LESLIE: Isaac in New Jersey is calling in about mold on the house. What’s going on?
ISAAC: Actually, I don’t know if it’s mold. The last couple of years with my house, every year I would get like a green touch all over the siding of the house and I would have to powerwash it. First ten years of me owning the house, I didn’t have this problem.
TOM: Right. Because you know why, Isaac? I bet you that the trees have grown up around that house in that last ten years and the more shade that you have around the house, the more pollen and moss and other organic materials that will attach themselves to the siding and grow in that space. So you’re doing the right thing by powerwashing it but let me give you a couple of important steps.
First of all, before you powerwash it, you want to treat it with an oxygenated bleach. Now you can mix up Clorox and water or you could use a siding wash material; there are a number of different brands out there usually in the painting section of home improvement stores. And you apply and you let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes because that kills all of the organic material. And then you powerwash it to rinse it off.
But take a look around your yard and if there’s anything that you can do to trim back some trees and let a little more light get in there, sunlight is the best natural mildicide out there. And typically, when you get those mossy kinds of problems on roofs and on siding, it’s because of overgrowth.
ISAAC: Hey, thank you so much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Isaac. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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