How to Clean Wood Siding

Kim asks,

My wood siding was damaged the last time it was power washed, so I am hesitant to do this again. It will probably need some touch ups this year and a full paint job in the next couple years. It has mold and green mildew on it and I wondered if there is a product that I could hire someone to apply to clean it. I have a lot of plantings around the house and would want to preserve those as much as possible. My garage has aluminum siding on it that also has mold and mildew. Would the product also work for it?

The house is a pale maize color. I am thinking of trying a darker color, but am concerned about fading and if it would increase the heat of the house and therefore the electric bill due to increased AC usage.

Our Answer

Pressure washing certainly can certainly damage wood siding if too much pressure or the wrong tip is used. But if the reason for the pressure washing is to clean siding that’s become covered with mold, mildew or algae – I can suggest some alternatives.

If you are concerned about using a product that will not harm lawn and gardens, and if you can tolerate a slow process, products like Spray and Forget or Wet and Forget can work. The downside is that they work slowly and it can take months for the process to work.

For a quicker solution, use JOMAX, its a product with a long history of success in cleaning mold, mildew and ageam from wood surfaces.

Also, I suspect your home has a lot of shade. Sunlight is the best and most natural mildewcide. If you can trim trees to allow more sunlight to get to the siding, you’ll see brighter exteriors and need far fewer cleanings.

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Community Answers

Les Cherow

Looking for a product to ‘dress up’ several cinder block ‘piers’ that support an outdoor covered porch. Looking for something that looks like natural stone but doesn’t have the weight since the footings under the piers do not extend beyond the piers themselves.

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