Caring for your home's external siding.

Goober

Caring for your home's external siding
Author: Goober

Just like your car, a house, regardless if you have aluminum, vinyl or another type of siding, should be washed from time to time. I usually do mine in the early spring once our rainy season is over, (living in Vancouver Canada, can lead to long rainy stretches with our mild weather) and often in the middle of summer, water restrictions are in effect.

As a result of rain throughout the fall, winter and spring leaving behind a nice layer of mold, moss, mud mildew and other gunk. This is caused by the lack of sun and damp atmosphere during the winter. Birds can also reek havoc on your house, especially if they nest under the eaves of the house or in your attic. Insect invasions, like ants or bees will need to be cleared out. This can be done by your self with insect repellent from a hardware store. As always, use caution if fighting bees or wasps. If you don’t feel comfortable, then hire a professional.

Option #1 – The pressure washer

The best way to clean the siding is by renting a power washer. The power washer attaches to your garden hose and creates a jet spray to loosen dirt and debris from the surfaces, forcing it to the ground. I would suggest calling around to a few rental yards and renting a gas powered one for the day that has a detergent option. I used an electric one I bought from Costco last year; it didn’t seem to have enough power to do the large job efficiently.

For a detergent, you can purchase a liquid based detergent designed to clean the exterior house, or save a few bucks like myself and mix up your own batch high concentrated formula of laundry detergent, a little bleach and a product called TSP (for removing mold and mildew) in warm water.

Armed with a power washer, detergent, extension ladder and a bright sunny Saturday afternoon, your ready to begin. After familiarizing yourself with the power washer on the ground and aware of the power, position the ladder on your gutters a few feet from the edge of your house. Ideally, you want to wash a section 6-10 feet wide. First by washing the gutter, then move to the house & windows. Starting at the top, moving from side to side, top to bottom, with a 8-10 inch spray and detergent activated.

Once a section is complete, turn off the detergent (easy as taking the filler tube out of bucket or container) and rinse the section. Repeat washing and rinsing for the entire house.

Option #2 - The manual way.

If you feel uncomfortable using a pressure washer or an extension ladder, there is another alternative. Purchasing a large fiberglass extension pole with a wash brush on the end. Dipping the head into a detergent solution, just the same as I described above: high concentrated formula of laundry detergent, a little bleach and a product called TSP (for removing mold and mildew) in warm water. Using a garden hose and a spray nozzle, wet the siding on the house down then, starting at the top wash a section at a time, vigorously scrubbing. Be sure to rinse well, or you will leave a residue of soap that you will notice when it dries.

This method can be much more tiring, but by the end of the day, you will notice those muscles in your upper body be stronger (as well as aching).

Washing your home once a year can make it look almost as good as new.

Questions & Comments: Please feel free to add your comments and questions below.

boomermitra · Joined: 18 Dec 2009 Posts: 35

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