soft wasihing a wood house

M

mentalmark

New member
Very rarely do I see wood houses around here but I got my first call today about a wood house. The wood is painted. I assume you can't use standard house wash mix on these homes. What is everyone doing for these? And does your gameplan change whether the wood is painted or not?
 
You can wash a wood painted house just the same as any other with a couple exceptions, Run a little weaker SH mix. I would start with a 20% mix in a small hard to see area and run a quick test. The key is to "NOT" let the mix dry on the surface. Do one section at a time so you can keep everything wet...

As for pressure, You can do a soft wash or conventional downstreaming pressure wash however, You need to run larger tips so they handicap the machine.

Whenever I pressure wash a wood painted home or Hardie plank sided home, using a 4gpm machine with 3000-3500psi, I run a 2510 tip for rinsing. You'll have full flow but much lower pressure.

I have done a ton of painted homes as I live in a semi-historic area. They are in most cases, easier to wash than aluminum or vinyl. You just need to exercise some caution.

Mike
 
I've seen a lot of threads about bleached wood, which is what worries me the most doing these houses. Is this only a factor if the wood isn't stained or painted? I mostly see bleached wood on decks, but probably applies the same to houses as well I would imagine.
 
You can wash painted wood,.and as stated above,.it is usually easier than aluminum or vinyl,..especially if it's a nice paint job. And no,..it is wood that gets "bleached" out. You're not washing wood,..your washing paint. The biggest issue is oxidation,..especially if it's a darker color,..just like we see on darker vinyl siding. Light siding oxidizes also,..but is more forgiving when it comes to seeing it. Light colors hide it better.

I hate Dark-----Green-Blue-Red-Brown

What color is the house?

Jeff
 
clean2be said:
You can wash a wood painted house just the same as any other with a couple exceptions, Run a little weaker SH mix. I would start with a 20% mix in a small hard to see area and run a quick test. The key is to "NOT" let the mix dry on the surface. Do one section at a time so you can keep everything wet...

As for pressure, You can do a soft wash or conventional downstreaming pressure wash however, You need to run larger tips so they handicap the machine.

Whenever I pressure wash a wood painted home or Hardie plank sided home, using a 4gpm machine with 3000-3500psi, I run a 2510 tip for rinsing. You'll have full flow but much lower pressure.

I have done a ton of painted homes as I live in a semi-historic area. They are in most cases, easier to wash than aluminum or vinyl. You just need to exercise some caution.

Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike.

Since you live in a historical area, do you ever have problems soft washing homes with old windows, like storm windows? Ever had any leaking issues?

Chris
 
Hi Chris,

You will almost always have a little water get behind storms. Just try to "not" point your tip at the frames. Soft washing around storms is the only way I do it. And yes, I use my pressure washer to do the job. Just run a tip for roof cleaning so the machine can't build pressure. I use an injector bypass to stop pulling mix.

A J-Rod loaded with .030 or .040 nozzles are really nice to have.

Mike
 
We wash wood houses all the time before were painting them- Thats the difference your probably not painting them

Follow the above posts from Jeff & Mike and you will be ok.

I make sure my guys "dial down" the pressure so we dont cause damage

Set the expectations with your client about aluminum siding- that its going to look streaky & blotchy when it dries and really not recommended unless your prepping for paint
 
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