How to Clean Roofs with Trisodium Phosphate

Information about the use of TSP, or Trisodium Phosphate in your roof cleaning solution from Peerless Roof Cleaning Tampa FL. TSP in a roof cleaning solution has many benefits and should never be skipped, here are just a few.

Thickens the solution, allowing much more dwell time on the roof surface, allowing for the use of weaker bleach ratio’s.
Has tremendous cleaning powers itself and is safe to use with bleach.
Water soluble and will easily rinse off with garden hose pressure or rain. This is used to remove the dead algae and settled dirt. Imagine the amount of dirt that would settle on your car if you hadn’t cleaned it in years. Trust me, you need TSP for this reason alone.roof cleaning tampa

Many times the use of this additive is skipped or not given the attention needed and it boggles my mind why. The common fear is that TSP will strip paint from a homes exterior and pool cage powder coating. TSP in a roof cleaning solution that is left on windows to dry will leave a very difficult stain to remove. While these beliefs are true, in the correct hands, the benefit of using TSP dramatically enables the use of sodium hypochlorite as the active ingredient.

Mixing TSP for Roof Cleaning

When mixing the TSP with bleach for roof cleaning, you will want to use a pressure washer with the black soft spray chemical injector tip. We use a 5.5 gallon system just for this reason. TSP can be very difficult to mix, hot water is recommended but not needed, here is a simple method.

Dispense the proper ratio of TSP into the mixing tank before adding bleach. We recommend starting with a 50 to 75 gallon solution for a 1500-2000 square foot roof moderately covered with algae, and in pitch. If the roof is steep you will want to utilize more TSP and add more as you see fit. You may use LESS total solution on a steep roof.roof cleaning tampa

Add bleach to the tank at the proper ratio’s provided by the manufacturers. Make sure to obtain the ratio at your targeted total mix in gallons (after mixing with water).

Add water to the tank via a pressure washer using the black soft spray chemical injection tip. Do not use the high pressure blasting tips. Stir the TSP with the spray tip on the end of a 4 foot aluminum wand while adding the water. When you reach half of your total solution stop. Allow the solution to settle for 5-10 minutes, this is a very important step. You can use this time for any of the other steps in the roof cleaning preparation process.

After the solution has had time to settle at half the total mix formula, start up your pressure washer again and mix in the final amount of water to achieve your desired total mix. At this time, some professionals like to add a fragrance or soap to the mix. You can do this easily and measured while you stir the TSP. Just put the chemical injector feed line into the desired soap and add in the pull ratio of your chemical injector to achieve the correct draw. Many professionals like to use a professional commercial cleaning fragrance designed to be used with beach solutions. A quick search on google should lead to a commercial grade distributor.

Warning! Do not add anything containing ammonia to bleach. A common mistake is to add dish soap. This can create harmful fumes. You do not have to add anything to the ARMA solution to make it work correctly. This is a guide or template to clean a roof to achieve minimum standards.
You now should have your desired final amount of roof cleaning solution with the TSP mixed properly.

Tips from Peerless for Safer Roof Cleaning

Using TSP can really speed up your roof cleaning production, cleaning tiles fast and efficiently will get you out of the stampa roof cleaningun faster. When using TSP you must prepare other surfaces for over-spray. Just like a professional painter would tape and cover windows, you may have to take precautions in certain circumstances when using higher levels of TSP. Don’t be a lazy roof cleaner and skip this step or avoid using TSP for this reason.

Keeping the area that will be exposed to the roof cleaning solution wet with a garden hose or a zero degree soap tip on the pressure washer by your ground-man will ensure a safe application. If a strong TSP solution is being used and run-off cannot be redirected from the exterior, tape plastic tarps to the exterior to protect it from the solution. This is very common when cleaning tile roofs and steep roof cleaning when a thicker solution is needed for dwell time. If the powder coating on the aluminum pool cage is aged and oxidizing, a plastic tarp placed over the screens just high enough to contain over-spray at the gutter line should be used.

This is a quick and effective method to protect the enclosure. Finally, always water the exterior surface of the building, windows and plants, before, during and after all roof cleaning  solutions application. Follow these steps and you can utilize the dramatic benefits of well mixed TSP, with solid precautions in place.

2 Responses to How to Clean Roofs using TSP – Trisodium Phosphate

  • Bernie Smith says:

    Great article on roof cleaning, but we live in Indiana and do not have many tile roofs, mostly Asphalt. Can this mix be used on this type of shingle. Also what else can it clean out side the housr Thanks Bernie

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