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Conservatory roof method & equipment check list

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140
Location
Northumberland
Hi !

Obviously have done my fair share of conservatory roofs over the years with good results.

If priced correctly apart from being a nice extra earner I also get quite a lot of satisfaction seeing the before and afters and customer feedback.

So much that I think it's about time to invest in some specific conservatory roof equipment.

I've been having good results just using standard Gardiner pole and brush heads 

Widely available standard detergents for the agitation stage an initial rinse off with tap water which not only saves pure water but gives you better rising.  Then Unger pole blading of water and finally a purified water rinse which pushes down any last amounts of tap water that may be left and leaves it with a clear finish.

However I've been looking at this video 

And I have a question to some of you guys the first one was on my mind can you actually pressure wash a roof like this guy does.?Essentially its a much better initial rinse then I'm getting with standard garden pressure not only that but it will also take off any other last pieces of stubborn green dots.

I love that spray machine how it just covers the entire conservatory in white what is that and where to buy?

Can anyone recommend a solution that would be in that machine? I really wouldn't take any risks so nothing like tfr horror stories I heard.

Any sort of brush head perhaps using an unger Pole rather then a gardiner pole and brush.?

Finally which pressure washer is recommend and what sort of pressure maybe just a kartcher as a petrol one may be too high? It might as well be a reasonable one for patios as well tho. Noticed the pressure washer seems to have some sort of a gooseneck which is really neat.

It looks like quite a medium pressure hes using on the roof? I would worry that full pressure could damage the seals.

Any other tips and tricks or clarification on exactly what sort of pressure he's using be great!




 
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The quick answer is to ask him. Just post the questing in his youtube vid comments section. He is a nice very humble bloke who seems to work hard. His methods are a little unusual at times and some stuff he does is a H&S nightmare!

 
After watching the first 5 muinits of the video I was bored to tears so didn’t watch the  rest , but I wouldn’t want to use a pressure washer on a conservatory roof if that’s what he does as there is a high risk of blasting water through seals and causing a leak , a simple but proven way to do the job is spray with a Virosol mix , good scrub with wfp then good rinse with garden hose finish off with pure job done easy peasy . 

 
After watching the first 5 muinits of the video I was bored to tears so didn’t watch the  rest , but I wouldn’t want to use a pressure washer on a conservatory roof if that’s what he does as there is a high risk of blasting water through seals and causing a leak , a simple but proven way to do the job is spray with a Virosol mix , good scrub with wfp then good rinse with garden hose finish off with pure job done easy peasy . 
Yeah that's how I been doing it not the (virosol tho) wanted to buy that foam sprayer thing does it attach to a unger pole?

How safe is virosol?

I heard about pressure washer potentially causing issues but also heard if it's low pressure it's fine?

Realistically it would save a lot of time and sometimes some of those very stubborn parts in the corners hard excess would blow off with a PW.

It does look like a reasonably low pressure 

The water doesn't seem to be to strong it must be a certain attachment?

Just seen video again seems to actually be a standard kartcher PW so I would be worried about seals etc. But if anyone using a pw on a roof with no problems that would be good to know

 
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Virosol if diluted 10-1 is fine , I wouldn't  want to use a pressure washer on a roof like that garden hose pressure should be fine much safer option and if you have scrubbed the roof if only needs rinsing  with tap pressure and copious amounts of water to remove the dirt , I have had the occasional leak evan using this method so certainly wouldn’t want to use a PW .

 
Virosol if diluted 10-1 is fine , I wouldn't  want to use a pressure washer on a roof like that garden hose pressure should be fine much safer option and if you have scrubbed the roof if only needs rinsing  with tap pressure and copious amounts of water to remove the dirt , I have had the occasional leak evan using this method so certainly wouldn’t want to use a PW .
Fair enough I'll definitely not PW then I guess. 

How about that foam sprayer?

So 10-1 if it's a 5L sprayer you put half a litre in then water 4.5l right. Does it foam up how long do you wait and obviously in the Sun you probably can't wait long can you

 
Fair enough I'll definitely not PW then I guess. 

How about that foam sprayer?

So 10-1 if it's a 5L sprayer you put half a litre in then water 4.5l right. Does it foam up how long do you wait and obviously in the Sun you probably can't wait long can you
Technically that's not 10:1. 10 to 1 should be 10 parts water to 1 part chemical which makes a total of 11 parts! So 5  litres of water to 0.5 litre of chemical. That's the way I was taught anyway.

 
Before becoming a windie, I fitted windows and conservatories for a few companies.

One simple message. Do not use a pressure washer on the roof!
OK well this sums it all up .here I was thinking it's professional and more efficient but thought I'd double check. I found a post on this forum a while back someone was adamant about pressure washing a conservatory roof below take a look the poster basically says he asked the customer for permission.  I personally wouldn't do that because if the customer says yes but then you cause a leak ? It doesn't really matter if customer says yes then who's going to fix 




 
One thing I've come across on a couple of occasions where pressure washers have been used by other people on conservatory roofs in the past is that they have blasted under the rubber seals to remove moss.
This will have removed most of the moss at the time but has forced the remainder under the seals and lifted and held them up off the glass. This provides an even better environment for the moss to grow thicker. This has made it extremely difficult for us to get at to remove it.

We would use a shorter ladder with the top at gutter height so it's not in the way of our working. We would have ladder mitts on the top of the ladder and scaffold tube foam sleeves on two three sections of gutter as well to protect the gutter and to make the ladder less likely to slip sideways.  I wouldn't work with all my weight above the roof height. If he leans forward too much the bottom of the ladder could kick out. I wouldn't work with one foot on the roof and the other on the ladder. He could push the ladder sideways. We would very gently draw down the loose moss into the gutter with the same brush and pole we'll be using for the wash and then empty the gutter.
We would spray our soapmix through the pole and lather it in very gently to avoid scratching. We would do this on the whole conservatory. Then we would connect the same pole or poles to the customer's outside water supply while the soapmix is dwelling. Then we would blast the top end with the brush straight to force the dirt out of the top edge. Then angle the brush to the correct angle for washing down the roof and bars. Continue with the gutter and work all the way down. Finally connect the same pole and brush to the pure water and give a quick final rinse to the glass. I would think most of us work fairly similarly to each other but with our own variations of chemicals and techniques. ?

 
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Fair enough I'll definitely not PW then I guess. 

How about that foam sprayer?

So 10-1 if it's a 5L sprayer you put half a litre in then water 4.5l right. Does it foam up how long do you wait and obviously in the Sun you probably can't wait long can you
Yes you could do that and it will be ok but @ched999uk is right with how it should be done . I have never had problems with Virosol drying out in the sun on plastics or glass just wet it up again when scrubbing and it should be ok , it doesn’t foam up like the video I don’t see why you need it to do that foaming up doesn't then accomplish any better cleaning results . Hope this helps , I dint leave it fir any dwell time apart from the time it takes to put the sprayer back on the van and get a hose off and start scrubbing. 

 
OK we did a big old conservatory roof today almost wiped me out bad day today being hottest day of the year!. Anyway here's what I observed I see plenty of black seals around the class however the actual glass if you're careful and you don't touch the Seals is there a reason why you can't pressure wash this so literally just aiming for the glass? Common sense tells me you can but you might hit some of the rubber seals and that's where the worry would be right?

Finally equipment I think I want to get.

Definitely don't need a gardiner's pole for this who can recommend a much shorter Pole with a good attachment and a good brush.?

I want some sort of a backpack something that sprays out the mix all over I know virosol doesnt soap up but it does tend to put smiles on customers faces when they see the roof and all the conservatory in soapy foam ? so putting in a little fairy wont hurt with virosol will it other than a backpack how about those things that car valeters use their hand held and probably hold about 3 litres?

 
OK we did a big old conservatory roof today almost wiped me out bad day today being hottest day of the year!. Anyway here's what I observed I see plenty of black seals around the class however the actual glass if you're careful and you don't touch the Seals is there a reason why you can't pressure wash this so literally just aiming for the glass? Common sense tells me you can but you might hit some of the rubber seals and that's where the worry would be right?

Finally equipment I think I want to get.

Definitely don't need a gardiner's pole for this who can recommend a much shorter Pole with a good attachment and a good brush.?

I want some sort of a backpack something that sprays out the mix all over I know virosol doesnt soap up but it does tend to put smiles on customers faces when they see the roof and all the conservatory in soapy foam ? so putting in a little fairy wont hurt with virosol will it other than a backpack how about those things that car valeters use their hand held and probably hold about 3 litres?
You are there to clean the roof to the highest standard in the shortest time for maximum profit in your pocket ,not to start a foam party ??? and look good in front of the customer , Virosol, wfp and garden hose are all that’s needed to accomplish this . 

 
You are there to clean the roof to the highest standard in the shortest time for maximum profit in your pocket ,not to start a foam party ??? and look good in front of the customer , Virosol, wfp and garden hose are all that’s needed to accomplish this . 
You forgot the most important thing, a single tower scaffold to stand on. This means you are above the roof looking down on it and can see everything and makes the job many times easier. That's what i have found out.

 
You are there to clean the roof to the highest standard in the shortest time for maximum profit in your pocket ,not to start a foam party ??? and look good in front of the customer , Virosol, wfp and garden hose are all that’s needed to accomplish this . 
Is Virosol better than Ubik2000? I have only used ubik and I'm quite pleased with the results. If Virosol is better I might give that a go. The only reason I went with Ubik was because it is less toxic to aquatic life.

 
Is Virosol better than Ubik2000? I have only used ubik and I'm quite pleased with the results. If Virosol is better I might give that a go. The only reason I went with Ubik was because it is less toxic to aquatic life.
Lol I don't  know never used ubik ???? but ones that have say they are both similar . I wouldn't put it in a pond but then wouldn’t put anything in one , been using it for  15 years now and not found anything better but always willing to try new products 

 
Lol I don't  know never used ubik ???? but ones that have say they are both similar . I wouldn't put it in a pond but then wouldn’t put anything in one , been using it for  15 years now and not found anything better but always willing to try new products 
Must admit I emailed Clover to see which one they recommended and they said both did good jobs on upvc. I have found Ubik foams up slightly so you (and custy)  can see it on the glass but rinses off easily. It does seem to bring up white upvc nice and white. I oversprayed a bit on some cladding on a dorma today and scrubbed a bit then rinsed. The difference between the side that had ubik vs the one I didn't clean was quite noticeable!!  

 

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