First softwash job booked in !

So i have got my first softwash job booked in today ! Pretty excited but also nervous about it. I have to softwash a large new build house walls render - i am aware that the hypo can cause problems with various exterior fixtures, and this house has a new metal chimney pipe which a lot of the green mould is behind (included a picture). Of course i will wet up everything before i start, but the chimney is a bit of a worry if the metal reacts badly to the hypo ? 

Questions are:

Chimney -  Safe to spray with hypo mix ?

What mix are people generally using for a fairly clean render like this ? Is 10:1 a strong enough ratio to take care of the render

Can anyone recommend a good surfactant ? I need to order one but have not much idea about where is a good supplier to go to

Scent - anyone use these and recommend one 

As always thanks in advance for any help given ?

Looks like a stainless steel chimney, I would do a test spot on an area that's hard to see from the ground. I think its a 5% solution but Pjj will keep you right. It doesn't look to bad, maybe need to hit the worse bits and then do the whole wall starting from the bottom. 

No need for more than 2% for render.

That is what I use on jobs like that.

Use a wfp and you won't get it on the condenser pipe.

Hypo mix of 4-1 will sort that out fine , I personally wouldn’t get it on the flue pipe but it won’t hurt it if you do , either spray or apply with wfp light rub with the pole and rinse with the garden hose , do it like you saw us doing with that house at Hayle , give me a bell if you are unsure 

for surfactant give bonnymans a ring cleaverwash is good and there scent mask is also very good , that’s what we use 

Another thing:- that SS flu costs £100 plus a metre. So if you damage it and need to replace it then you are doing the job for nothing. I think its for a log burner in the living room. fwiw

scottish cleaning service said:

Another thing:- that SS flu costs £100 plus a metre. So if you damage it and need to replace it then you are doing the job for nothing. I think its for a log burner in the living room. fwiw

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just trying to get a plan together in my head for techniques to apply the hypo behind the flu - any idea's on this kind of thing would be welcome - it looks like the wind maybe quite strong when i do it - i see this as a potential problem. My initial thought for applying the mix is to use a small brush on my WFP, combined with the lowest flow i can obtain from my backback. To get a really low flow i quite often use one of the gardiner old school flow valves half closed - it reduces the backbacks flow to obtain a almost dribble with no chemicals projecting the end of the brush. Just gonna try and scrub it in behind quick and neatly as i can, leave it 10 mins and then rinse it off.

DeLaCruz said:

just trying to get a plan together in my head for techniques to apply the hypo behind the flu - any idea's on this kind of thing would be welcome - it looks like the wind maybe quite strong when i do it - i see this as a potential problem. My initial thought for applying the mix is to use a small brush on my WFP, combined with the lowest flow i can obtain from my backback. To get a really low flow i quite often use one of the gardiner old school flow valves half closed - it reduces the backbacks flow to obtain a almost dribble with no chemicals projecting the end of the brush. Just gonna try and scrub it in behind quick and neatly as i can, leave it 10 mins and then rinse it off.

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Just have the flow reasonably low and scrub as you are going the brush should fit behind the flue pipe nice easy little job fir you to get some experience with . 

DeLaCruz said:

just trying to get a plan together in my head for techniques to apply the hypo behind the flu -

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I know what I would do but it will take a bit of time. I would mix up some softwash in a bucket and go up a ladder and apply it with a 4" paint brush. If any went on the flu then I would wipe it off with a cloth. It might be overkill but it isolates the risk area and then the rest can be done with the backpack and wfp. ?

scottish cleaning service said:

I know what I would do but it will take a bit of time. I would mix up some softwash in a bucket and go up a ladder and apply it with a 4" paint brush. If any went on the flu then I would wipe it off with a cloth. It might be overkill but it isolates the risk area and then the rest can be done with the backpack and wfp. ?

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A bit of hypo won’t hurt 316 grade stainless steel flue pipe I used to fit multi fuel stoves and have used many hundreds of meters of Selkirk and similar types of ss flue systems , obviously rinse it down well though .

yeah plan was to pre rinse thoroughly, then carefully apply around the flu, and rinse off asap - curious how long would you leave hyp on for (mould seems fairly thin overall)

Pjj said:

A bit of hypo won’t hurt 316 grade stainless steel flue pipe I used to fit multi fuel stoves and have used many hundreds of meters of Selkirk and similar types of ss flue systems , obviously rinse it down well though .

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Delacruz would like that in writing. ? I don't think it would make a difference but it might dull it down a bit. Depends on what the customer is like but I would rather spend an extra hour and make sure i don't touch it. Better safe than sorry.

thanks guys - for the rest of the wall i have justy invested in a softwash nozzle https://www.wintecs.co.uk/softwash-roof-and-render-cleaning/streamline-softclean-softwash-angle-adapter-w-nozzle/

wanted to get into using this for these jobs - would you recommend that for this kind of job ?

DeLaCruz said:

yeah plan was to pre rinse thoroughly, then carefully apply around the flu, and rinse off asap - curious how long would you leave hyp on for (mould seems fairly thin overall)

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Do it as you have said hear , leave on and re apply until the green disappears then give it a scrub and rinse job done you can rinse between applications but it’s not essential that’s only minimal contamination it should come off like  a piece of cake , just be aware off your run off keep it diluted well or it will clean the path or could kill grass ???

DeLaCruz said:

thanks guys - for the rest of the wall i have justy invested in a softwash nozzle https://www.wintecs.co.uk/softwash-roof-and-render-cleaning/streamline-softclean-softwash-angle-adapter-w-nozzle/

wanted to get into using this for these jobs - would you recommend that for this kind of job ?

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I use the ones from ben at Rutland pumps , you can use different orifice sizes for different products like ,hypo ,bio, virosol etc 

so many options on this one, first things first though, you'll need to order some oxalic acid for the rust stains that are starting to appear from the bottom of the flue plus, for the steel screws they have used to hold the brackets to the wall.

the acid needs to be applied before you do any other work not for poisones gasses or anything like that but the general rule is that you remove any surface stains first on softwashing  jobs, once you've done that its then very simple to just clean the whole area up and much easier too. if this is your first soft wash job then i'd be inclined to buy some lightning cleanze from benz, it'll give you the results you would like and theres no error of judgment with dosing, theres such a low amount of hypo in it so it would reduce the risk of damaging other areas from run off, spray from the bottom upwards- always and soak the wall with water before you apply anything to it so it would stop the stain from running into the render, remember you are only working on the surface should you use hypo or products like it.

hope this helps. the advice is based on just that job by the way, many jobs need different approaches and products to get the desired result so theres really not one product fixes all scenario.

Thanks for the tips @kevinc250 much appreciated.

Tbh i don't think i have time to order the Lightning Cleanz.  My plan is to measure and mix very carefully a 1.5% Hypo mix (basically a very weak mix) for this job, was hoping that the compromise of a weaker mix would still have enough cleaning power to take whilst minimizing risk of chimney stains ?

I have ordered a container of this stuff to act as a surfactant: https://www.bonnymans.co.uk/product-page/clever-wash-surfactant-scent-masker-wax-rinse-aid-and-also-boosts-sodium-hypo

It says in the description it: "Also Boosts Sodium Hypochlorite" I assume this increases the cleaning potency of the solution i mix up ?

In your advice you mention "always spray upwards" are you referring to using the softwash nozzle and starting from bottom and applying in an upwards direction ? 

Sorry so many questions just wanna get this one right ?

He means start at the bottom of the wall and work your way upwards.

That way any runoff runs over the area already treated which in effect re treats it as you clean.. it is more effective and uses less chemical.

DeLaCruz said:

Thanks for the tips @kevinc250 much appreciated.

Tbh i don't think i have time to order the Lightning Cleanz.  My plan is to measure and mix very carefully a 1.5% Hypo mix (basically a very weak mix) for this job, was hoping that the compromise of a weaker mix would still have enough cleaning power to take whilst minimizing risk of chimney stains ?

I have ordered a container of this stuff to act as a surfactant: https://www.bonnymans.co.uk/product-page/clever-wash-surfactant-scent-masker-wax-rinse-aid-and-also-boosts-sodium-hypo

It says in the description it: "Also Boosts Sodium Hypochlorite" I assume this increases the cleaning potency of the solution i mix up ?

In your advice you mention "always spray upwards" are you referring to using the softwash nozzle and starting from bottom and applying in an upwards direction ? 

Sorry so many questions just wanna get this one right ?

Click to expand...

DeLaCruz said:

Thanks for the tips @kevinc250 much appreciated.

Tbh i don't think i have time to order the Lightning Cleanz.  My plan is to measure and mix very carefully a 1.5% Hypo mix (basically a very weak mix) for this job, was hoping that the compromise of a weaker mix would still have enough cleaning power to take whilst minimizing risk of chimney stains ?

I have ordered a container of this stuff to act as a surfactant: https://www.bonnymans.co.uk/product-page/clever-wash-surfactant-scent-masker-wax-rinse-aid-and-also-boosts-sodium-hypo

It says in the description it: "Also Boosts Sodium Hypochlorite" I assume this increases the cleaning potency of the solution i mix up ?

In your advice you mention "always spray upwards" are you referring to using the softwash nozzle and starting from bottom and applying in an upwards direction ? 

Sorry so many questions just wanna get this one right ?

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Yes that is the stuff we use it’s good stuff but the scent mask in it isn’t much cop we add cleaverwash scent mask as well you cannot smell any bleach at all with this stuff it’s what we used on the job in Hayle when you came down , I don’t want to be controversial but start spraying from the top not the bottom , if your application rate is right you won’t need to spray the last foot or so from the ground as the mix running down the wall will cover that , it’s an old wives tail that doing it from the top will cause streaking 

Pjj said:

Yes that is the stuff we use it’s good stuff but the scent mask in it isn’t much cop we add cleaverwash scent mask as well you cannot smell any bleach at all with this stuff it’s what we used on the job in Hayle when you came down , I don’t want to be controversial but start spraying from the top not the bottom , if your application rate is right you won’t need to spray the last foot or so from the ground as the mix running down the wall will cover that , it’s an old wives tail that doing it from the top will cause streaking 

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I do it that way also Paul but was advising him so he can get the right coverage etc.

I just put the flow where I need it and start at the top.

according to the app, to give you a 2% mix for 20 litres its 17.25l of water tap water as your water will be hard, 2.65l of hypo and 100ml of surfactant. I don't use the app anymore but those measurements will give you a guideline, 

I know some spray from the top downwards but if you spray from the bottom upwards you create an even coverage rather than creating tracks and more mix will be on the wall rather than running off onto the floor, again practice this when you pre-wet the k rend

My app says roughly the same .

It's for chemists but works for our job and free on the app store.

It's called solution calculator and you use the section titled dilute.

Doesn't matter what measurements you use on the first 2 boxes (mm etc as long as they are both the same.

Free and accurate.

thanks lads the hypo i am using is 11% concentration stuff from Mole Valley Farmers - i invested in a solution calculator app so will give it a try tomorrow and then friday i have the job so finger crossed it goes well - watch this space