I purchased a house last year and am finally getting around to redoing the patio area under my deck and outside the walk out basement. As you can see the previous owner had a pellet stove installed in the past which caused significant damage to the siding. I have a 3200PSI pressure washer that I tried using last year which didn’t even touch the soot. I’ll replace the siding if I need to but I’d prefer not to go through the hassle and work involved.
The small patch of better looking siding you see below the outlet was from me using a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser pad which was a suggestion I got from this forum. It did work a bit as you can see but despite my best efforts it was not able to completely clean the siding. Furthermore I have a lot of siding that needs cleaned and a magic eraser would take forever.
Do you guys have any suggestions on the best way to tackle this?
You’re not going to like the answer, but I asked a similar question about a year ago to a friend who owns the local Advantaclean franchise. (Think Servpro. Fire, water restoration.) The spot I asked about was probably half of what you have here.
He said they’d just hire a contractor to replace the siding.
Did you use any chemicals when you washed? Most pellet stove soot I come across comes off with my basic housewash mix (bleach and elemonator)
If you’ve already tried some housewash mix, I would try using a degreaser like F-13 gutter grenade from pressuretek.com. Follow the dilution guidelines. Work from the bottom up, and keep the surroundings wet. It will be time consuming, but not nearly as bad as a magic eraser.
If the F-13 doesn’t provide satisfactory results, then replacement is probably your only option.
If you can’t get it clean. Use a primer/sealer and paint with vinyl safe paint. Sherwin-Williams or PPG will have what you need. Cheaper than replacing.
One Restore from eacochem…works like magic…50/50 in a bucket with water about 2" worth…brush on with soft brush…and rinse…should disappear as you brush it
Where is the best place to buy one gallon of Enviro Bio Cleaner? It seems like it is a worth a shot at my siding based on the pictures. I promise to post some before and after pictures for others to have an understanding of what it can and cannot do.
