Hardi plank

[allesnick 14]

I read several weeks ago about someone having a nightmare experience with house washing hardi plank siding. I have a beach house, 2 stories on stilts line up to do. Any advice on chemicals (Chlorine amount). I have a 5 gallon per minute 3500 psi hot water skid. I am too slow too turn down any work, but I can't afford to paint a two story beach house either.

[PWkid 79]

I wash hardy plank all the time here in Florida we use a DS injector and 12% chlorine and a good surfactant. Dishwashing soap should do.

[All Surface 24]

i wash hardy plank all the time here in florida we use a ds injector and 12% chlorine and a good surfactant. Dishwashing soap should do.

ditto!

[allesnick 14]

Thanks, I can't remember what the fiinal result was with the prior post, I believe he was getting some staining, some thought it might have been ink from insulation, some thought the chlorine may have been too strong. I'll try to back track old post. If you guys do it all the time, I'll give it a shot. I'll do a test area first just to be sure. Thanks again

[ShineBrite LLC 14]

We wash HP fairly regularly as well, but all of it is painted. So it depends on the condition of the paint for us. HP WILL degrade without a coating - eventually.

[PressureX 14]

Yupp, that was my nightmare. In the end the result was improper installation of the Hardi Plank, which resulted in cracks in the siding itself (which you could barely see with the naked eye). The bleach solution (about 1-2% bleach was used) ended up staining away the red color of the weather wrap behind the siding, causing red color to stain all over the side.

I personally will never touch Hardi Plank again, but many on here have good experiences with it and do them regularly.

Good luck to ya man!

Oh, and if you're wondering what we were using, it was 1 gallon of 12%, 1 gallon of QWIC Allbrite, and 3 gallons of water and X-Jet'ted

[Camelot 68]

We do them quite a bit and thankfully haven't had any issues. We use a standard house wash mix on them...SC, SH, etc. You guys have me nervous now...LOL

[MudDuck 20]

Just watch over saturation, don't slam it or flood it. Let chems work then rinse.

What did you end up doing PressurX? Did it work out or you just eat it.

[PressureX 14]

Just watch over saturation, don't slam it or flood it. Let chems work then rinse.

What did you end up doing PressurX? Did it work out or you just eat it.

Scrub, Scrub, and scrubbed some more with a butyl based degreaser. Boy did that one suck. Just glad I didnt do it, gotta love employees :D

It did eat a hole in the pocket though with the rent of a lift and all the labor.

So, we will not do Hardie Plank again. :) My instance was probably one out of a hundred or thousand, but that sure did scare me enough not to touch it again.

[A and J POWERWASHING 64]

we use 2 gallon 12% and soap ds and per wet the surface , no problem so far knock on wood

[MudDuck 20]

Scrub, Scrub, and scrubbed some more with a butyl based degreaser. Boy did that one suck. Just glad I didnt do it, gotta love employees :D

It did eat a hole in the pocket though with the rent of a lift and all the labor.

So, we will not do Hardie Plank again. :) My instance was probably one out of a hundred or thousand, but that sure did scare me enough not to touch it again.

Naw you just got to go get your money back with a deck resto job..LOL

[PressureX 14]

Naw you just got to go get your money back with a deck resto job..LOL

I have one lined up. But it doesn't help with all this rain here lately

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Conduct a test spot to see if it is color fast. Not all is Hardiplank. Some are molded in color while others are only painted and not always with a good quality paint.

Some house washing solutions can fade the color or even create an oxidation series which will require re-painting.

Rod!~

[allesnick 14]

Finally did Hardy Plank job with simple cherry and chlorine with x jet, turned out great, customer is extremely happy. Charged double of what I get for vynil, already got referrals from this one.

[A and J POWERWASHING 64]

good job way to go hp is not hard to work with just have to take your time but pay will

[Palmetto Home and Deck 167]

I clean a lot of Hardi Plank homes. I always used my regular house wash mix until I read about Pressure X's problem with red streaks showing up after he cleaned a Hardi Plank home.

I think it was the very next day after he first posted his problem I was working in a neighborhood that had a new house under construction. The home was at the stage where they were installing the house wrap so I payed attention to see if it had red ink on it. I have seen a lot of homes wrapped with Tyvek wrap before with Tyvek's logo on it, but the building supply company must have had this wrap made especially or them with their building supply company's name on it. I mean their name was printed all over it in giant red lettering. The house looked like a billboard advertising the building supplier.

Hardi Plank is installed by most contractors by nailing a half inch down from the top of each board. They overlap the next board by only about 3/4" and put no nails where they overlap. This leaves the boards where they overlap very loose and very easy to get water in between the boards.

Generally, you don't find the mold problem to be as bad on Hardi Plank as you would on vinyl anyway so I have cut my SH way down and I make sure I am standing back aways making sure I am not shooting water upwards underneath the overlaps.

Since Pressure X had his problem I don't avoid Hardi Plank, but I am a lot more careful with it now.

One more thing. Some contractors are now installing pre-painted or some call it pre-treated Hardi Plank. This stuff can fade and oxidize worse than regular painted HP while cleaning so watch and test for that. Also, the pre-painted boards can be scratched or chipped during handling and construction. Since the contractors pay extra for the pre-painted HP they certainly don't want to paint the house and these little nicks, dings and scratches can show up when you clean it.

Before you take on a Hardi Plank house see if you can find out if it is pre-painted (the homeowner may not even know). In any regard, look over the siding as best you can before you start so they don't try to pin something on you later. The darker the siding the worse these places will show up.

[MudDuck 20]

Good info there Len...Haven't done a HP yet myself but glad to have seen this thread before doing one.

[PressureX 14]

A couple months later, and 3 more people asked me about doing an estimate, I turned down all 3 because they had Hardi Plank.

Like I said before, I'll never touch it again, cost me about $900 out of my pocket to get it "fixed".

So yall be careful, awesome information by the way Len, thanks!

[louisgeorges 14]

I wash hardy plank all the time here in Florida we use a DS injector and 12% chlorine and a good surfactant. Dishwashing soap should do.

That's what I do too.

Test the distance of your nozzle on a small hidden corner of the house to be sure.