Roof Top deck, need help

johnisimpson

New Member
Hey,

I'm going to give a bid soon on a deck that I'm somewhat familiar with. I'm already aware of a potential problem but I was hoping some of you might tell me that it is either not a problem or easily solved.
The deck is on top of a 3 story apartment building and 1/2 of it has only about 6-10 inches of clearance from the roof. So, I'm worried about stripper and brightner falling between the boards and doing damage to the roof. I'm not sure what type of roof it is. If I remember correctly, it looks as though it was rolled strips of roofing paper with tar. The deck is pressure treated wood with Thompsons applied last year. Big deck too, i don't have the measurements yet, but I know it's over 1,000 square feet.

Any thoughts on how to cover the roof or do you know of any stripper/brightners that won't do damage?

Thanks for any help.

John
 

ron

New Member
ron p

dont use a stripper that has sodium hydroxide in it , it eats tar.
I would use a precarb bleach and citric acid as the cleaner brightner.
The precarb bleach may not be strong enuff to strip whatever your stripping.
Any stripper stronger then that i would cover the roof. Big blue tarps
www.northerntool.com or H.D.
What is the siding?
www.woodstrip.com efc38 check it out
 

johnisimpson

New Member
The deck is not as large as the rooftop so there is not any risk of anything dripping onto the siding, but by the way it is brick siding.

Thanks,

John
 

charlie

New Member
Clean with water only. Also make a clause in your contract that you are not responsiable for any leakage.

Charlie
 

john orr

New Member
John,

If it were me, I would clean it by downstreaming a Sodium Hydroxide-based stripper, pressure wash as normal, then follow with an Oxalic Acid rinse. The acid will neutralize the stripper and really make the deck look great.
 

john orr

New Member
John,

If it were me, I would clean it by downstreaming a Sodium Hydroxide-based stripper, pressure wash as normal, then follow with an Oxalic Acid rinse and then water rinse that too. The acid will neutralize the stripper and really make the deck look great.

Any chems you use, you will want to neutralize. Think about it: where is the water going? Are there drain pipes from the roof? Plants on the ground? Any chem (thinking ph here) could cause a problem, so it is better to balance whatever you are using and leave everything neutral.
 

Mikespowrwash

New Member
I would use an oxalic acid based cleaner / brightener or oxygenated bleach product like Wolman's cleaner. It will be strong enough to remove the Thompson's. Just keep everything wet and you should be ok use lots of water on this one to keep the brick wet and the roof to prevent the cleaner from actually running down the brick and leaving streaks .
 

Beth

New Member
Oxygenated bleach rather than Sodium Hydroxide if you are worried about the tar. You can still use a brightener afterwards.

I also suggest EFC-38.
If it was treated with Thompsons, it's no big deal. It's not going to give you a fight.

Beth
 

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