I have power washed and stained decks part-time for over 22 years.
Besides my own house and a few friends houses, I haven’t cleaned many houses. This summer I’ve done about five.
I cleaned this house using a 3:1 water to bleach mix plus surfactant. After rinsing the front of the house, I moved on to the next side of the house. When I came back about 15 minutes later I noticed these streaks. They were not there before.
First, I tried rinsing with water. Then I tried my house mix. Then I tried straight bleach. Nothing touched it.
Additionally, where the eave meets the siding, there was some residue I couldn’t get rid of as well. You can see it better on the close-up pics.
Any ideas on what to use to get rid of the stain? I have been reading on this forum for the past month. And I finally created a user name/login since I saw that people like to know that newbs are researching things first and taking the time to read.
Looks like they’re in line with the weep holes. If SH isn’t touching them you’ll have to try something else. SH usually takes of “leakers” so kind of surprised it’s not. When one chemical isn’t working you move on to something else.
If you research “fallout” you’ll learn about the siding up under the eaves. It’s caused by the pollutants in the air. Plus, those upper to runs never get rinsed by the rain. You’ll need a degreaser for that. Just pour a little in a bucket, dip your brush in, and just walk with the brush along the siding. Some will clip a microfiber rag over the brush and use it. Squids has a video on it somewhere on here. I’d try the degreaser for the “leakers” too. If it looks more like rust from a nail or something use oxalic.
One thing to remember when messing with the leakers is if the siding is oxidized and, you go scrubbing them, you’ll likely have to scrub the whole side of the house. The fallout is high enough you’ll be okay just scrubbing the top two rows without noticing. It doesn’t look like rust but I think I’d try some oxalic first since you can usually get by without scrubbing. Plus, I just don’t see there being anything back behind the siding that would cause you to need a degreaser.
I understand this is your moms. Are you telling me you would leave a customers house like that for a week. No way re wash the house rinse it the correct way all your problems will go away
@marinegrunt I apologize I should have asked him what his house wash was and what strength his bleach was first. I assumed he was at least a part time pro. Thank you now he can clarify. If it was me I still would rewash the house. But I would be doing it with my house wash recipe that’s why I told him to do it.
Don’t wipe it. If that side is oxidized it will look terrible. Maybe not more terrible than the brown streaks. If you can, do what @Patriotspwashing suggested. Let us know what it looks like in a few days.
