A few weeks ago I accidentally cleaned aluminum with a soft wash. It was one section that looked exactly like the others that was vinyl. No problems. I didn’t realize till afterwards. No problems.
Today I noticed before cleaning. No oxidation. Small job. Went with a light mix, short dwell time. Light pressure rinse. Great results. Do I… start accepting aluminum jobs?
That’s a big test section.
I take aluminum regularly. There’s been a few that concerned me and I talked it over with the customer prior. Showed them the chalky finger swipe and a little explanation and warning. I suppose I could still be burned without it in writing. Hopefully I’ll see some red flags prior to.
I’ve done some with few issues. Actually, the real problems are with the aluminum flashing around windows, the housewash leaves nice, white drip stripes.
I end up doing 1 a year at the beginning of each season because I forget to ask them on the phone. Each time I do one I say never again! I have seen it loose color.
Went to a house last year, 3 sides were vinyl and 1 side was alum…looked nearly identical. The owner was there as I was getting ready…made the statement that last time it was washed, the guy had to repaint the alum section. Upon that disclosure, I realized the wall was indeed alum…promptly passed on the job. I have washed a bit of it and never had problems. Matter of fact, I washed an office building on Mar 26th that had alum gables…told the owner my concerns, she said wash it and if it turns that she would repaint because it had to look better. I washed it and it turned out great.
This had dark brown aluminum around the windows. I didn’t see any change. I only let it dwell for about 2 minutes and rinsed heavily with super low pressure.
