Vinyl siding is a great, low maintenance option for home builders. The fact that it is not painted is a huge benefit in lower costs as your home ages. EXCEPT maybe for the “good ‘ol” vinyl siding oxidation problem.
Unfortunately, no product or substrate that is outside and being subject to UV rays, Acid rain, and the elements, will stay 100% perfect forever.
The suns UV rays is what causes Vinyl Siding Oxidation. If you have never really looked for it you may not know if your home has vinyl siding oxidation. There is one way that often works to see if your siding has it. Simply wet your finger or a mr. clean magic eraser and rub a dry area of your siding. A white or cream haze may come off, or your finger may have this residue. If you see any chalky or whiteness and your siding looks a deeper color in the area you rubbed, then unfortunately, your siding has started or is well along in the oxidation process. The other thing that is obvious is a slightly white haze all over that the vinyl starts to show. For instance if you look at your vinyl under a porch or behind shutters you will sometimes find almost a completely different color. This is because the sun has lightened the vinyl and taken a toll on it.
Believe it or not, we find vinyl siding as new as only 5 years where it is starting to oxidize already.
We bring up this subject because washing a house does not remove that oxidation. We do have this in our terms and conditions as well. The reason for this is because after washing homes for over 20 years we have had a very small amount of customers blame our company for the oxidation. In some cases they think that our soap or wash process causes it to instantly happen. I understand that many people just do not know or understand oxidation and therefore I thought I would try to share what I have learned.
Sometimes customers will remove plants and an outline of the plant is seen in the vinyl siding, this is because the plants have grown over the vinyl and somewhat protected those areas from oxidizing as well. Sometimes, when homes are badly oxidized it can even effect the way it dries out. Unfortunitly, this is something completely out of our control.
So I will give you the good news. I know customers do not like to hear this, but the truth is, the sun will completely even it all out with in several months. This is not our company taking the easy way out, sometimes the more you wash and put pressure to an oxidized home the worst it will look. This is a great reason to use a company like Power Play for your house washing because with low pressure you disturb that layer less. We have seen may homes that were washed with high pressure and you could see wand marks all over them, it looks terrible if you try to wash an oxidized home with high pressure. Sometimes, if homes have a lot of mildew growth to the point of having round mold chunk or lichens there is no option but getting a little closer to remove those and this can “cut” into that layer of oxidation leaving the final dry out a little uneven. Unfortunately, a small amount of pressure is required if the growth is that bad on your siding. This is a great reason to keep up with your house washes a bit more often so that we can perform a 100% soft wash and not worry about leaving an uneven result for you. Most of our customers wash their home every 2 or 3 years, but that is a personal preference of course!
There is a cleaner available to remove oxidation, however, it is expensive and we charge more for that process due to higher chemical and labor costs as it needs to be scrubbed on the surfaces! Here is the kicker and the reason we typically do not recommend going through the oxidation removal process. We are happy to do it for you, but the sun and elements will only re-oxidize it very quickly and you will have it again with in a year or so. Once oxidized the siding is actually having a very small layer of failed or “dead” plastic if you will.
There is a product called Vinyl Renu, once the oxidation is removed it can be sprayed on the siding. It is an excellent product and puts a clear sealer coat back onto your siding. It brings out the original color and protects it for at least 10 years, typically even longer. It is not cheap to do, but is much less expensive than replacing vinyl siding of course!
If you believe you may have oxidized siding and it is a concern of yours. Please reach out to me and I am happy to discuss this with you along with options and pricing.
