Gal of SH total and 64 Oz. of Green Wash. I make my house wash weaker than most, but I found
my sweet spot for the algae I deal with on a daily basis. It works great and Noooooooo plant damage.
I highly recomend AC's training modules. They are a wealth of knowledge and will save you a ton of money in your business.
You will get a return on your investment many times over.
I would start with the Plant & Property Protection Module, It will save you money on your next jobs for sure. Will you be replacing
the plants/shrubs for your client?
Chris
Ray Burke said
Jul 27, 2012
I second what Chris said! Not time to elaborate right now, but basically your mix was at least twice as strong as it should have been.
AC Lockyer said
Jul 28, 2012
I asked about the module because i wanted to see what base of knowledge you had. Have you visited the mixology page?
AC
Kevin B said
Jul 28, 2012
Thank you all for the information.
As I said I am new to the industry, someone was giving me some guidance and has kind of dropped off the face of the earth for me.
So I am am basically learning as I go and get started.
I will get right on taking that module.
I did review and have a copy of the mixology page and went inbetween the 1% and 2% Cleaning solution - it appeared to cover all the surfaces I was cleaning.
And yes it looks like I will be replacing plants, possible shutter painted and a re-seal of a driveway for the one customer.
Thank you again.
Chris Madden said
Jul 28, 2012
Kevin B wrote:
Thank you all for the information.
As I said I am new to the industry, someone was giving me some guidance and has kind of dropped off the face of the earth for me.
So I am am basically learning as I go and get started.
I will get right on taking that module.
I did review and have a copy of the mixology page and went inbetween the 1% and 2% Cleaning solution - it appeared to cover all the surfaces I was cleaning.
And yes it looks like I will be replacing plants, possible shutter painted and a re-seal of a driveway for the one customer.
Thank you again.
Kevin,
I hate that happened to you, I can assure you that most, if not all here have learned something the hard way in this business.
There should be no reason for any member here to go through the learning curve again. Read and take in as much as you can,
take the Modules as you can, and get on here and ask for some help. We are all here to help one another, and some day you will be
answering questions and helping someone get started in this business.
I am ALL ABOUT the least amount of SH as possible to get your task at hand completed. Always start your mix weak and add to it if you need to.
You can not take SH out of your solution once it is in there. Start at 1/8 to 1/4 of a percent and see if it cleans the surface you are working on.
If it does not, go up to 3/4 or 1 percent. Most of the House Washing I do uses between 1/8 to 1/4 percent SH. It WORKS!!!! and there is little
to NO chance of damage to any plants or painted surfaces (except those with a color tint issue, More on that in the modules)
I wish you well in making right by the customer or customers you have an issue with. Lesson Learned, and get on here and post, that's what we are ALL
here for... One big SoftWashing consulting community.
Don't get discouraged, It will only get better
Have a great weekend Kevin!!!!
Chris
AC Lockyer said
Jul 28, 2012
Kevin B wrote:
Thank you all for the information.
As I said I am new to the industry, someone was giving me some guidance and has kind of dropped off the face of the earth for me.
So I am am basically learning as I go and get started.
I will get right on taking that module.
I did review and have a copy of the mixology page and went inbetween the 1% and 2% Cleaning solution - it appeared to cover all the surfaces I was cleaning.
And yes it looks like I will be replacing plants, possible shutter painted and a re-seal of a driveway for the one customer.
Thank you again.
Call me immediately about the plants and get me pix and names of the plants. I have a hort degree and may be able to help save you some money.
AC
Danny Cronauer said
Jul 29, 2012
Kevin it sounds like you just went out there spraying and praying. I go into every job scared of plants and property. Pretend that just one drop of 3-4% SH can kill a plant, or ruin someones property.
Do you have a ground guy?
How did you mess up the driveway?
Keep reading, Keep learning. It will all be ok. Modules!
Dan
Paul Freeman said
Aug 13, 2012
Kevin,
Sorry to hear about your troubles. When I first started out in the exterior cleaning business I got into trouble with plants on a job too. It cost me a lot of money to have a professional company replace all the plants I killed surrounding a deck that wrapped around the back of a house. In the end though, my customer was so grateful that I did the right thing by replacing the plants and finishing the job that he gave me a $400 tip. It didn't nearly cover my costs, but I believe it salvage my reputation in the community.
Your mix was actually a little less than 2%. Check out the screenshot below. I plugged your numbers into the spreadsheet and did a little 'what if' testing on the 'Desired Strength of Mix' field to find the gallons of water you used to get your 100 gallon mix (first Red line). On the second (red) line I just plugged 100, 4, and 12.5 to the LEFT of the = sign, to get the raw material requirements on the RIGHT of the = sign, which would give you a 100gal of mix with a 4% SH ratio per gallon. Ther remaining lines are just there as an example to demonstrate the usefullness of the spreadsheet.
Hang in there, Kevin.
Paul
Edit: Oops! I meant the other Left and Right lol! I fixed it.
-- Edited by Exterior Cleaning NW Florida on Thursday 16th of August 2012 09:07:35 AM
Just did the calculation and Kevin your mix was about 4% which is strong for a house....However, Palmento your mix is about a .4% strength.
Chris Madden said
Aug 13, 2012
All Aspects Ltd wrote:
Just did the calculation and Kevin your mix was about 4% which is strong for a house....However, Palmento your mix is about a .4% strength.
That is correct. I use between .25% and .5% for all my vinyl and hardi board house washing. It works great for me,
and NO concerns of plant/paint damage.
Chris
AC Lockyer said
Aug 13, 2012
Agreed. You can almost use the left over SH in the bottom of your tank that the pump cant pick up and dilute it to 100 gallons and still clean surfaces like vinyl siding, alum screen enclosures, metal roofs and alike.
AC
Laurie Benjamin said
Aug 14, 2012
Metal roofs...lol...We must have a different moss here or maybe Trinidadians neglect their roof untill its thick at certain parts...1% does nothing besides change the colour on our local metal, 1% is for sidings,that was one of the things that made me doubt the softwash in the begining ..... ...I go straight 3% and still have to do a second pass..
Maybe i would brimg some local moss in January...lol
-- Edited by All Aspects Ltd on Tuesday 14th of August 2012 11:02:49 PM
AC Lockyer said
Aug 15, 2012
Arggggggggggg it will be a salty moss indeed!
Pirate AC :P
Ryan Wilkins said
Aug 16, 2012
The only solution for pollution is dilution!!
AC Lockyer said
Aug 17, 2012
The Three D's of Plant Protection.
Divert Dilute Decontaminate
AC
Danny Cronauer said
Aug 17, 2012
speaking of decontaminate, I pour a little bit of plant wash in the gutter and rinse it down. Does it do anything I don't know, I tell myself it should balance the PH of the soil.
Hi All:
I am new to the industry. I have done a couple of jobs. I have problems on two of the jobs with plants that were very close to or touching the house and a couple from run off.
I used a 100 gal. total mix. = 15 gal of SH(12.5%); 64 oz green wash and the rest water.
The one job was a full house cleaing - roof, siding, porch, and walk way.
The other was two sides of a house and porch and walkway.
I rinsed all plant life and grass before starting, did cleaning, rinsed cleaning and plant life, and then final rinsed all plant life after.
The full house job got interupted by a tunderstorm and I did not get the plant wash completed. Went back next day and completed along with a few minor spots missed.
Lost several plants, flowers and tress.
The partial house I forgot to complete the plant wash. Both days were extremely hot and humid. From talking to a couple of people and reading topics/posts - I believe I need to take breaks and rinse more often since it was so hot near 100 degrees and 70-90% humidity.
Anyway, want is the best to protect in first place and is there anything to do after they are dead or dying, droping leaves? - Like adding Plant Wash after the fact again.
Is covering the best or use PW first?
Please provide help.
Thank you.
Kevin
Have you taken the Plant & Property Protection Module yet?
Also remember the Three Ds
Divert, Dilute, Decontaminate.
AC
AC
Thank you all for the information.
As I said I am new to the industry, someone was giving me some guidance and has kind of dropped off the face of the earth for me.
So I am am basically learning as I go and get started.
I will get right on taking that module.
I did review and have a copy of the mixology page and went inbetween the 1% and 2% Cleaning solution - it appeared to cover all the surfaces I was cleaning.
And yes it looks like I will be replacing plants, possible shutter painted and a re-seal of a driveway for the one customer.
Thank you again.
Kevin,
I hate that happened to you, I can assure you that most, if not all here have learned something the hard way in this business.
There should be no reason for any member here to go through the learning curve again. Read and take in as much as you can,
take the Modules as you can, and get on here and ask for some help. We are all here to help one another, and some day you will be
answering questions and helping someone get started in this business.
I am ALL ABOUT the least amount of SH as possible to get your task at hand completed. Always start your mix weak and add to it if you need to.
You can not take SH out of your solution once it is in there. Start at 1/8 to 1/4 of a percent and see if it cleans the surface you are working on.
If it does not, go up to 3/4 or 1 percent. Most of the House Washing I do uses between 1/8 to 1/4 percent SH. It WORKS!!!! and there is little
to NO chance of damage to any plants or painted surfaces (except those with a color tint issue, More on that in the modules)
I wish you well in making right by the customer or customers you have an issue with. Lesson Learned, and get on here and post, that's what we are ALL
here for... One big SoftWashing consulting community.
Don't get discouraged, It will only get better
Have a great weekend Kevin!!!!
Chris
Call me immediately about the plants and get me pix and names of the plants. I have a hort degree and may be able to help save you some money.
AC
Do you have a ground guy?
How did you mess up the driveway?
Keep reading, Keep learning. It will all be ok. Modules!
Dan
Kevin,
Sorry to hear about your troubles. When I first started out in the exterior cleaning business I got into trouble with plants on a job too. It cost me a lot of money to have a professional company replace all the plants I killed surrounding a deck that wrapped around the back of a house. In the end though, my customer was so grateful that I did the right thing by replacing the plants and finishing the job that he gave me a $400 tip. It didn't nearly cover my costs, but I believe it salvage my reputation in the community.
Your mix was actually a little less than 2%. Check out the screenshot below. I plugged your numbers into the spreadsheet and did a little 'what if' testing on the 'Desired Strength of Mix' field to find the gallons of water you used to get your 100 gallon mix (first Red line). On the second (red) line I just plugged 100, 4, and 12.5 to the LEFT of the = sign, to get the raw material requirements on the RIGHT of the = sign, which would give you a 100gal of mix with a 4% SH ratio per gallon. Ther remaining lines are just there as an example to demonstrate the usefullness of the spreadsheet.
Hang in there, Kevin.
Paul
Edit: Oops! I meant the other Left and Right lol! I fixed it.
-- Edited by Exterior Cleaning NW Florida on Thursday 16th of August 2012 09:07:35 AM
Just did the calculation and Kevin your mix was about 4% which is strong for a house....However, Palmento your mix is about a .4% strength.
That is correct. I use between .25% and .5% for all my vinyl and hardi board house washing. It works great for me,
and NO concerns of plant/paint damage.
Chris
AC
Metal roofs...lol...We must have a different moss here or maybe Trinidadians neglect their roof untill its thick at certain parts...1% does nothing besides change the colour on our local metal, 1% is for sidings,that was one of the things that made me doubt the softwash in the begining ..... ...I go straight 3% and still have to do a second pass..
Maybe i would brimg some local moss in January...lol
-- Edited by All Aspects Ltd on Tuesday 14th of August 2012 11:02:49 PM
Pirate AC :P
Divert
Dilute
Decontaminate
AC