Aluminum Siding

[the_GUNN_man]

Can you believe that I have been in business for 3 years and am about to do my first aluminum sided house. Most all houses I do are vinyl or brick. I have read others posts about oxidation. What can I do to avoid the chaulkeness? The coustomer wants to sell the house and not invest alot of money into preparing it to sell. What chems should I use and what is a good psi to use? What problems do I face? Any info would be appreciated.

 

[peevo74]

Ive done two aluminum houses in my short career(3months so far).The first one i did the owner wanted it washed for painting. it was painted once before. After i washed it he was so happy he didnt have to pay to have it painted.It really looked good and he gave me an extra 50$ for it.Second one i cleaned it and it looked like clean aluminum siding nothing crazy.I used just the regular house wash cocktail(bleach,dishwash fluid)I used the x-jet to apply and wash off.You know maybe i was lucky but i do remember some stories of past threads were PWers had trouble with aluminum.Just my story Good luck

 

[ron]

ron p

GUNN, The trick is to wash with EQUAL pressure. That is if you use 500 psi on the first 10 ft. from the bottom [easy to reach] you need 500 psi on the second story also.
Other wise it can show up as 1/2 done when finished.
I use e-spec's plex-master and what a diffrence.
Also when i go to sell house washing now, i get my price 90% of the time, no one around here
has ever heard of it or knows where to get it.
I love lowballers. Hose reel in a box,HD wash unit,4 cases of bleach and 1 case of dawn.
All mounted in a 1978 ford station wagon. Then has the biggest ad in the yellow book.
They must have a real good contract at the liquor store. There RIG is there twice a day.
I can tell the houses they have done because of the HALO of brown grass around it.
Dawn, or any other dish soap will dry out the paint, it is made not to leave any gloss, its basicaly a stripper. "strip's grease out of it's way"
as it dries and in a short amount of time the siding PEEVO has washed will get CHAULKY pretty fast, unless he used something that had gloss enhances in it to seal after his strip job.
Peevo, this is not ment to critisize you at all. I am just trying to help.
I would suggest if you do clean with the bleach and dawn to add some car wash with gloss enhancers in it to your mix or wash it twice. One time to clean, the other to protect.
Just bleach and dawn will leave the house looking clean but dull. That dull, is good for you because the mold spores love to stick to it and you can go back in 6 months to wash it again.
I have a better picture book of my compitions work then they do.

 

[the_GUNN_man]

Ron,
What kind of gloss enhancers should I add to my mix and how much. Also where do you get it. Do you mix it with the house wash or spray it on seperate?

 

[ron]

ron p

" i use plex master from e-spec" cant use there full name on this bbs
it is a sep. application shoot it on via downstreamer and rinse before it dries.

 

[peevo74]

thanks for the info

Ron i appreciate you pointing out my wrong doing because other wise i would of kept on doing the wrong thing.Thats why i joined this board to learn and learn i have, from many past and present threads from you and the others.As for my eqiptment i purchased it from this web site.If you choose to see go to the gallery section and go to Laura P.Doesnt look like a station wagon to me!

 

[jfbrian]

Houses

Hey Ron what kind of cleaning do you normally do when it comes to houses? Are you using a twin-chem method or just a siding cleaner? Aluminum can be problematic. We use the twin-chemical method followed up be either plex-master or silo-wet which acts as a gloss enhancer and mildew inhibitor. We also incorporate hot water with the washing. If you want more information let me know and I'd be glad to help.

 

[Bill B]

What if the Aluminum surface already is very chalky? The owner of a car wash asked me yesterday how to clean the aluminum roofing around the top of his car wash area.

Also, what is the "twin cleaning" method mentioned above? What chems are involved?

 

[ron]

ron p

twin chem is when you apply a high PH chem. [like PH acid or HF acid]
then apply a low ph chem.[ alk. soap]
When a acid meets a base a chem reaction happens and pop's the dirt off the surface.
This greatly reduces the use of manuel scrubbing and excessive pressure.
Chaulky paint is paint where the oils/poly have dried out of the paint. Once the oils have been dried out of the paint it will fail.[get chaulky] You either clean it as paint prep or clean it and add a coating to protect the dead paint[color]. There are diffrent co. selling sealer/coating that protect and shine. E-spec is only one. www.everbrite.net is another.
so its either paint restoration or paint prep and I dont sell a job like this untill i do a test area.
This way the customer knows what they are getting into.
i do use a 2 step for alum. but i do not do alum siding very much[some aluminum mobile homes]
they are the same as truck washing but add that plex-master and no one will get more work in that trailer park then you. You will also get paid more then the others.
I love lowballers, they let me keep raising my prices.

 

[johny]

Guys tell me gow to use plex-master,just got it from e-spec for the first time.I tried it in my own vinyl ,applied with a pump up,rinsed no difference.I dont have a downstream,i have hurricane injector.How should i pre mix it to run it through this injector,lets say how much what in a 5 gal bucket.

Always have to be careful with neglected aluminum.Do a test spot.Last one i did,i couldnt even rinse the spider webs without taking the paint off.I applied soap ,rinsed from about 3 feet from the surface,no washing at all.Made it look better but as i told them before it wouldnt look all that good.Blast master has a good article on this few month back
Johny

 

[ron]

ron p

johnny, why the heck dont you get a downstream injection?
in a pump-up i would'nt know how to mix it.[guess 1/2 gal of plex mix to 4 1/2 gal water]
i mix 5 gal of plex-master to 25 gal of water and use 1/2 gal of that mixed with 4 gal water. Then use my x-jet.
It makes a bigger impression on darker colored siding.
Even if your not getting a WOW out of the sealer, your customer will love the fact that they can garden hose off any mold without calling you back.
Also spider webs suck-better to use a brush to get them off , not pressure.

 

[Bill B]

ron, thanks for the info. Didn't realize that twin chems was basically "2 step" process. Also, believe you may have the pH's backwards - alkaline = hi pH ; acids = low pH.

 

[Bill B]

Ron, forgot to ask - - if you look at the Al "paint prep" approach, would TSP work effectively?

 

[ron]

ron p

YES, TSP lightly etches paint so the paint will stick better.
Sorry i did my PH'S backwards.