So we cleaned this one last month. Client complained the siding was splotchy, so we went by and rinsed it again when we were in their area. Radio silience for a few weeks, until I started asking when they were going to pay the bill. They asked when we were going to fix the problem…which we didn’t know still existed.
Did some research on here and found a few threads about issues with the siding not drying, etc. Overall consensus seemed to be re-wash with a low % mix, and rinse well, maybe lightly misting as it dries… so we tried that today, and this is what’s left. The crew says “it’s very badly oxidized”, but it was green when they cleaned it initially, so no one did a check before the wash. I’m pretty sure all of this was underneath there before we cleaned it, and we did a spot test with Gutter Butter and a brush (but we weren’t going to brush the entire house, at least not today anyway), so I’m pretty certain it’s an oxidation issue of some sort. What I don’t understand is these weird patches. Some appear to be beneath siding laps, others aren’t. It’s not wand marks in the oxidation. They’re on a couple different sides of the home, in both sunny and shaded areas. They seem truly random, which obviously they can’t be…something is causing this mess, lol.
My last plan is to do an oxidation removal with Cleansol BC (or Gutter Butter and brushes if it comes down to it…). Anyone have any other ideas/guesses?
Step back about twenty feet and lightly mist it with a 40° tip and see what happens. Probably 7/10 houses I wash have oxidation. This is how I handle it. Also, a good, hard rain will rinse it better than you ever could. Have y’all been blessed with any good rain since this happened?
Ah, that’s no good. I had one like this splotch up real bad when I used too much surfactant in my mix. Rewashed it with 50/50 SH to water and no surfactant and gave it the old misty mist and she cleared right up. Worst case scenario you have to do some oxidation removal but let’s see what the others have to say before you go there.
I had one so badly oxidized that even the meter box was like dunking your hand in a bag of chalk powder. Pulled tape and thought I pulled a layer of metal off with it lol just stood back as far as I could and misted the whole side down and waited for it to dry and it was perfect.
Yep…I feel like too much surfactant, and possibly letting it dry or too hot a mix could all be at play here. I just need to make sure I manage the conversation that “oxidation removal is not included, we couldn’t see it for all the crazy amount of mildew beforehand, but we’re going to do a reduction treatment on it anyway” (on our dime of course). Hopefully that makes for a happy client at the end of the process.
If at all possible, send a crew out there early like 7am and just rewash that side with a 50/50 mix with no surfactant and have them let it get about 90% dry then do a light mist and have them wait until it’s completely dry before you go any further. May not need to go any further if you can get it dry before the heat of the day sets in. I’m assuming this is the south or west side?
Yep, gonna have to hit that thing early in the morning to have any real shot. I’d be interested to see how well the gutter butter works but that just sounds awful so even if it worked great I’d probably never do it lol
Makes sense, but then what is the solution? They rewashed it today with less SH & soap, and that was the end result. I’d assume that rewashing it again would leave the same result? I’m hoping oxidation removal would resolve it, but IDK at this point.
I dunno, but of there’s oxidation on the siding and it’s dull there, maybe the soap is sticking to it? I’ve had those problems when I get to the bottom of a drum of soap. When it gets to the last ten gallons or so I stick a garden hose in it and dilute and agitate it before using. When we get those splotches it is on apartments and isn’t a big deal. It’s usually gone in a couple of weeks.
Yeah, that was my hope too, but it’s been over a month. Barring any other ideas, we’ll probably see if we can try Texan’s idea, and assume we’ll have to do an oxidation treatment. At least I can position that positively, lol
Just leakers on heavily oxidized house. Do like Tex said, rewash with lite mix, and mist rinse it. If that doesn’t work, get a few gal of wheel brightener, downstream it, let it sit about 5 min, hit with another coat and then rinse. Could take care of the whole side inside 15min.
Yeah, that was the plan, but I have buckets of Cleansol BC for just that purpose now…I had them try the oxalic just because I was thinking " @Racer would say try the brightener", and it was the only acid they had on hand, lol
Go back and rinse it but make sure you have at least a week of no rain. It will finally look dry. Do a walk around with customer and collect payment that day. I’ve dealt with this several times over the years. I think certain colors and certain phases of oxidation can cause this. I bet brand of siding comes into play.
I would not remove the oxidation for free. You have no idea how he cleaned his siding in the past. Did he high pressure removing the protective layer on siding that prevents oxidation? Did he spray some unknown cleaning chemicals in the past harming the siding? Now you are responsible for removing the oxidation? All siding eventually oxidizes but who knows what the customer did to speed it up.
It looks like those areas are just still wet from water dripping from above it. (Probably shoddy siding or installation.) Take a look at the drip I circled in the screenshot below. Has any of your team tried drying it with a blower or using a microfiber to absorb the rest of the moisture? Also sometimes it takes just using a rag and cleaning it by hand when typical washing leaves things behind. When we finish a home detail we walk around for a final look and spot clean small areas by hand, areas that we’ve tried to rewash with no success but wiping with a microfiber towel just magically makes it come off. Also with siding like that if water is being shot up at it from the bottom a lot can get caught in the bottom lip of each layer. Instruct the employees to rinse more gently from the top down or angle sideways to prevent too much water from going up underneath.
On some siding the installers way overlap it so the overlap crack acts as a weephole, or it is covering a weephole. Not every contractor is a good one, or sometimes they are in a rush to get a job done and cut a couple of corners.
