[james peters]

this is what I did today... first time I have done a job like this as I focus on window cleaning.
I did make slightly more than I would on the windows, but it was a lot harder work than window cleaning.
interested to know what method you would have used and which chemicals
I used tfr and warm water.

I am wondering whether i should have used hypo?

[NWH]

Hot WFP would be quicker than soft washing that.

[zesty]

Softwash would be done in an hour.

What method did you use?

[james peters]

Softwash would be done in an hour.

What method did you use?

I used virosol and warm water.    It is longer than you can see in the pic , and I also did the shutter doors, and the little canopies with the railings .
it took me 7 hours
the canopies and railings were harder work than the walls . with hind sight I would have pressure washed those parts .

[zesty]

That’s the problem then, if you’d softwashed it, it would have a been so much easier and quicker!

Good job though, the end result looks good!

[Smudger]

Hmmm,
 
You have a couple of choices really depending on how stubborn the staining was I would have used tfr and wfp the sides - if it was tough to remove then I would have hypo first then tfr and wfp I personally wouldn't softwash these type of buildings - why - because they look good but I find they leave a residue where as a physical scrub leaves it really clean (IMO)

Time wise maybe a little slow but that's a lot on your own  - 2 men would be about 2.5 hrs

As for £££ you should be looking for x2 to x3 your window cleaning rate

But very well done  on a good job

Darran

[Bungle]

this is what I did today... first time I have done a job like this as I focus on window cleaning.
I did make slightly more than I would on the windows, but it was a lot harder work than window cleaning.
interested to know what method you would have used and which chemicals
I used tfr and warm water.

I am wondering whether i should have used hypo?

When are you going to finish it?

[zesty]

Hi Darran,

We soft  wash these vinyl sidings regularly with no issues, never had the residue problem?

I always find these type buildings respond really well to a 2% hypo mix, it always works well and cuts the job time down hugely.

If I’m not scrubbing, I’m saving time 

[james peters]

thanks for the replies.
I think what slowed me down was the canopies and yellow posts that i also cleaned . they were a ballache .
I should have added that as a seperate price on top, and pressure washed them rather than wfp.

I will invest in a larger brush also just for these type of jobs , i think that would speed things up.
it has been a good learning curve

[zesty]

James, once a year we clean the exterior of huge well known energy company’s head office. (I won’t name as I don’t fancy competition knowing what we clean  )

It’s got this exact type of vinyl siding.

We always use a 2% hypo mix with the petrol soft wash machine, then a sniper nozzle with the pressure washer to rinse off.

When we used to do it via poles and scrubbing, it took 2 and half days (3 of us)

When we changed to softwashing it, it now takes 7 hours.

That’s the difference!

I think next time you do something similar, or this job again, it’s worth trying a soft wash.

You can agitate where neeeds be with a brush, but shouldn’t need to.

All these methods work, but I can’t stress enough how time saving and effective I’ve personally found softwashing them.

The energy company are always really happy, and the shine after the softwash is pretty darn spectacular 

All the best mate, you still did a great job 👍🏼

[Splash & dash]

Hi Darran,

We soft  wash these vinyl sidings regularly with no issues, never had the residue problem?

I always find these type buildings respond really well to a 2% hypo mix, it always works well and cuts the job time down hugely.

If I’m not scrubbing, I’m saving time 

That’s the whole problem it does need scrubbing just applying a hypo mix doesn’t remove the dirt , neither does  then spraying it with a hose to rinse all you have done is turn the bacterial matter translucent it’s still there , it needs scrubbing to get it tk let go of the surface then rinse , I went on purple rhino s course they tried doing the job on a building exactly the same as the one in the picture they sprayed it with 2% mix left is for 30 muinits  and rinsed then said all done , it looked terrible I walked down the side of the building rubbed  my fingers down it and surprisingly  enough the dirt came off , they then rub the building with wfp and the dirt came straight off looked good , also hypo will only remove bacteria mould and algi not carbonatious contamination , we regularly re clean buildings that have been so called cleaned by some big firms beacause the owners arnt happy with the results theses so called professionals have achieved .

[zesty]

Splash,

It does work, how do I know? I do it every single year on a massive energy companies head office. It always works.

Sometimes you need a 3% solution, but it always comes right off.

I’ve also done the same for Toolstation near me. Vinyl siding. Came up like new. Softwash only, no scrubbing.

The reason for the pressure washer and sniper nozzle is for fast rinsing, not dirt removal. The hypo does the work. The sniper nozzle at 21lpm does the rinse.

[zesty]

Here’s an example of the Toolstation job we did last autumn. Nothing but a softwash. Was a easy, quick, and still looks like new today.

No scrubbing necessary.

Pic isn’t the best as I’ve copied it from my twitter account as a screen shot. Shows the before and after. It doesn’t quite show how dirty it was. It also extends over to the right more. Took about 2 hours. Easy. Nothing but hypo, water and surfactant.

Toolstation were extremely impressed. They had silly quotes from other companies wanting to pressure wash it. We came in, did it out of ours on a Sunday afternoon and left within 2 hours.

You do not need virosol or hot water. I’m talking from experience. Not theory.

[zesty]

Closer up 

Now you can argue that’s it not as dirty as the OP’s, but the large jon we do every year for the energy company has been extremely dirty at times. It’s also huge. Like really huge.

So I’ll be sticking with the ease of softwashing, and would recommend it to the OP.

[Splash & dash]

Here’s an example of the Toolstation job we did last autumn. Nothing but a softwash. Was a easy, quick, and still looks like new today.

No scrubbing necessary.

Pic isn’t the best as I’ve copied it from my twitter account as a screen shot. Shows the before and after. It doesn’t quite show how dirty it was. It also extends over to the right more. Took about 2 hours. Easy. Nothing but hypo, water and surfactant.

Toolstation were extremely impressed. They had silly quotes from other companies wanting to pressure wash it. We came in, did it out of ours on a Sunday afternoon and left within 2 hours.

You do not need virosol or hot water. I’m talking from experience. Not theory.

We have been softwashing for over 15 years so I have plenty of experience hypo is only suitable for  green algi and other organic growth , it won’t remove  carbonatious dirt . Just spraying with a hypo mix and then going over it with any hose wether pressure washer or garden hose will  cause stripping we regularly re do buildings like in your picture that have been done  the way you describe and the customers arnt happy with the results , having cleaned buildings like this for  15 years trust me I have tried many ways , if it didn’t need scrubbing I certainly wouldn’t waist my  and staffs time doing it that way . Different parts of the country will need different techniques depending in the contamination , softwashing with hypo is very good but not the answer for  all jobs , hear is a job that had been done using your way and then we cleaned it with virisol and hot water , I don’t think you need me to  tell you which is the before and after pictures

[zesty]

That’s not vinyl siding is it slacky? the OP’s building is vinyl siding, like the two jobs I’ve stated.

We must use some magic hypo then, as it removes every bit of dirt and grime for us. Always. Yes, hypo isn’t ‘supposed’ to remove dirt. But it does. It’s not just organic matter that shifts. As said, I know this from experience. We’re due back to the energy company in September, we will be softwashing it again, for a 4th time. No problem.

I’m not making it up. It works for us.

Each to their own, but I’ll stick to what works.

You can clearly see from the pictures I posted that softwash works for us. It came up like new. I’ve yet to need to use virosol and hot water, which, I’m very glad about, as it used to take ages when we did it that way years ago!

[Splash & dash]

It is vinyl coated aluminium, again the manufacturers of it state that nothing corrosive should be used to clean it , hypo Evan diluted is potentially corrosive and if any gets on raw edges under corner trims it will corrode badly and get under the vinyl coating

[zesty]

The buildings we clean aren’t aluminium, only vinyl.


Looks like the OP’s building is the same. For vinyl sidings, softwash is a very good, effective option.

Obviously not a good idea on metal. Lead is the worst, it rusts before you’ve got time to think!

Render, cladding and vinyl is perfect for hypo in my experience.

[Slacky]

That’s not vinyl siding is it slacky?

Beats me.

[zesty]

Sorry slacky 

Meant splash.