Aluminum Siding Question

[Kleankings]

Hey guys just got a call to clean an aluminum siding house. I know aluminum siding can be tricky to clean, and I don’t want to pay for a new paint job. At what point or condition would you walk away from cleaning aluminum siding. Please provide any pointers. I am going to check for oxidation, and test clean a small area before proceeding. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Christopher]

Wipe a finger on the surface, if the chalky paint comes off and you can see the mark on the house, I don't even try as there is too much of a downside.

I have seen where some paint comes off in one area and almost all the paint comes off in another close by, homeowner will not like the results unless they are ready to paint, then that is a different story.

 

["Red"]

Couldn't that be shown to the customer and then sell a paint prep service instead?

 

[Guy Blackmon]

Couldn't that be shown to the customer and then sell a paint prep service instead?

Yes...but..if paint fails (even if its not your fault) it could come back to bite you and you could be held liable. But if you know what you're doing it's a an up sell.

 

[Diamond Jim]

I clean about 5 a year and been maintaining 2 for over 15 . People who have lived in them forever understand the issues with the surface. People who just bought don't and will get different answers from different contractors on what to do and how to maintain. So I guess I've been soft washing with fossil fuel for 20 years !

They need to be washed every year . Dirt causes more issues than mold on the areas that don't get hit by rain . Did one this year with a quarter inch of green mold over the whole back of a house . It was extremely difficult to do and not leave any surface marks on the 50 year old red aluminum . You can brush out any mistakes.

 

[Kleankings]

Thanks for the info. Customer went with another contractor. Thus the grind continues...

 

[JBurd]

I did one today that the customer is planning on getting painted. Unbelievable oxidation. Opaque white chalk when you rub on it. So I DS a paint prep soap, and used medium pressure and heat to power wash (I usually just soft wash but this was the exception). You could see the paint just melt off and leave mostly just the primer. Even so I rubbed my glove on it and there was still oxidation! So I ended up soaping twice, using a soft bristle brush and using a hot pressure wash, and even still there was some oxidation left. I'm not sure there is any way to do a perfect prep job short of chemically stripping every spot of paint from the siding. I decided I need to raise my prices for paint prep jobs.