vinyl siding problem

[Barry Loy]

Here is my problem. I'll try to be as brief as possible. Cleaned a vinyl siding house this past Monday. Went back for a check up and found splotches of dark and light ( shiny and faded in appearance ) The vinyl is light tan about 8 years old. No noticable problem before I started. Partly sunny day ( low 70's ) with a very light off and on breeze. I used cold water only. My wash mixture consisted of Clorox 'Outdoor' and Jomax. Two gallons of clorox, 2 gallons of water and a quart of Jomax. I used the x-jet for high reaches and dual lance down stream for close up work. (The siding was being washed for a residue of light 'fallout' from a nearby mill boiler eruption that happened last fall.) As I first walked up to the home, the owner pointed out the uneven appearance of light and dark 'splotches' all over the siding. My first thought was I had let the mixture dry before rinsing. ( a major "don't do" on my jobs ) , however , after walking around the rest of the house where I was absolutely certain I had not let anything dry, the siding looked the same as the rest, splotches and all.
1-What do you think happened ?
2-What can be done to restore the eveness of the coloration on this siding ?
Thaks to all for your help.
Barry Loy

 

[Mark]

Barry,

Try soaping it up with a mild alkaline cleaner,
and then scrub with a brush and rinse before it dries.

 

[the_GUNN_man]

Is the splotches where the weep holes are in the siding? You may have gotten chemicals behind the siding and it slow seeped out after you left. That is why I am very careful about applying chems under high pressure. I apply my wash mix and let it sit for 3 to 5 minutes and then rinse it down and then go over the siding for the high psi wash. After I am done I will rinse it again when I am done washing the next section. Then I give a final rinse once I have completed everything. Never spray your chemicals upwards when using the x-jet. What I mean is make sure you are a good distance away form the siding so you don't shoot your chems under the siding. If you are right under the siding and get a good shot and it goes under it you could have chemicals leaking out for several hours depending on the conditions. Do you think adding a spray wax would help?

 

[ron]

ron p

try brushing and see if the splotch's are ON or IN the sideing first.

 

[Barry Loy]

Anybody have any ideas as to what these problems might be ? I soaped from the bottom up and then rinsed from the top down. These 'splotches' are not from weep holes or other 'drip' areas. Really has me confused! Never seen this type problem before.
Barry Loy

 

[john orr]

It sounds as though the vinyl has oxidized. You might not have noticed it prior to cleaning since it was dirty. The way to check is to run you fingers over the dull areas and see if their covered with a greasy mess the color of the siding.

If this is whats happened, do what Barry suggested and you should be OK.

 

[Gwas]

Use an alkaline cleaner as Mark suggets. I would go with a more powerful one. Make sure it has some Sodium Hydroxide in it. The color will even right out. Potassium Hydroxide will work also but I have reservations about that.

 

[Craig Knight]

Been there done that.

I can only tell you that the chemicals that you have used would not cause this problem, in my opinion. If you completely covered the whole house, and you see no streaking, just large splotches of different contrast in areas, and you know you didnt miss those area's, then it is a preexisting situation.

In the past, when i have seen this case, i took an automobile paint compound and applied it to half of one of a small area in question. If it is oxidation then it will remove and brighten the dulled surface and you can show the owner that the vinyl is oxidized/faded.

 

[supreme0932]

Where can we get an alkaline cleaner? Are they available at local stores such as Home Depot?

 

[tordell]

Over the summer, I ran into the same problem, twice, on back to back houses! I had previously cleaned upwards of 300 houses and had never had this. I found that if i went back and "cleaned" it again with just water and pressure, it would even out to a degree, but you had to go over it very slowly. I also noticed, before i did the rewash, that if you ran your finger along the siding, that color from the siding came up, that looked very much like paint that was the same color as the siding, the moisture of course came from being washed.

I'm gonna try an alkaline cleaner if I see this again to see the result. My normal mix is 2 gallons bleach, 2 caps tide, and 8oz F-13 gutter grenade if the gutters are really dirty, mixed in a 5 gallon bucket and x-jetted on.

I'll be watching this thread to see what else comes up for taking care of this problem.

Dave
Murphree's Pressure Washing

 

[Mark]

It sounds like the siding is oxidized,
a mild alkaline solution should clean
the oxidation off, you may need to
brush also.

 

[tordell]

Thanks Mark, I'll try that.

What alkaline cleaner would you suggest? And what mix ratios for x-jet?

Thank You,

Dave