Need help cleaning soffit and gutters.

[MrJimi]

Looks like ya will have to paint it, make sure you kill all the mildew before you paint or it will come right back through the paint, I live in Florida and we have lots of mildew here. And get a quality mildew resistant paint, it will be worth it in the long run.
Jim /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I'm going to try some jomax myself on my roof that is starting to mildew. They make one especially for shingles, however i could not find it so I bought the siding one. Hope it's not to different.

BTW, a friend of mine is moving to falling waters soon. THere goes the neighborhood..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[curt1]

I have washed many house's. Jomax, in my opinion is a total waste of time for mildew. I have tried it, won't use it again. Waste of money.
All you need to do is rent a pressure washer with an injector or use a pump up sprayer. Use a 50/50 mix of bleach and water with some liquid Joy soap(about two table spoons per gallon of bleach) in the sprayer, or a bucket with pure bleach and Joy soap with the injector hose from the pressure washer in it. The Joy soap causes the solution to adhere to the surface better. Do not use any other type of liquid soap as a few can produce chemical reaction's when mixed with bleach.
Soak any plants near the working area with plain water before you wash and rinse them very good after washing the house. It is good to wash when the Sun isn't directly on the working surface, as it causes the solution to dry faster and you will need to rinse it off faster if the Sun is shining on it.
Use the low pressure black soap tip to soak the house. Leave the solution on for at least 4 to 6 minute's or until you notice the mildew/stain fading away. Then gently rinse from a distance with a sweeping motion and the white 40 degree tip, making sure to keep away from window seals. NEVER use the pressure to clean your house, only use it to reach the high area's of your house. OR, if you use a tank sprayer, a water hose will do.
You may have to soak the house with solution/rinse more than once, depending on how old and how heavy the stain's are. It is also a good idea to have someone in your house with a few old rags to catch any solution that might run inside any window's or door's as you soak/rinse.
Also, after you are finished with the pressure washer or sprayer, it is good to run a gallon or so of plain water with 2 tablespoon's of liquid Joy soap mixed in to clean the bleach out of the injector/sprayer. Just put the water/soap in a bucket and run it through the injector with the black tip soap nozzle on the pressure wand. The bleach will ruin anything it is left in after a few day's.
Remember: to rinse all your plant's with plain water before/during and after soaking with the solution. Sometime's it will wilt or kill flower's. Should not hurt any shrub's provided you rinse before/during/after. DO NOT use pressure to clean/rinse the siding, door's and window's. Only use a light, gentle 40 degree fan from a distance to rinse. If you are very careful and your gutter's are not painted, you can use high pressure to clean the outside of them after soaking/rinsing them. Sometime's gutter's are very hard to get clean. You can also spray gutter's with Fantastic spray cleaner and use a rag to clean them by hand. Hope this work's as good for you as it has for me. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif


Curt

 

[RalphVa]

Jomax is designed to be mixed with bleach. Its claim to fame is that it can be applied to paint and not dull the paint like bleach alone will do.

On rooftops or on siding that isn't painted, you don't need to buy Jomax to get rid of midew and algae. Just use a bleach solution, about 10% or so.

I used Jomax solution in Baton Rouge all the time because mildew and algae were a perennial problem there.

Sounds like on your aluminum that you'll have to repaint. There are some paints that are supposed to be more resistant to mildew.

 

[EddieWalker]

I don't know about Jomax, but I've found houshold bleach too watered down for serious mildew removal.

Go to the swimming pool section of Walmart and get some liquid Shock, or pool chlorine. It's of a much, much stronger concentrate!!! I forget the numbers, but would think it's about ten times stronger.

Give this a try in a hidden spot. It's very strong and it will cause some serious damage if your not careful. Especially to clothing.

If the paint is coming off with the stain, you're in trouble. If it's surface mildew or discoloring, it can be cleaned, but if it's really stained the paint finish, then all you can do is either remove the paint, or nurtralize it and paint over it.

If you paint over it, I prefer Zinser primer over Kilz. Hope I'm spelling those right??? Kilz has never impressed me, but the Zinser has worked wonders.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[RayH]

All good ideas, thanks.
Yesterday I mixed up a solution of Jomax and bleach, strong on the bleach. I did the whole house and it did well with everything except the stains on the soffit and a couple really dirty places on the gutter. The siding itself looks great. I did do an experiment on a small area of soffit to see exactly what it would take to remove the stains. I had to use the pinpoint tip on the pressure washer at very close range to cut through all of the stain but the stain didnt go away until the paint went away and I was looking a bare aluminum. I think Ive let these soffit stains go too long and they are permanently part of the paint now.

 

[farmerterryy]

try traffic film remover, a window cleaning pole and brush

 

[Runner]

I will refer back to my own post here:

Cleaning Mildew From Vinyl Siding?

I've neglected my vinyl siding above the house (I have a brick ranch with vinyl up to the roof). I have mildew on there pretty good. I've trimmed back and removed some trees last fall to hopefully reduce that going forward. What do you recommend to remove the mildew? My brother has a power...

www.tractorbynet.com

If it's mold/mildew, 30 seconds cleaner works great. Going on two years now and the mold still hasn't come back. Also, you don't even have to get out a ladder to use it.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

try traffic film remover, a window cleaning pole and brush

It has been 19 years.......

 

[JeepHead]

I will refer back to my own post here:

Cleaning Mildew From Vinyl Siding?

I've neglected my vinyl siding above the house (I have a brick ranch with vinyl up to the roof). I have mildew on there pretty good. I've trimmed back and removed some trees last fall to hopefully reduce that going forward. What do you recommend to remove the mildew? My brother has a power...

www.tractorbynet.com

If it's mold/mildew, 30 seconds cleaner works great. Going on two years now and the mold still hasn't come back. Also, you don't even have to get out a ladder to use it.

It wasn't mold/mildew they were having an issue with, it was oxidation and best cleaned with potassium hydroxide.

For mold/mildew, your cheapest most effect cleaner is pool shock mixed with water and a little dish soap. It's what pros use to clean algae off of homes.