aluminium siding ?

[dave 14]

could anyone help me out with some advice on aluminium siding cleaning i have to prepare a quote i have not cleaned this surface before and have read they can be difficult do i use my normal soap mix or does it require an acid and what type of pressure any help would be much appreciated.

[PressurePros 248]

Depends on what the customer is looking for... if it's just mold removal, you can use your housewash mix and low pressure removal. If they want the chalky oxidation removed you almost have to wash the whole thing like you would a car (I mean hand wash or brushing) Even then you have to use a specialty cleaner and they are $$$$.

Be careful with your X-Jet, an M-5 would be best. Regular X-Jet will leave your signature, if you know what I mean. I now upcharge 50% on aluminum siding houses because I have had enough of the bad experiences.

[PLD 14]

I would walk away. I just did one and no matter what we did (short of brushing every sq.) it looked like crap. Crap w/o mildew and algae, but still like crap. Many places under the mildew were not as oxidixed as exposed places, it looked like a patchwork quilt even with all low pressure and very careful work. Many stains bonded like gutter streaks and would not come off without chems and scrubbing.

I would have walked away before hand, but when I quoted it just looked like typical really nasty vinyl. No add ons wanted, just the house. So I gave him a mid-grade price and figured we'd be gone in 2 hours. 4+hours later I ended up apologizing for not being able to clean it and giving the job away for free. That's a first for my and definitely not a good feeling. Makes you fell like an amateur...

[Washaway 64]

Philip don't feel like an amateur! First off you're man enough to admit what happened.....secondly you learned something. It's one person out of 100s or even 1000s that you had to walk away from. None of us know it all.

I however do know, thanks to you, that if I get a call for aluminium siding I'm too busy.

:lolsign:

[tropical wave 22]

some aluminum is pretty easy, and some are a real PITA POS..... I'll still go get a look at it, and explain the probable outcome.....no promises, no guarentees...if its not working out I'll explain the paint prep option and call a painter pal of mine so he can quote it too.......but like I mentioned, I'll go look at it..(unless its a darker shade of green or blue) then I'll be way too busy !!!

[flimmy 14]

Ken , did you brush that house ?

I have done 2 aluminium sided houses. On 1 house I stopped after 5 min.'s and told the customer that it may not look as good as she or I thought it might. She told me to go ahead and do the house anyway. I told her shortly after starting that way I would not waiste my time or hers. Also so she would not think I was just there to collect the $$$ and leave but rather I was there to do a quality job.

[PLD 14]

Philip don't feel like an amateur! First off you're man enough to admit what happened.....secondly you learned something. It's one person out of 100s or even 1000s that you had to walk away from. None of us know it all.

I however do know, thanks to you, that if I get a call for aluminium siding I'm too busy.

:lolsign:

I did, and it's one out of 500'ish (2nd year for me). I just don't like losing/failure. I knew how to fix it. I just knew that I'd never fix it at a closeable cost. Mild butyl and a truck brush followed by a wet wax would have made that house like new. I tried the close, but it was a losing cause from word one. Had I noticed aluminum at the quote, I would have had a good chance during the sale. But once I had quoted and done sub-par work, "my apologies, I mis-read the job" was the best I could do. And from there, Tony Robbins would have had to work miracles to re-close at 4x the price.

[PLD 14]

some aluminum is pretty easy, and some are a real PITA POS..... I'll still go get a look at it, and explain the probable outcome.....no promises, no guarentees...if its not working out I'll explain the paint prep option and call a painter pal of mine so he can quote it too.......but like I mentioned, I'll go look at it..(unless its a darker shade of green or blue) then I'll be way too busy !!!

FWIW, it was "I love to oxidize" robins egg blue. and to the earlier threads about oxidized vinyl, IMHO robins egg blue is the worst. Every problem vinyl house that I have run into (bad oxi, stud striping, etc) has been robins egg blue. That includes my rental property that I clean annually and it still oxidizes...

[PressurePros 248]

Ken , did you brush that house ?

I didn't brush that one. I used a citric based acidic cleaner followed by regular housewash mix. Applied with homemade ShurFlo extension wand and rinsed with garden hose.

[dave 14]

when two stepping aluminium siding can i use citric acid followed by my regular house wash if so what strength do i mix citric acid ?