[Mike Halliday]

I bought a full WFP system a few months ago, is this capable of cleaning green, horrible conservatory roof inc the apex?

Or should I be buying a big set of step ladders and getting up their and scrubbing it.

I know they are all different, but is a roof clean a full mornings work or can they be cleaned quite quickly with the right equipment and a bit of practice

[Smudger]

You should be able to clean the majority of conny roofs with wfp. Sometimes when access is tight you will benefit from splitting a 3m double so you can climb up above the gutter line, this is a personal preference as I find the angle better to clean and it's faster - WFP will remove all that green and black, but we always g101 as it speeds up the whole process. Lichen can be hard work, there are various ways to tackle this,

Check with customer with glass roofs, if self cleaning no chemicals!

Darran

[Great Outdoors]

Lightly soiled you may get away with wfp, depends what level of service your offering, for a deep clean you may need to apply creams and solvents around trims Etc, We use platforms for access as its far safer than ladders. Time depends on size / shape access etc, we have cleaned some within a few hrs others over a few days  .
Always carry out a survey, charge accordingly

[Smudger]

[Matt Gibson]

I hate the finials. They can be fragile.

[Blast Away]

I hate the finials. They can be fragile.

After chem, turbo nozzle low pressure gets in the nooks and crannies on them mate without blowing them off.

[Matt Gibson]

Good tip. Cheers.

[Aqua Power Solutions]

Mike, if you intend to do a lot of roofs get some conservatory ladders. Expensive but gets you up close to the finials and crestings for a deep clean . Also looks more professional . Ed

[Kenny83]

Foam the conservatory up with tfr out of a foam nozzle, you can use hypo on brown conservatories which is even better and cleans quicker! covered in solution within 30 seconds, scrub with soft conservatory cleaning brush, usually around 20 - 30 mins for a small - medium conservatory, rinse off, then check for and missed bits and finish off with a polish / solvent wipe around the ingrained areas (usually around the door steps, hinges and gutters 

[Mike Halliday]

Can you not use  hypo on white upvc?

Thanks for the advice so far, so a pair of these would be advantages?.....

http://www.extensionladdersonline.co.uk/shop/conservatory-ladders/trade-conservatory-ladder

[Griffus]

Virosol, and a WFP connected straight to garden tap for the grimey ones.  Rinse well afterwards with tap water and then finish with pure.   Try to keep the Virosol away from the glass as much as possible as it takes some shifting and will leave bad streaks if not completely removed.

WFP on its own with pure water will sort a few though.

Get a range of brushes, stiff through to flocked.   These two are good for connies.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODIxWDk0NQ==/$%28KGrHqZ,!ooFBsd%28QfqwBQfst8nsOg~~60_35.JPG

http://www.cleaningspot.co.uk/acatalog/hi-lounjettedbig.jpg

[Smudger]

you don't need to splash out for those ladders using WFP.
If your offering a cleaning service then WFP with a bit of g101/ubik/virosol etc.. Will bring up 99% of conservatories to as new condition and certainly 100% of them better than the customer was expecting or hoping for. However, if your going into restoring the conservatory then you would require these because your getting up there to hand scrub the spars, re seal spars, remove replace end caps etc...  That's a totally different service, for a restoration clean your looking at £600 minimum to make worth while for your time spent on it.

Darran

[Kenny83]

Can you not use  hypo on white upvc?

Thanks for the advice so far, so a pair of these would be advantages?.....

http://www.extensionladdersonline.co.uk/shop/conservatory-ladders/trade-conservatory-ladder

Mike, in my experience hypo on white upvc is a big no no, however on newer upvc a mild solution, say 10:1 has worked great, but I think this maybe put down to how they make it now, it must be more chemical resistant. I have done test patches on older upvc have turned them yellow!  so defo not advisable

[Matt Gibson]

I'm with Darran. I use G101 and it works great.

[Roger Oakley]

Can you not use  hypo on white upvc?

Thanks for the advice so far, so a pair of these would be advantages?.....

http://www.extensionladdersonline.co.uk/shop/conservatory-ladders/trade-conservatory-ladder

Mike, in my experience hypo on white upvc is a big no no, however on newer upvc a mild solution, say 10:1 has worked great, but I think this maybe put down to how they make it now, it must be more chemical resistant. I have done test patches on older upvc have turned them yellow!  so defo not advisable

Plus with the older ones, the rubber seals are prone to rot, so you are not going to want a hypo mix getting into the cavity etc. You can reverse the "yellowing" Kenny, Citric Acid but you have to be quick in getting it on the UPVC.

[Kenny83]

Can you not use  hypo on white upvc?

Thanks for the advice so far, so a pair of these would be advantages?.....

http://www.extensionladdersonline.co.uk/shop/conservatory-ladders/trade-conservatory-ladder

Mike, in my experience hypo on white upvc is a big no no, however on newer upvc a mild solution, say 10:1 has worked great, but I think this maybe put down to how they make it now, it must be more chemical resistant. I have done test patches on older upvc have turned them yellow!  so defo not advisable

Plus with the older ones, the rubber seals are prone to rot, so you are not going to want a hypo mix getting into the cavity etc. You can reverse the "yellowing" Kenny, Citric Acid but you have to be quick in getting it on the UPVC.

 
Thanks Roger

[Aqua Power Solutions]

Mike

These ladders are what we use !

Getting up close we find will achieve better results on all of the upvc  Ed

[Matt Gibson]

That ladder is awesome.

[Smudger]

Yep nice ladders, but you don't need to get that close to get perfect results

Darran

[Kevin Miller]

Darren I know you've talked me through this before but I've forgot. I've got a clx 22 WFP and virosol. What mixture of virosol would you suggest 1:10? How do you apply it with a brush or pressure sprayer? And how long do you leave it to dwell?

[Mike Halliday]

They are a nice set of ladders, i don't think I will be cleaning many until Easter time, so will keep an eye open for any customers that I get who have a dirty conservatory roof that they might let me practice  on with my WFP.

[Smudger]

Best results are at 20% mix.

Depending on how bad the conny is, I apply via a hand pressurised pump, no dwell time, simply start scrubbing - for lightly soiled jobs. Heavily soiled and ingrained jobs I apply through a backpack, we soak over the area with the mix, then 'dry' scrub ie.. Work the mix in with water fed pole brush, then turn on water and scrub clean.


For a conny that's pictured above in a really bad way would take around an hour and 1/4 for a complete clean top to bottom (finials, spars, panels, guttering, frames, windows and sills)

Darran

[Great Outdoors]

Best results are at 20% mix.

Depending on how bad the conny is, I apply via a hand pressurised pump, no dwell time, simply start scrubbing - for lightly soiled jobs. Heavily soiled and ingrained jobs I apply through a backpack, we soak over the area with the mix, then 'dry' scrub ie.. Work the mix in with water fed pole brush, then turn on water and scrub clean.


For a conny that's pictured above in a really bad way would take around an hour and 1/4 for a complete clean top to bottom (finials, spars, panels, guttering, frames, windows and sills)

Darran

Darran, how much would you charge for conny above 

[Smudger]

Between £90 and £110 for the outside, price varies dependant on how crappy they are and if bundled in a deal where we are doing the soffit fascia gutters or the insides as well.


This one ( as pictured earlier )


Was an in/out for £375 - slightly underpriced as 2 men on it for 4 hours

Darran

[Great Outdoors]

Funny how we all approach these slightly differently, yet costs are comparative.

 

[Smudger]

When you say costs are comparative, do you mean what we charge ?

Roughly how long would a conny of that size take getting up there cleaning with a paint brush and UPVC cleaner ??

Darran

[Aqua Power Solutions]

Time taken to complete job = £££ regardless of type of clean customers requires . Ed  

[Smudger]

Sorry that's too cryptic for me....


I've been happy to share, appears your not

Darran

[Aqua Power Solutions]

Sorry Darren I thought you was asking Great Outdoors !

To price yours external £125.00 WFP only or more hands on approach £195-225

About an hour wfp or two hours with deep cleaning all finials and crestings ect

Ed

[Smudger]

No worries mate, I'm interested to see how much difference in time it takes between straightforward WFP and getting up there to do by hand

Darran

[Aqua Power Solutions]

Darren , majority of the clean is done with the wfp we go over the upvc by hand with a product to enhance the white frames ect . Ed

[BDCS]

40 min to clean with a pressure washer and non caustic tfr. wfp windows. £120 outside only if done with another job. I also use hypo on conservatories but with Rogers secret ingredient 
We are in the poor south

[Smudger]

And 3 hours mopping up the insides ?

Darran

[Rob@Blast off]

I seem to be doing loads of these lately, so much easier with a carbon pole  
I remember the first one I did using trad window gear and a garden hose, took me most of the day and it was tiny.
Two hours tops and about £75

[chris scott]

Bleach and bubbles or Quats , Jiff , turbo nozzle , extending lance, rotary brush, pressure washer.

[BDCS]

And 3 hours mopping up the insides ?

Darran

possibly not 

[Great Outdoors]

Mike

These ladders are what we use !

Getting up close we find will achieve better results on all of the upvc  Ed

Aqua,
What's the make of your ladder please    as it does look like it has a good amount of height adjustment compared to the ones we use 

Just noticed shouldn't it have a stabilizing bar at the top of the first ladder ? This bar rests against the vertical panel to stop the ladder
from sliding forward (slip up the legs) on to the guttering. Cheers Mike

You run a risk using a pressure washer to clean conservatories, We work for a local conservatory company, on a referral basis, pressure washing is a no go as it invalidates the 10yr guarantee, same with most manufacturers, it doesn't matter if you just use it for chem application.
 

[chris scott]

Mike

These ladders are what we use !

Getting up close we find will achieve better results on all of the upvc  Ed

Aqua,
What's the make of your ladder please    as it does look like it has a good amount of height adjustment compared to the ones we use  

Just noticed shouldn't it have a stabilizing bar at the top of the first ladder ? This bar rests against the vertical panel to stop the ladder
from sliding forward (slip up the legs) on to the guttering. Cheers Mike

You run a risk using a pressure washer to clean conservatories, We work for a local conservatory company, on a referral basis, pressure washing is a no go as it invalidates the 10yr guarantee, same with most manufacturers, it doesn't matter if you just use it for chem application.
 

Same as pressure washing roofs then....not recommended by the tile manufacturers.
We use "controlled" pressure washing when cleaning conservatories .  
Conservatory ladders  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIOy18bClGg
http://easi-dec.co.uk/store/conservatory-roof-access.html

[Kevin Miller]

Firstly I'm no expert when it comes to conservatory cleaning but using a pressure washer you are surely gonna blast of the seals in the roof and end up leaking inside the conservatory? Also I'm interested in how you would use hypo as I was always under the impression that it can yellow the upvc?

[Smudger]

Pressure washers do damage seals, and can make the conny leak, that's the main reason why we use WFP , many a time I've gone to a job where previously a PW was used and caused more damage, or the customer has ended up with floods inside.

However, it's always been done by amateurs or cowboys, not the skilled operatives that frequent this forum

Darran

[Kevin Miller]

Darren you may be aware but on a facebook window cleaning forum someone is claiming a Eco safe cleaning agent better than ubik and virosol? I know you used g101 but I've bit the bullet and gonna try it. He says its 100% Eco safe with no chemicals

[Great Outdoors]

Mike

These ladders are what we use !

Getting up close we find will achieve better results on all of the upvc  Ed

Aqua,
What's the make of your ladder please    as it does look like it has a good amount of height adjustment compared to the ones we use  



Just noticed shouldn't it have a stabilizing bar at the top of the first ladder ? This bar rests against the vertical panel to stop the ladder
from sliding forward (slip up the legs) on to the guttering. Cheers Mike

You run a risk using a pressure washer to clean conservatories, We work for a local conservatory company, on a referral basis, pressure washing is a no go as it invalidates the 10yr guarantee, same with most manufacturers, it doesn't matter if you just use it for chem application.
 

Same as pressure washing roofs then....not recommended by the tile manufacturers.
We use "controlled" pressure washing when cleaning conservatories .  
Conservatory ladders  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIOy18bClGg
http://easi-dec.co.uk/store/conservatory-roof-access.html

How many customers have ever ... ever used the 'tile manufacturers guarantee' and the manufacturer has declined it as the roof has been pressure washed? Marley or Redlands will not produce figures but I bet you can 
Compare that to customers with a leaking conservatory roof, which is pretty common  

New year and nothings changed,
That link for the ladder is an easi-deck which is not the same as Aqua's its the same as we currently use  

[chris scott]

Here you go then... http://www.ladders-999.co.uk/downloads/LSD_Conservatory_Ladder_2011.pdf.

Conservatory roofs leak because "generally "  they are built of crap and put together by cowboys who could not give a F....
that and dubious works of engineering they call box gutters.

This is one of our operatives demonstrating the access system we use.

[Smudger]

Darren you may be aware but on a facebook window cleaning forum someone is claiming a Eco safe cleaning agent better than ubik and virosol? I know you used g101 but I've bit the bullet and gonna try it. He says its 100% Eco safe with no chemicals

Which ones that ??

Darran

[Smudger]

Here you go then... http://www.ladders-999.co.uk/downloads/LSD_Conservatory_Ladder_2011.pdf.

Conservatory roofs leak because "generally "  they are built of crap and put together by cowboys who could not give a F....
that and dubious works of engineering they call box gutters.

This is one of our operatives demonstrating the access system we use.

Now, now, just a little jesting, I have the upmost respect for you guys regarding pw and other floor treatments, it's not often on this board where I can give an opinion from years of experience 

Darran

[Aqua Power Solutions]

Mike , from Ladder Safety Devices / Lansford Access Ltd /999 Ladders. They do a couple but these are the best. Aprox £500

The bar rests on the bottom of the roof and then the roof ladder clamps onto that

As you know connys come in all different shapes & sizes and these will reach most but not all .

Personally I would not put any PW onto a conny , leave yourself open for complaints !

Ed

[chris scott]

Does nobody ever "wash down" the conservatory /back door/windows after cleaning the patio?

[Rob@Blast off]

Does nobody ever "wash down" the conservatory /back door/windows after cleaning the patio?

Yes but with a low pressure vario nozzle, pressure washing a conny roof is asking for trouble.

[Richy L]

I have lightly pressure washed the finials of a con a couple of times the algae is bad. But that was a while ago. I havent done so for 10 years or so. Its just asking for trouble. And with the right chemicals and a bit of patience you dont need high pressure.

[Smudger]

Does nobody ever "wash down" the conservatory /back door/windows after cleaning the patio?

Yes but with a low pressure vario nozzle, pressure washing a conny roof is asking for trouble.

Ditto - then WFP it

Darran

[chris scott]

Somebody mentioned  G101 .....You should not use g101 on aluminium frames (which are the new UPVC). Virosol is a little bit naughty too.

[Aqua Power Solutions]

Get a lot of job satisfaction doing conny's but the price has to reflect the time & effort.

Ed

[BDCS]

If you amateurs buy incoreect kit that you cannot control to use as little pressure as you NEED then you should not be doing this job. Yes I use hypo, non caustic and caustic TFR - I also have WFP. I have the tools but also an understanding of the chemicals and how to use a pressure washer. Hypo can yellow old Upvc but also lead.

You'll all be saying don't pressure wash walls and patios because you can remove pointing, we all get the punters next door neighbour saying you should never pressure wash block paving because you wash out the jointing sand ------ and so on.

I have a 13 mtr ladder - I use it for cleaning a conservatory roof on the 4th floor.
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-349785/lyte-ht350.html?gclid=CI6koO26osECFYXJtAodU1QAug

[chris scott]

If you amateurs buy incoreect kit that you cannot control to use as little pressure as you NEED then you should not be doing this job. Yes I use hypo, non caustic and caustic TFR - I also have WFP. I have the tools but also an understanding of the chemicals and how to use a pressure washer. Hypo can yellow old Upvc but also lead.

You'll all be saying don't pressure wash walls and patios because you can remove pointing, we all get the punters next door neighbour saying you should never pressure wash block paving because you wash out the jointing sand ------ and so on.

I have a 13 mtr ladder - I use it for cleaning a conservatory roof on the 4th floor.
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-349785/lyte-ht350.html?gclid=CI6koO26osECFYXJtAodU1QAug

What you can regulate the pressure for more delicate tasks...Thats a bit of a revelation

[BDCS]

Chris I thought of you today - Kevin Malony was on the telly.

You just use a big nozzle and knock the revs back - beats some fat blubber lugger leaping around on the roof with his astonish one product cleans all miracle cleaner from Kleeneze  or was it bettaware you are the agent for 

[chris scott]

 

[chris scott]

Talking about big nozzles ...where is the man himself . He must of returned from his hols by now

[BDCS]

Tax exile - how many times do you need telling - the Tax man takes my word easier than you do  

Is it really safe to pressure wash that far up a ladder without a harness and if you look carefully the sofa is floating on the water thats rushed in through the roof while you are blasting the seals out 

[Great Outdoors]

Mike , from Lansford Access Ltd /999 Ladders. They do a couple but these are the best. Aprox £500

The bar rests on the bottom of the roof and then the roof ladder clamps onto that

As you know connys come in all different shapes & sizes and these will reach most but not all .

Personally I would not put any PW onto a conny , leave yourself open for complaints !

Ed

Thanks Ed

Agree 100%, But we are just amateurs 

Over 10 years in this business, never had an insurance claim and we don't carry out house cleans for £12.50 per hr 

[chris scott]

I must be a pro too .....I have never had an insurance claim.
 Is that how we measure our success ?

[Mike Halliday]

Just sorted through my kit and put together some ideas.

 I was thinking of feeding direct from the outside tap going into dosatron chemical injector then a propane water heater into the WFP.

Does hot water make a difference?

Been noticing con roofs over the last weeks and they look simple.....apart from the one that have a hip roof where one side comes down against the side of the house to a valley or gutter ( as in Eds photo above) how do you clean that side?

[Rob@Blast off]

I've never used hot, i just use a garden sprayer then scrub with the water off then use pure to finish.
If it slopes towards the house you'll need to put a ladder against the house like this one i did.


And a free standing combi ladder would be a good idea as well.

For this one i got up on the roof.

[chris scott]

Just sorted through my kit and put together some ideas.

 I was thinking of feeding direct from the outside tap going into dosatron chemical injector then a propane water heater into the WFP.

Does hot water make a difference?

Been noticing con roofs over the last weeks and they look simple.....apart from the one that have a hip roof where one side comes down against the side of the house to a valley or gutter ( as in Eds photo above) how do you clean that side?

Make sure You "allow" time to clean out the box gutter on these type of conservatories.Some are a job in themselves...

[BDCS]

Why is the gutter an epic ?

http://www.windowcleaningwarehouse.co.uk/GUTCL.html

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/L-G-Harris-731-5m-Premier-Extension-Pole-Brand-New-/291272226373?pt=UK_DIY_Material_Paint_Varnish_MJ&hash=item43d12d7645

[chris scott]

Not all of them but I have a few "regulars" were the roof virtually butts up to the wall....(one of them) material needs to be removed from the box after taking the return off the front.
The second picture of Rob@blast off's the membrane is in the middle of the gutter...
Not a major problem but something that can take more time than you first envisaged.