A little background on how I started Roof Sparkle. A company that’s making cleaning products asked me if I could make a video for some of their cleaning products. Now I won’t go into details on who they are but they had a roof cleaner that involved the use of a power washer. A big red flag in my eyes. Being a contractor for years, I knew right off the bat that was a big no-no.
So the next question I asked myself what’s that black stuff on the roof. Well, it’s mold. And what kills mold, bleach right. Well, as true as that is bleach is only made up of 5-6% Sodium Hypocrite. And that’s great for your whites and around the house but not on your roof.
For the roof, you will need something a lot more powerful. Some of you may know it as pool shock. This is made up of 12% by weight “Sodium Hypochlorite”. But because it’s as thin as the water it will run right off the roof and not really have the time (five minutes) to do its job. So we have to thicken up a bit. The best way, add some liquid dish soap to the mix to help the SH stick to the roof for more than one second. You can go into any pool supply and ask for a gallon of shock, for about $4.00 per gallon. This is just a heavy-duty version of household bleach. And no Walmart does not sell this or the big box stores. This method will remove algae from a roof.
Now, of course, we buy it from the manufacturer and by the truckloads at a time.
Applying It
When we started we used a regular bug sprayer. Use a three gallon pump sprayer, use one gallon of SH and two gallons of water (H2O) add about 4 oz. of liquid dish soap and spray from the roof top working your way down.
DON’T
- clean your roof when it’s super hot out in the baking sun. It will kill the SH and dry before it’s clean.
- Don’t touch the SH with bare hands. Wear gloves and eye protection.
- Don’t spray your roof down first with water to cool it off.
Comments ( 173 )
Could you tell me how I could go about starting a business doing this? Like how much to charge and what type of setup you are using in the video?
Yes I could. However not for free and would be done via email / phone and pictures of how to setup a trailer or van. $500. and make it back in just one roof job.
Could the roof cleaner be use for molded and stained concrete driveways?
It can to a degree.
Hey thanks for the information. How about Vinyl siding? Will it harm or discolor it? I was told that 10 oz. of Alcohol, Murphy’s Oil Soap and a gal of bleach does the job but I don’t know the ratios.
Careful what you mix with bleach. I’ve seen some siding change to a orange color before. But 99% of the time it works really good.
Can this be used on Fiberglass roof shingles? or a molded brick patio?
Fiberglass shingles is what we’re cleaning in the video. And yes you can clean the moldy brick.
Just want to say…you are awesome! We are about to purchase a 1920 home and I have been watching all your videos for DIY….the best out there! Thanks a bunch for doing this! Cleaning my roof will be one of the first things I do!! (then finishing the rewiring of old knob and tube the previous owner started…yikes!)
I know it was asked but if im using sh do I need to rinse the roof? I don’t want any plants or landscaping to die when it rains and all the dired sh runs off the roof. Dried bleach is still salt and salt kills plants and grass I think. Thank you for your input on this. George
No not really. Unless it was super dirty. Just make sure you rinse the plants very good. And yes very true about the salt. But with a kick LOL..
Hi I couldn’t find the liquid form of Shock so I got the crystals form in small bags. It is called Dazzle and it is for shocking pools. Is this useable and what are the ratios for this stuff?
It must be a liquid pool shock (SH) there is no there choice. Anything else will be extremely dangerous to use.
GREAT videos!
Thank you
Hi Dominick,
We are going to try a bleach and water solution on our roof to get rid of the moss. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated! Should we rinse the roof off with water after the bleach has been sprayed on? How long should we let the bleach solution sit there? Thanks!
Using hot water will kill the SH. Use the water out of your faucet. Rinse the moss off.
I have the same question as Dean how much of a square foot area will the 3 gallon mixture cover, assuming I’m using the hand spray and not a hose. Thanks, so glad to have found this solution.
It’s all going to depend on the sprayer, how much is that sprayer pushing out. And how bad is your roof. for the most part you’ll get about 900 sq ft for three gallons.
We tried the solution on our roof which is pretty old 20+ and did not see a big difference. Could be the roof is permanently discolored. I was also wondering if the solution it self might be the problem..it says 10.5% instead of the 12% you recommend. Would the 10.5% be the problem? That’s what our local pool supply had. BTW your website is amazing can’t thank you enough.
Yes very much so. You really need it stronger. I can’t tell how many times I’ve seen that before. It really does make that much of a difference. Without seeing your roof it’s a little hard for me to say. And thank you very much. I do work my butt off on this site. Like right now at 5:55am lol…