The Art of Power Washing Siding

Some of the most common mistakes to avoid made by homeowners and contractors are:

Trying to remove the powdery coating called oxidation on aluminum siding. Removing this coating can cause discoloration and in some cases cause the siding to look like a completely different color. Using too much pressure can also force water up behind the siding where it will cause mildew behind the siding or in some cases, blow the siding off the house!

Washing the house from the top down or letting chemicals dry on the house, which may leave streaks on the siding.

Using a ladder to clean the upper areas of a house can result in serious injuries and death from slipping off the ladder. These are the types of mishaps that many people have when attempting to do a quick power washing of their home. If you decide to use a power washer on your home, here are some general guidelines to use.

Make sure the machine your using puts out a minimum of 4 gallons of water per minute and less than 1000 PSI.

Most homeowners will buy a machine from a hardware store that puts out 1,000 PSI but only uses 2 gallons per minute of water. While this machine may work, it will triple the amount of time to do the job properly. Be careful if your making your own house washing chemicals. For example, mixing bleach and ammonia can create a poisonous gas.

We suggest that home owners buy a siding wash that's available in most hardware stores and follow the manufactures guidelines for the product. Leave the stronger agents to the pro's or you may end up removing the paint along with the dirt!

The best way to clean siding is by using a power washer that has a chemical injector built into the machine. Using a chemical injector will allow you to pull the soap from the container, mixing it in the machine with water and spray it onto the house using low pressure starting from the bottom up. Make sure when using a power washer that you don't shoot water or chemicals up under the siding, this can cause significant mold problems behind your siding.

Allow the chemical to dwell on the siding, then using low pressure, rinse the product from the siding. Make sure when your rinsing the product off the siding that you start at one end of the siding all the way to the end. Do not stop or vary your distance from the siding, or it will cause the surface to be cleaned un-evenly.

If your siding has small black dots that do not come off during cleaning but can be scraped off using your finger nail. You probably have artillery fungus on your siding. This can not be removed from the siding without causing damage. For more information on Artillery fungus, see the Artillery fungus page.

If you decide this project is more than you want to handle on your own, we would be happy to tell you how to do the job safely and correctly or to find a reputable and experienced company. Just give us a call.

Henry Bockman
President, Henry's Housework Inc.
MHIC # 65039 Licensed, bonded and insured.
www.Henryshousework.com
301 353 9287

Henry Bockman has provided power washing, gutter cleaning, roof repairs and deck restoration services to over 10,000 commercial and residential clients for over 16 years.

Henry Bockman is currently the Maryland PWNA chapter president, serves on the Board of Directors for the National organization The Power Washers of North America and is also the Chairman for the Clean Across America campaign which he helped create in 2004. For more information on Henry Bockman and his company, Henry's Housework, visit the website at http://www.henryshousework.com

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Palestinians pray over the bodies of  people killed near a United Nations school Tuesday, during their funeral in the Jebaliya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Israel's military paused its Gaza offensive for three hours Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach besieged Palestinians, and the country's leaders debated whether to accept an international cease-fire plan or expand the assault against Hamas. With criticism rising of the operation's spiraling civilian death toll and Gazans increasingly suffering the effects of nonstop airstrikes and shelling, Israel's military said it opened 'humanitarian corridors' to allow aid supplies to reach Palestinians.(AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)AP - Israel resumed its Gaza offensive Wednesday, bombing heavily around suspected smuggling tunnels near the border with Egypt after a three-hour lull to allow in humanitarian aid. Hamas responded with a rocket barrage.



President-elect Barack Obama gestures during a news conference at his transition office in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, where he introduced Nancy Killefer, not shown, to the newly created position of chief performance officer. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)AP - Pointing with concern to "red ink as far as the eye can see," President-elect Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to tackle out-of-control Social Security and Medicare spending and named a special watchdog to clamp down on other federal programs — even as he campaigned anew to spend the largest pile of taxpayer money in history to revive the sinking economy.



Illinois U.S. Senate Appointee Roland Burris, left, meets with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)AP - Senate Democrats beat a hasty retreat Wednesday from their rejection of Roland Burris as President-elect Barack Obama's successor, yielding to pressure from Obama himself and from senators irked that the standoff was draining attention and putting them in a bad light. Burris said with a smile he expected to join them "very shortly."



Rescue workers evacuate residents from a flooded neighborhood along  McCutcheon Rd. near Orting, Wash. Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. The rapidly rising Puyallup River forced hundreds of people in the area from their homes. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)AP - Rain and high winds lashed Washington state Wednesday, causing widespread avalanches, mudslides, flooding and road closures as the heavy snowfall that has buried parts of the state began to rapidly melt.



President-elect Barack Obama is welcomed by President George W. Bush for a meeting at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, with former presidents, from left, George H.W. Bush, Bill  Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)AP - Confronting a grim economy and a Middle East on fire, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to perhaps the only people on the planet who understand what he's in for: the four living members of the U.S. presidents' club.



Workers put bullet proof glass on President-elect Barack Obama's Inaugural Reviewing Stand on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)AP - The upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama is an attractive target for international and domestic terrorists, but U.S. intelligence officials have no information about specific threats to the Jan. 20 event.



AP - You've heard of making cheese from goats' milk, but prescription drugs? In what would be a scientific first, an anti-clotting drug made from the milk of genetically engineered goats moved closer to government approval Wednesday after experts at the Food and Drug Administration reported that the medication works and its safety is acceptable.

Ellen DeGeneres accepts the favorite funny female star award at the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards on Wednesday Jan. 7, 2009 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)AP - Ellen DeGeneres and "Dancing with the Stars" were early winners at the People's Choice Awards.



Harvard's Jeremy Lin (4) drives for the basket in front of Boston College's Rakim Sanders in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)AP - Jeremy Lin scored 27 points to lead Harvard to an 82-70 upset over No. 17 Boston College on Wednesday night, three days after the Eagles upset previously top-ranked North Carolina.



In this Nov. 30, 2008 file photo, New York Jets coach Eric Mangini looks up at the scoreboard during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The Cleveland Browns have agreed to hire Eric Mangini as their head coach, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)AP - Eric Mangini is the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns, a week after being fired by the New York Jets. A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press that Mangini will be introduced Thursday at a news conference at the team's headquarters in Berea.



An Israeli soldier stands next to blindfolded Palestinian prisoners after they were arrested during an Israeli military operation in the northern Gaza Strip January 7, 2009, in this picture released by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday she had pressed Israel to seriously consider an Egyptian ceasefire plan as the U.N. Security Council weighed action to end Israel's attack on Gaza. (IDF/Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Israeli warplanes bombed the Gaza Strip on Thursday and tanks pounded Palestinian guerrillas on the ground as U.S. backing for a proposed truce raised expectations of an end to the offensive.



President Bush greets President-elect Barack Obama at the White House, November 10, 2008. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)Reuters - The U.S. budget deficit will swell to a record $1.186 trillion in fiscal 2009, congressional forecasters said on Wednesday, the result of an economic recession that has cut tax receipts and caused massive government bailouts of banks and automakers.



Senate-designate Roland Burris talks with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Reid's office on Capitol Hill, January 7, 2009. (Larry Downing/Reuters)Reuters - In an abrupt switch, Democratic leaders began talks on Wednesday to swear in Roland Burris, appointed by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.



United Auto Workers (UAW) President Ron Gettelfinger (C) addresses the media as UAW Vice-Presidents listen at the UAW Solidarity House in Detroit, Michigan December 12, 2008. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)Reuters - United Auto Workers bargaining teams are arriving this week in Detroit as the union gears up for negotiations with General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC, which are mandated to cut labor costs under a $17.4 billion federal bailout.



Reuters - U.S. cities are vulnerable to an attack like the gun-and-grenade assault that terrorized Mumbai for three days and killed 179 people, the White House homeland security adviser said on Wednesday.

Ali al-Marri, who has been held for 5-1/2 years at a U.S. military prison in South Carolina, is seen in this undated photograph released to Reuters on January 6, 2008. An early test for President-elect Barack Obama will be the case of suspected al Qaeda 'sleeper' agent Marri, which will force Obama to take a position on his predecessor's claim that anyone the president deems a national security threat can be imprisoned indefinitely without charges in the United States. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - The case of Ali al-Marri, accused of being an al Qaeda "sleeper" agent and held for 5-1/2 years at a U.S. military prison in South Carolina, will be an early test for President-elect Barack Obama.



Eggs are stacked up at an egg farm in San Diego County, July 29, 2008. (Mike Blake/Reuters)Reuters - An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning has made 388 people sick across 42 states, sending 18 percent of them to the hospital, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.



Bernard Madoff is escorted in a vehicle from Federal Court in New York, January 5, 2009. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)Reuters - Accused swindler Bernard Madoff should be jailed for violating a court order by mailing $1 million worth of diamonds, watches and other jewelry to friends and family, U.S. prosecutors told a court on Wednesday.



Shoppers at a Lenovo outlet in Beijing. The Chinese computer giant has announced it is set to cut about 2,500 jobs, roughly 11 percent of its worldwide workforce, after suffering losses due to the global economic crisis.(AFP/File/Teh Eng Koon)AFP - Chinese computer giant Lenovo announced Thursday it would cut about 2,500 jobs, roughly 11 percent of its worldwide workforce, after suffering losses due to the global economic crisis.



Smoke billows following an Israel air strike in Rafah near the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt. Israel on Wednesday approved an even tougher war on Hamas, warning residents to flee southern Gaza ahead of planned bombing of cross-border tunnels, as the Palestinian death toll passed 700.(AFP/Said Khatib)AFP - Israel on Wednesday approved an even tougher war on Hamas, warning residents to flee southern Gaza ahead of planned bombing of cross-border tunnels, as the Palestinian death toll passed 700.




Home Air Filters: Knowing Which One to Choose

Since air filters are one of the bests tools for eradicating allergens... Read More

What to Look For in a Drill Press

A drill press, also known as a pillar drill, is the stationary... Read More

Kitchen Cabinets are The Soul of Your Kitchen

Kitchen cabinets reflect the heart and soul of the homeowner. The cabinets... Read More

Choosing Window Frames

There are three main types of material used to manufacture window frames.... Read More

Deck Building Basics

In my previous article, "planning for a new deck," I outlined the... Read More

Professional Asphalt Paving Contractors In California

Choosing an asphalt paving contractor can be a major event if you... Read More

The Benefits of Closet Dehumidifiers

If your clothes are getting moist and musty, and stretched out or... Read More

Draught Proofing Your Home

This article takes a look at a number of ways of preventing... Read More

Got Attic Mold? Lets Talk Energy Conservation!

It happens to countless homeowners around the end of the year -... Read More

Luxury Bedding is More Than Just Thread Count

Thread count is the most widely referred to term when searching for... Read More

Why Are There So Many Different Light Bulbs?

There are many different types of light bulbs. Each has its own... Read More

Maintaining Your Hot Tub

Purchasing a hot tub is a big investment and one that should... Read More

The $27,000 Toilet Seat - Funny DIY Story

This story was told to me by a plumber I know and... Read More

Home Remodeling: Colors and Temperature Perception

Colors contain underlying psychological meanings and evoke particular feelings when we see... Read More

Daydreaming About Your Home Makeover Projects

Most of us enjoy daydreaming about our perfect home. Do you ever... Read More

Brighten Up Your Patio With Sun Catchers

Sun catchers add sparkle and beauty to any room in your home.... Read More

How to Select the Best Laminate Flooring for You

Hardwood flooring - its' traditional look is almost timeless, its' beauty is... Read More

Unfinished Furniture - Finish It Yourself!

Unfinished furniture has started to become extremely popular in the last few... Read More

Concrete Cutting - Adding a Pre-Cast Concrete Stairway Bulkhead to Your Home

Installing a pre-cast concrete stairway to your home's basement is actually quite... Read More

Planning Permission Tips UK - Pre-application Enquiries to the Council - Is the Delay Worthwhile?

The holiday season is now in full swing & for about the... Read More

Planning Permission Tips UK - What To Show And What Not To Show On Your application Drawings

Many successful business deals are the result of being a bit canny... Read More

Planning Permission Tips UK - Permitted Development Allowances - Not the Golden Goose You Imagine

There is a perception amongst most folk that every house is allowed... Read More

Concrete Cutting: Shedding Light On Your Basement Remodel

Basements or cellars (depending on which part of the country you are... Read More

Roller Blinds

What is behind the popularity of roller blinds. Is it because they... Read More

Mistakes?

MISTAKES.Don't worry about making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. Why should you be... Read More

Chairs, Rocking Chairs and Other Comfortable Places To Park It!

A chair is one of the best inventions ever made. If you've... Read More

What is Injection Waterproofing?

Injection waterproofing is often used to fill and seal cracks and crevices.... Read More

Do You Know How To Use Window Coverings?

Window coverings serve an important role in your home, giving you privacy... Read More

Home Fire Prevention Effectiveness 1

Are you aware that you can lose all your personal belongings in... Read More

Single Pane Glass Repair in an Aluminum Frame, Part 2

This week we are going to continue our series on single pane... Read More

Trading in Corporate Office for Home Office

Six years ago, I had not yet turned on a computer. Today... Read More

New Construction Windows Or Replacement Windows? Which Is Right For You?

Hello, my name is John Rocco.I grew up around the window and... Read More

How to Buy a Home with Good Feng Shui

Buying a home is usually a stressful experience. So much rides on... Read More

A Few Simple Facts About Gas And Electric Heating Systems

To make your home more energy efficient, you need to understand the... Read More

At Last You Can Customize Your Pegboard As Much As You Want

Customizable metal pegboard is set to revolutionise utensil storage. For forty years... Read More

Hardwood Floor Care Will Keep Your Hardwood Looking Fantastic

Hardwood is still the homeowner's favorite choice of flooring and caring for... Read More

Planning Your Replacement Windows Installation

Windows are the eyes of a home. From inside, you see the... Read More

Complete Home Rehab In 10 Days

This report is about taking a house and restoring it to an... Read More

Everything - Plus The Kitchen Sink

Looking to do some remodeling in your kitchen sink area or maybe... Read More

Stair Railings Styles

The stair railing at home is more than a simple way to... Read More

Bathroom Remodel - The Plan

Planning a bathroom remodel? Each home project of this nature can be... Read More

Duvet Covers Are Easy to Make Yourself

Duvet covers are rather versatile when you think about it. If you... Read More

What You Should Know About Steam Showers

"Steam" and "Steam Bath" Health Benefits:"Steam" and "Steam baths" in you own... Read More

Color Help: Color Theory and Design Psychology

Color theory is an entire science unto itself, and to get a... Read More

Gel Candle Safety: What You Should Know Before You Buy

A lot of attention has been focused on gel candle safety in... Read More

The Benefits of Steel Storage Buildings

Steel is gaining in popularity as a building material due to the... Read More

How to Get the Most Out of Your Home Theater ? Without Spending a Fortune

So you've scraped and saved, now you've finally gotten together a semi-respectable... Read More