OK it worked out. Customer is satisfied. Thanks Racer and everyone else for the input.
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2 firsts for me here: 1.) First ever post as a member on this forum. 2.) First and most likley a very costly “oxidation ouch” as well. After finishing up on a repeat customer, I was approached by the neighbor with what seemed like a very small, quick and easy cash grab. The customer only wanted his soffits cleaned so I threw out a number on the fly and headed over after the initial job was completed. 3 story home on the water and against my better judgement, I went right to work and didn’t check or throw the disclaimer out for the possible oxidation issue. Siding was 15 years old and gets uninterrupted sunlight from sun-up on into the afternoon. Long story short, I am now splitting the bill for replacement of his siding… image|375x500
Did you try to fix it first?
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Maybe offer oxidation removal and bust out the clensol bc or one restore, a brush, and a ladder.
Hard work but lots cheaper If the results are good
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How did you disturb the oxidation if you were only cleaning the sofits??
What was your cleaning process?
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@KMP The customer also wanted the mold from around the windows gone as well. This was done from the runoff and rinse. I thought that I did a good enough job by prewetting the siding before I applied the house wash solution.
@DJPWS, That’s good info to know, thank you. I should have researched this option before making the on the spot offer of replacement.
My opinion. You thought you’d make it worse. But if your replacing the siding I’m not sure i see a problem with that. Its being replaced then maybe it’ll be worse and still require replacement or maybe it’ll be better and not require replacement afterall. Always worth a small test area. I’ve not had this issue yet. But from all I’ve read the one restore seems a good product and effective as does the cleansol. A suggestion if you pay to replace see if you can get a piece or 2 of the siding. Then you can test and find what works for you to remove the oxidation and be able to offer it next time.
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I would go back and wash the house and see if it helps. Rinse well and give it a week and see what it looks like. You shouldn’t have to replace the siding because of oxidation. It’s usually oxidized again within a year anyways. I wouldn’t leave a customer’s house like that for a year but would just remove the rest of it. Maybe talk to them and see if they’ll let you try some things on it first. They’re probably already looking at new siding colors though. 
Just for future knowledge never offer to just do the soffit and window trim. You basically have to rinse the whole house anyways so you’re basically giving them a house wash. Just explain to the customer that hw mix is going to get all over the house so the house basically gets washed to. After that they usually understand why you won’t do only soffits.
Oxidation is just something we have to deal with. This won’t be the last time this happens.
Good for you for offering to replace it though since you thought that was the only fix. That’s what separates a professional from a $99 guy.
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Only offer the same color is replacing.
I would object to replacing it until Ive has a chance to fix.
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I almost don’t even know where to begin on this post. Kudo’s for offering to replace, that’s honorable, but it’s also one of the dumbest things I’ve seen on this forum, and that’s saying a lot, lol. Seriously, there’s a ton of things you could have done. First though, do you have any before pics? With those shingle vinyl siding heck 1/2 the time it looks oxidized when new. Did you do all 4 sides or just the one you took pic of? So you washed the soffit and windows and not the house. Heck 50% of the surface area is windows. Spraying a HW mix on it, should not cause oxidation removal. 75% of us on here do it every day. What part of the siding did you agree to replace. The stuff at the top looks like it stuff that’s leached off window frames.
So exactly what was your process, someone already asked. Hopefully you have insurance, that’s probably 15k replacement if you did the entire house. I’d tell him you want to come back and wash the whole house, that after talking to experts, they told you it could be fixed.
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Try either using half the called for dosage in the elemonator directions, when mixing with water. Using that surfactant almost lead me to suicide last season, I was streaking windows and leaving white cloudy film on vinyl… Finally I changed to secret agent (Shoutout to Brian @ BF Home Services) my problems were solved and managed to walk away with my life. lol
If your all weeded up in oxidation. Try x jetting some Cleansol BC. You’ll have to learn how to apply and reapply or maybe brush.
Good luck and give secret agent a try.
Wash the “damaged” siding and let it dry for a week before you make any other decisions. If you keep replacing siding on houses you won’t have insurance for long.
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@Racer. First I’d like to say thank you for taking the time to give your brutal honesty and I’d have to say that this was probably the absolute last way that I was looking to converse with not only you but the other knowledgeable and highly respected professionals of this profession. With that being said, obviously it is something that I needed to hear! The area that I agreed to split the cost of replacement was the very top dark brown siding. It was an “Oh ■■■■“ on the spot remedy/solution. I now know that it should have been the absolute last ! I did use a soft bristle brush underneath of two of those windows at the very top, you can see where it’s a lot lighter. It was a standard house wash solution that I’ve used on hundreds of houses before with no issue but nothing this dark, which is what threw me off guard. This actually happened a few weeks ago and foolish pride stopped me from posting anything or asking any advice on this forum (hopefully not a costly mistake as well). I did not do any of the lower levels. I do have insurance and have already got the claim started, the customer is set to receive an estimate in a few days. I reached out to him yesterday (after receiving some good advice) saying that there is possibly something I could do to correct issue that does not require having the siding to be replaced, he seems like he’s OK with that option. I will first try with a whole house wash and see if that works. I truly appreciate the advice and words of wisdom from everyone who responded.
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Ok now it all makes sense since the introduction of using a brush. Most likely you stripped away the oxidation in those areas. Sorry to say, but rewashing is not going to work. If your going to try and remedy the situation yourself, you need to scrub the entire siding utilizing a different solution then house wash.
Once the oxidation is disturbed, there is no going back, just forward with more removal.
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@KMP. Thank you for that explanation sir. I have Cleansol BC and One Restore on the way. 
that I am able to un-FUBAR my ignorance!
Ok, so I’m a little confused. Your plan is to use Cleansol BC on that entire side, top to bottom? Because you won’t be able to avoid the rundown when trying to just do the darker brown at the top.
I’m also confused at how the discoloration below those windows is oxidation removal. It’s been my experience that the areas where oxidation is removed is usually darker, not lighter.
Also I looked through the posts and couldn’t find anywhere where you mentioned whether or not this siding is vinyl or painted wood or hardy plank cement board or what?
@Steve: It is vinyl siding. I did hit the window trim and just below it with a brush after I did the soffits and noticed the discoloring upon rinsing, subsequently disturbing the oxidation. Yes, my plan was to just do the dark brown area that I disturbed (unless it would be a better idea to do the entire side b/c of the inevitable rundown issue).
So the dark brown color at the top is the correct color and around the windows is where you knocked white oxidation off of the window frames and got it onto the siding?
