pressure cleaning chemicals and plants

[DirtyCoconuts]

This is more of a hazard than a pest but i did not want it lost in the Off Topic section as it is important.

I live in a city where they city acts like an HOA- one of the annoyances is that they mandate the cleanliness of the roof tiles and i was informed mine needed to be cleaned or there would be a citation.

I have had to do this once before in my 5 years in this house and i remembered from last time that i lost about 20 landscaping plants and now i have several large orchid growing spaces that are in the run off area AND three rain catch systems.

I had a long talk with several companies and could not find one that would do my roof without chemicals. they said it would triple the job at least and they wouldn't want the headache.

i discussed their chemicals and their protocols and bought about a football field of visqueen to cover everything.



it was still not enough. i disconnected the three raincatches from the gutters. all three were still tainted.

the workers did a decent job of covering and wetting and then rinsing the plants...the problem is, the chemicals remain on the roof and keep poisoning the plants for the next SEVERAL rains at least.

i am not sure if i will be doing it myself next time or what but i will caution anyone who has to do this, MOVE the plants you can, do not cover, rinse, rinse rinse and rinse as soon as the workers leave and rinse rinse rinse the plants.

i lost a few orchid growths, my remaining catesetums took a beating and most a TON of leaf loss to the landscaping plants but it is still unacceptable and i hope others can learn from this tale to avoid similar fates

[WaterWitchin]

This is just sad! There's no way to pressure wash a tile roof without harsh chemicals? And if those chemicals are killing off landscape plants at that rate, what about the contamination to the soil and your dogs and kid?

Surely you aren't alone in this problem!

[DirtyCoconuts]

they said they would not divulge the ingridients but it was plant and animal safe....(eyeroll) i don't know any other chemical that smells like bleach that isn't bleach or chlorine...and they are pretty darn different. this was bleach AND whatever else.....


no bueno

[estación seca]

Is this for algae control?

[DirtyCoconuts]

amongst other things like dirt and mildew- once the algae dies it just turns black and stays there

[estación seca]

If you can get to your roof safely, try prophylactic spraying with 3% hydrogen peroxide every few months. If it works you can probably get 55 gallon drums cheaper per ounce than bottles at the store.

[Ray]

1) Pay with a credit card.
2) Submit a claim to the firm requesting payment for damaged landscaping (you can probably visit a nursery to get approximate pricing, then triple it for installation costs)
3) If they don't pay up, talk to the card-issuing bank.

[ArronOB]

I think if faced with this issue again, then maybe do it yourself - hire a pressure washer and buy a ‘roofers kit’.

A roofers kit is safety harness which travels on a long rope which is fixed somewhere near the crest of the roof. They make the job very safe. Mine cost about $170 Aus dollars.

You can fix some anchor points in yourself, or get someone specialised in doing it - and maybe put a permanent point in so it’s always there for the future.

[DirtyCoconuts]

these are tremendous suggestions

i will do all three going forward!!

[WaterWitchin]

I like the idea of using hydrogen peroxide as a preventative maintenance, if it will work. And also Ray's suggestion... make sure whoever does it guarantees it won't harm landscape plants, etc., then roll with it if things go awry. You is a lawyer, so I know you know the drill.

Bleach! I can't think of anything that smells like bleach that isn't bleach either. You're right... no bueno at all! This still just makes me very sad, plus I'm starting to get PO'd about it as well.