Opinions on washing wood sided home

[Mike Hughes]

I have a house to wash, has semi trans stain on it. A local painter will be re-sealing and wants it washed first. Not stripped, just washed.

Here's a pic: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1471628&a=13613409&p=52751942


My problem is, how should I apply the cleaner to the house? I was hoping to use the xjet to apply it, in which case, what cleaner could I mix strong enough that it will still work after the xjet dillutes it 2 to 1. ??

Could a regular house wash mixture of bleach, etc be used in this situation?? I was leaning towards an oxygenated bleach cleaner.........but could it be mixed strong enough???

Mike

 

[JR Wood]

I would use the house wash mixture.Depending on if there is that black stuff under the eaves ,by the windows and at the bottom.I had one of them earlier this year and started out with oxalic...didn't work, went to bleach and tide let sit longer and worked good.Test for the weakest solution and let it sit.As you know an extra ten minutes of dwell time could mean all the difference.

 

[rvagnoni]

Mike,

Never tried using the oxygenated bleach to house wash. I think I would use the bleach mixture myself but you may have luck with it. Let us all know how it works out!

 

[ron]

my sug.

I would TSP,bleach,and DAWN

 

[Clean County]

Mike,
I have cleaned houses like that and I would use the house mixture that you do except I use chlorine which is twice as strong as bleech in my mixture. Let it sit on the house for awhile(Don't let it dry of course and then rinse it off. After the rinse off I then hit it closer with my wand to give it a good powerwashing. Of course keep the plant life wet while doing this.

Just recently we stained the front of a house similiar to that and what a pain because you have to follow the boards down so as to not leave any lap marks. The stain was a semi solid color and when we did it it was around 95 or so degree's which was brutal. Of course we waited for the front to be shaded before we applied the stain. It came out nice but I will always hate to do contemporary style houses and I try to stay away from them if they want them to be stained.

 

[Greg Rentschler]

Mike,

If you decide to use chlorine or bleach to clean just keep in mind you may pull the color out of the stain that is currently on there. This may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what the painter is trying to achieve. I typically use limonene and tsp for prep on houses needing a maint. coat of stain.

 

[Mike Hughes]

My question about the bleach and/or chlorine ideas.............ideally, shouldnt they be neutralized or brightened ??????? I am not getting into that!

 

[PUREPOWER]

Mike,

I would use TSP, phosphate free, and dlimonene to wash with. Just because I don't use bleach or chlorine on wood ever.(that is how they make paper)(just my opinion for all of the bleach advocates out there) You do not have to worry about a neutralizer, but rinse the bat crap out of it. I just did a job like that also, alot of tannins bled out and the black fungus was heavy. Reapplied Woodscapes solid stain to it....looks new. Made good cash...Homeowners love me... Call me if you have any questions...You got the ##.

Jordan[sb]

 

[Bill B]

Mike, in process of painting an older home. On cleaner parts of wood siding and eaves used dawn only. On very dirty parts used dawn and TSP. A few areas obvious mildew used pool bleach - if you don't kill the organic growth it will return. As stated in early messages, rinse like hell.

 

[doug mckenzie]

i just did a job like this and have another to do. they just want the mildew off. i use swiming pool chlorine 15%. we lightly spray (downstream) on the chlorine and soap (our standard mix). dwell time is short with this stuff (jobs go fast and perfect),one must be carefull when rinsing,as this stain is very thin and will come off (don't want that) stand far away when rinsing and keep your eyes on the rinse water as it comes off the house , if you see stain back up(40 nozzzle too)maby let it dry some.i do these jobs for painterswhoar scardhem use no pressure stain will come off. other times (when they are real black) we wash it down to bare wood with (guess what) new again and the painter starts over again suds mckenzie

 

[Chuck Richard]

mike, i use a bleach,emulsifier plus mix. works great. bleach kills all surface mildew and emulsifier plus loosens all dirt, spider webs, bees nests, and general fall-out. If the wood didn't have the stain i would use either newagain or wolmans deck and fence brightner, depending on how mildewed it was.

 

[john orr]

Cedar/stained house

Mike, the link you posted didn't work - hopefully the one I just posted will.

I downstream my housewash/bleach solution then rinse with chem tip. For the high-up stuff, I use a 0 deg tip drilled-out to 7/32. If you have one of the cheap plastic chem tips, ream it out with a small screwdriver. Chem will shoot straight and high.

 

[Chuck Richard]

john they make tips that will shoot a low pressure stream 30 feet into the air. its what i use to apply chems and rinse. works much better than drilling out 0 degree tip. its a 0030 or u can use a 0040. my dist. puts them together 4 me.

 

[Bill B]

I learned from Big Boy how to make a great rinse tip for higher up spots - use a hose barb. I purchase with 1/4" pipe thread on one end and screw into a plug and attach to end of wand. Try several orifice sizes to find the one that works best for you.

 

[ARC]

I would like to learn more about the tips.

Who do I contact?

 

[paul-uk]

bill b

can you tell me what a hose barb is or show me please. i am not familiar with this terminolgy....i think this is one of those questions that might be hard for you to believe i dont know what one is......but i would appreiciate you filling me in.

thanks paul.

 

[Bill B]

A hose barb is a fitting that tubing is attached to. You can find them in many sizes in the fittings section (in the plumbing department) at Lowes or HD. Get a brass one with a hose barb fitting on one end and a 1/4" pipe thread fitting on the other end. Screw the pipe threaded end into a 1/4" plug. Then attach the plug on the end of your wand.

These basically make a 0 degree rinse tip, but since the orifice is large, the pressure is low. I use them mainly to rinse vinyl soffits and windows when I am brick cleaning.

Suggest you try a couple of different size hose barbs to see what works best for you. They are cheap - 70 cents to 1.50.

 

[Chuck Richard]

ARC, call mcfarlands inc. at (919) 383-7760. Talk to jim or tom. Tell them i told you to call and ask for a 30 foot tip.

 

[Mike Hughes]

John Orr,

The link didnt work because this was a thread i started well over a year ago. Actually, I didnt get the job anyway.........

 

[ARC]

Thanks Chuck.

I appreciate the help!