Hey all, I am new to this forum but I have been washing homes for over 20 years and have never run into this before. I used a 1:30 bleach mixture only on the white portions of the home and did a soft-wash on the entire home rinsing thoroughly. The paint is a flat sheen and had no oxidation apparent. Any idea what may have caused this and the best way to address it?
Let it dry for a day or so before you make any decisions. I’ve seen the same thing a few times on doors and it was gone a day later.
I know I sound like a broken record, don’t wash blue, brown, red or green houses… as far as how to fix it, repaint or replace if it’s vinyl
Hey William, out of curiosity does that include just using a surfactant and no bleach?
We have this weird community of high end houses stuffed together like eggs in a carton, and most have painted Hardie board.
I’ve never washed a house with just surfactant, so I don’t know. I’m in the south and folks wash to get rid of the mildew. Never seen a house with “fallout” that some talk about
Here’s what I’m talking about…
Constant construction puts a lot of dirt on the houses and several people ask for a “house wash” so I’ve done a couple with just surfactant. I don’t think it blotches the paint, crossing my fingers.
Someone needs to be the guinea pig. Let us know how it goes. Lol
I use just surfactant for construction clean ups, dust mud etc. no organic growth no bleach. Simple.
Hey dcbrock,
I can answer that question for you, Here in Los Angeles mold/mildew Isn’t an issue… But Soot and grime is(due to traffic, specially homes next to busy streets or freeways)
Surfactant alone won’t do squat! If anything it makes soot and grime stick to the surface even more! And the water just sheets down over it, and if you take your finger and drag it across the surface it just smears all that crap around… Ive done it and I have ended up just mixing up some sh and doing it right!
Yes. Very true.
I dontknow how this turned out for you, but I know someone who is working on paint discoloration when cleaning with SH. It is Sherwin Williams paint. They put in an organic pigment, and lots of washers are seeing this happen after washing some houses. Her name is Trudie Wickham at Panhandle Powerwash Supply in Freeport, Fl.
That’s old news. She’s going around preaching at seminars about it after they got nailed on the problem with a couple of houses and telling everyone to test it first with a strong mix. What most of us with any sense been doing for years.
So what is the final answer here, fellas? Skip dark colored houses???
YES YES YES. It isn’t some new revelation. We haven’t washed blue, brown, red or green houses in over 20 years.
If your in an area like mine where there is very little or no organic growth, you can use just surfactant and rinse/wash everything almost like your pressure washing but with a 1000 psi 65 deg tip and a safe distance away. 1000 psi is just barely enough to clean but gentle enough to not ruin surfaces. When I do houses without growth my mix is green wash and terra wash which is used for non-organic contaminates. It works well.
1000psi is about 900 more than you needed to safely wash siding
I had the color come off a stained or painted cedar shake house. It was light grey. My guy did a test spot behind the air conditioner. Weak mix on siding, dwell for a few minutes than low pressure rinse and the color came off. About 50% of it. Crazy. Now I don’t do any painted or stained cedar shake houses.
Never do shakes. especially the vinyl shakes, the oxidize like crazy. The sooner you quit washing about half of what you think you should, your profit margin will go way up.
I agree and your stress level will go way down. Best advice my Dad gave me when I started was, “say no”. I don’t do anything I have to worry about while I’m washing. I’m fortunate though because business is good and I can be picky. Some guys can’t.
Hey Dan,
Check out this FB group. There is some good info here.
