Power washing house with vinyl siding
 

Hi
We have a power washer, but not sure if it's strong enough to do this, and really don't want to get on a ladder to do this (our house is 2 storey).

Does anyone know a good person that does powerwashing?? House is 7 years old, but want to get the dirt off and the grunge off bottom of soffits.

Just remember, your house is designed to shed and protect against water that is falling down. Spraying water up under pressure will have consequences that far outweigh the current look of the dirt on your eaves. Wet insulation at the top plate in your eaves is just the beginning. Water damage repairs caused by pressure washing houses is very common.

Not wanting to get on a ladder is understandable, but the person doing the cleaning can use a bio soap applied to the vinyl, light scrubbing with a soft brissel brush and a light rinse with the "gentle shower" setting on a standard hose handle. The result from the outside will be the same, but the interior and framework will be spared the pressure driven water infusion.

We provide pressure washing services!!
 

You can check us out at www.greatnortherncleaning.com

You may need to have your windows cleaned afterwards...and yes.. we do windows:):)

Sorry jmen24
 

You don't have a clue as to what you are talking about, believe me I do it for a living.

BR: I think you are dead wrong. Jmen has very well thought out home improvement/landscaping, etc. advice. If he says something I listen.....
you should, too. You might learn something.

You are so right jmen.

I have inspected some houses that that had their vinyl siding pressure washed and there was a lot of moisture under the siding after being washed. I removed the siding around a window and the water came pouring out because the water evidently got in around the top plate and eaves and then ran down inside the siding. The vapor barrier was totally saturated.

I think your recommendation is the only way to go.

New vinyl siding has weep holes to let the water run out, she did say her house was only 7 years old. Just sayin!!

I have a small electric powered pressure washer that I got at Wal-Mart for just $75 because it was a discontinued item by the manufacturer, and it works pretty good for removing grey cement paint from a concrete sidewalk & deck, and cleaning mold & mildew off of natural rock masonry garden walls.

I also have a gas powered pressure washer, that I got used at a moving sale in Gilford, which is much more powerful, but I have not used it for maybe two years.

Anyway, what's the usefulness of using those detergent, one gallon, liquid additives that get added to the water stream. There's a few different one gallon additives that go for five or ten dollars for things like mold and detergent or so on. I have never bothered with the cleaner additives because it's too much trouble plus they are expensive and just go with the cold water from the garden hose.

Anyone have any suggestions on the additive liquid detergent that actually is worth using, or know about an el cheapo detergent like just using a gallon of beach for 1.49, which maybe does the same thing? Do the additives do any better than just the water stream, alone?

I would try maybe a 10% mixture of bleach.

:D

Reread the Post
 

BR, I ask you to reread my post. She was asking about pressure washing dirt off the soffits of her eaves. If her house is 7 years old then the soffits are vented and are going to require some time to remove that dirt. Standing on the ground and blasting your vented soffits with enough pressure to get water up to that 2-story level is stupid and lazy. It will cost her a pile of money down the road when it is discovered that the entire exterior wall of her home has rotted out or is completely infested with carpenter ants.

I have no idea what your protocols are for pressure washing prior to painting, nor did I make any assumptions about them (there are methods that are exceptable and don't cause damage below the surface). Your in the business of painting, I am in the business of repairing.

I stand by my statement. Houses are designed to shed water that is falling down, not pressurized up! You get what you pay for!

Those weep holes are in place to give the condensation that builds up on the back of the siding an escape. They are not drains to remove gallons of water that has been forced behind the surface.

Siding isn't decorative, it serves a very exact purpose.

Jmens comments are spot on.

Siding is a "rain screen", nothing more nothing less. It's made to take water in the horizontal or vertical (top to bottom) only. Using pressurized water from the ground on soffits is a recipe for disaster.

Dan

I would never use any pressurized water aimed at my soffits,especially if they have vents.I would brush them with a soap solution and simply use the same brush in a rinse bucket.You can hose down your your siding to rinse off dirt removed from the soffits.

Most pressure washers manuals warn against bleach, damage to internal rubber parts.


We do use a mixture of TSP, water and bleach applied with a garden sprayer and rinsed off with a hose after a few minutes. I use an eight foot stepladder so that I can spray and rinse straight on.

Whew. Thanks everyone
 

Well, even with our extensible ladder, neither of us could get close enough to the soffits at the back of the house, to scrub with a brush or cloth. And now, I certianly won't be using our little electric power washer to do any ... power washing!!! I am thinking maybe using Simple Green, but certainly there are high-up parts of the house that won't be reachable. How can I get them cleaned?

Appreciate everyone's input/feedback.

How high up are the soffits located?

That sounds like a terrific idea, plus hot water could be used, as well. All that stuff; tsp, water and bleach are all very cheap when used as directed, in small quantities, too. Bleach is amazing stuff for killing mold & mildew, when left alone to work for 24-hours, and what with the warmer and wetter summers for the past few years, the waterfront has basically turned into Mold & Mildew-City!

Black mildew spots that grow like a cancer have been showing up on my 50-year old, aluminum dock, and that never happened before.

Soffits at top of house
 

Hi
Our house is two storey, so I would say 25 feet off the ground - give or take

Try using a brush with extensions like this video shows:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/utEHMPNF8KE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Wow!
 

WOW!!! Cannot believe I came across this thread..although my post is not really "lakes region" related.
We had our home (not camp, year round home in Southern NH) pressure washed a couple years back (2007 I think)...it got very expensive.
All was fine at first...looked great. (I should mention, we bought the house in 1998, and never had a single problem. Had siding/windows/roof replaced in 2003, as it was simply time to have it done).
In the house, the attick does not extend over the bedroom...instead, there is a small loft there, which serves as a perfect, extra TV/computer room. A room we use every single day.
Several weeks after the cleaning, I noticed very small stains on the ceiling (painted off-white) while lying on the coach watching football one afternoon. Remember, as it is a loft, the other side on the ceiling is the insulation, and then the exterior roof.
I thought at first I had just never noticed them, and perhaps is was about time for some interior paint work anyway. But they grew, and grew quickly.
I am not a mechanical/home repair person at all. I am a Yellow Pages guy.
It was quickly explained to me that the power wash blew a ton of water up under the areas that are designed to have water come down, not up. The insulations was soaked, and the simple air ventalation thru the ridge vent was not enough to dry it. Again, I figured none of this out. I got two opinions, and they were the same.
The roof had to opened, the insulation removed, and replaced, and the roof closed back up.
Insurance got involved a little bit, and went after the power wash company. Truth be told, I never followed up to see what the outcome was. This all had to happened fairly quickly, becaue I was told mold would grow in the wet insulation.
The interior ceiling is still stained bit, but very dry. I never completed the repair and repainted the ceilings, as I lost my job, and several things took a back seat for a while.
Anyway...that's my power wash story.

cleaning any type of siding
 

cannot help to sometime cast advice when it is about housing rehabilitation. having read the previous posts, may or may not be able to shed light and/or advice on the issue. for one, the CORRECT solution of white vinegar mixed with water can be a very good disinfectant as well as a cleaner. in essence it is muriatic acid, and when using spot testing can be effective even on painted surfaces. i never have used a power washer on siding, but have used on masonry. white vinegar ( one part to five) i have used on vynil recently ( at my elderly moms house) and because of foliage/flowers at foundation perimeter mixed a mild solution in an attempt to save plantings. due to soot from close by wood burning devices, it did require sweeping/loosening the surface with a common straw broom 4 or 5 minutes after solution being applied; and it did come clean with a good rinsing. used a garden hose with one of those spray bottle attachments. 60 or so days, plants are flourishing.
when referencing vynil siding the above posts for the most part are acurate, with the acceptance of what type of application was used when the siding was applied. at minimum a breathable layer of TYVEK or a perforated breathable styrofoam underlayment ( sometimes called insulation) should be installed underneath the vynil. also backflashing at soffits,windows, and doors should be applied prior to vynil installations.
the weep holes mentioned are usually below the upper panels hanging flange, in an attempt to prevent water from infiltrating from below the siding system. if siding is installed properly it should be protected from lower water infiltration, if is not than the power washing will probably blow the sidings seams apart, if the presuure is not set properly.
as usual PLEASE READ INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BACK OF SIDING BOX, and do not clean siding during the colder seasons.
my 2 cents

Vinegar contains acetic acid. Muriatic acid is a common name for hydrochloric acid; it is stronger than acetic acid, as it is completely dissociated in solution. Acetic acid is much weaker and only partially dissociated in aqueous solution.

Vinegar is made from the fermentation of a variety of sources mainly containing carbohydrates and sugars. Ethanol is first produced as a result of fermentation of sugars, ethanol is then oxidized to acetic acid by the acetic acid bacteria . The ethanol may be derived from many different sources, including wine, cider, beer, or fermented fruit juice, or it may be made synthetically from natural gas and petroleum derivatives.

Pressure washing is not good to use on any kind of soft surface, like window screens, for example. Vinyl siding is a hard surface, but it's not as hard as, say, brick. That means that when you use pressure washing on vinyl, you really have to be very careful to not damage the siding.

Really don’t recommend power washing vinyl. You will drive to much water up behind the siding. Buy the gallon containers of house wash at the hardware store and spray out of pump up weed sprayer. Start at the bottom and work up. Rinsing a section at a time. Added help keep a five gallon bucket of water and dawn dishsoap and a brush with an extending handle to reach more area. (Like the window washing handle at the depot) I spray the house cleaner on, let it sit a few mins, in heavy dirt or mildew areas brush the dawn mixture on and then just hose it off trying to keep the water stream pointing downward. Just wear old clothes. The deck wash with ruin them. Eye protection and mask advisable.