Latest / Repcolite Home Improvement Show / How to Paint Aluminum Siding -- Plus Removing Algae, Mold, and Mildew from Exterior Siding

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How to Paint Aluminum Siding -- Plus Removing Algae, Mold, and Mildew from Exterior Siding · Repcolite Home Improvement Show

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in. You're listening to Home
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: and Progress by Recolite Paint sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I've got so much stuff to cover. I mean, I'm
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: straight to business at this point. How is everybody doing?
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: You know? I guess I'll be polite. Hopefully you're all well.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Hopefully you've had a great week and you're ready for
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: a great weekend. Okay, niceties out of the way. I've
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: got so much stuff to cover. Rather than tell you
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: what's coming, let me just promise you it's all brilliant,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: it's all good, it's all riveting. But I want to
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: just jump right into the first thing, you know, the
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: first topic, and I want to focus on a question
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: that we receive from a listener. It's a good question
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: and it's a question that comes up fairly often this
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: time of year, so I thought it'd be good to
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: deal with it on the show today. Anyway, here's the question,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: here's the email. Hi there, We're looking to paint our
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: aluminum house, aluminum sided house. Can you advise on any
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: prep work that should happen and how many coats of
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: paint we might need? If the house is currently ten
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: and we're going to go to a darker blue. Any
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: products that are one coat products, I'm guessing they all
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: need to, but I wanted to inquire. All right, that's
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: the question. It's a great question because aluminum siding can
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: usually be painted very, very successfully, but the prep work
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: is really what's going to determine, and that's that's most
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: of the time, the prep work determines the success. I
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: don't even know that I can say that it's more
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: important on aluminum siding. Maybe it is. Maybe it is
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: because the paint isn't going to penetrate into the aluminum.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: You know, it's not going anywhere. It's really going to
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: bond on the surface, and if the surface isn't clean
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: and ready for paint, it's not going to bond well.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: So it is really important. You've got to do great
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: prep work. That's what's going to really make or break
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: this project. All right. The biggest issue with aluminum siding
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: and the prep that I'm talking about is oxidation. You know,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: if you've ever rubbed your hand across older aluminum siding
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: and ended up with a white, chalky powder on your palm,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: that's oxidation the original factory finish. It's been breaking down
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: over the years of exposure to sunlight, rain, you know, heat, weather,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: all of that, and that chalk has to come off
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: before you do any painting. That's probably the single most
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: important thing to understand about this entire project. That chalk's
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: got to come off. Paint needs to bond. Like I
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: said a little bit ago, I hinted at, it needs
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: to bond to a solid, stable surface. If you paint
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: over the oxidation, the new paint might not really be
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: sticking to the aluminum siding or that old factory finish
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: at all. It may simply be sticking to a loose
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: layer of chalk that's sitting on top of everything else.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: And if that chalk lets go, and it will, the
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: new paint's going to go with it. We see it
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: all the time when people don't prep well. So prep
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: with this is really key. And prep on this project
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: isn't just a quick rinse with a hose. It's not
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: just hitting it with a power washer. You know, a
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: pressure washer can remove dirt and cobwebs and loose debris
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: and stuff like that. It may move some of the oxidation,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: but it doesn't automatically, you know, mean that that surface
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: is clean enough for paint. And I know nobody likes
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: hearing that. Nobody likes hearing that, and understandably so. But
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: think of it this way. I think it will at
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: least make the case for it in your mind. Think
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: about your car. Let your car experience a Michigan summer
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: for three months without washing it. You know, just let
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: it sit in the sun, in the rain, drive it
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: down dirt roads, or more likely, drive it through construction
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: zones which are everywhere, they're easy to find. Drive it
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: through those construction zones, and then finally, at the end
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: of the summer, wash it. But only wash it with
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: your power washer. No soap, no scrubbing, no rags, nothing,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: just spray it with the power washer and let it dry.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Not when you do that, you're gonna get a lot
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: of the road mess off. I get that, But you'll
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: also have a lot that stays behind. You know, we
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: all know that's gonna be the case. It's not gonna
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: look terribly clean when you're done. Same for your house.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: So start by washing your siding with a good exterior
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: house cleaner, a cleaner that's going to break down dirt, grind, mildew.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: You know, all the contamination that we've got in the
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: air and stuff like that, and as well as some
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: of that oxidized residue. Use a good cleaner that's going
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: to cut through that. And then when you've got that
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: on the house, you've got to give the surface a
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: good scrubbing. You know, you're not really putting tons of
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: pressure into the work, but you do need to physically
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: work the cleaner around the siding, especially in areas where
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: the chalkin is the heaviest. A soft bristle siding brush
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: on an extension poll can make that a ton easier.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: You know, work in manageable sections. That's important too. Follow
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: the directions that you've got on the cleaner that you chose.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: You know, every cleaner is going to be a little
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: bit different. They're mostly the same, but they'll have different
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: things they want you to do. Follow those directions, you know,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: but work in manageable chunks so that you can scrub
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: the surface and then rinse it thoroughly before the cleaner
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: drives on there. You don't want it to dry on
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: the siding, so work your way around the house that way.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Be careful with pressure as well. You can still use
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: a power washer, but just be careful with the pressure
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: you know, aluminum siding condent, but it can also allow
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: water to be driven up behind the panels if you
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: spray upward underneath the lapse. So if you do use
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: a pressure washer, keep the pressure reasonable and direct the
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: spray downward, following the way rain you know naturally would
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: hit the siding. The big thing to remember here, the
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: pressure washer is a rinsing and cleaning tool. It's not
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: a substitute for the cleaner and the scrubbing. So do
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: all of that. That's going to take you most of
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: the time for this whole project is getting that cleaning done.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: The prep is ninety percent of the work. You know,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: you're almost done when you've got the prep, you know,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: all wrapped up here. So get that done and then
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: let everything dry. And once it's dry, you've got to
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: perform the hand test. And it's a really simple test.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Everybody can do it. You know, rub your hand firmly
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: across the siding and if your palm comes away clean,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: that's a good sign. That's a big thumbs up. If
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: you're hand is still covered with chalky residue, that's a
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: won't won't wall. That's a really sad thing. It means
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: you're not done yet. It means you've got more work
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: to do. You've got more cleaning to do. Now that
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: sounds a little bit too simple, maybe the hand test,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: but it really it's one of the most practical tests
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: you can perform. You've got to make sure that oxidation
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: is gone before you go and start painting the house. Now,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: it's possible that you'll never remove absolutely every single microscopic
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: trace of chalk from the siding, you know, if the
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: siding's forty or fifty years old and you know, never
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: been repainted or anything. You know, it's possible some will remain,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: but you definitely should not be able to casually wipe
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: your hand across the surface and come away looking like
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: you've been handling powdered sugar. If that's happening, you've got
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: to keep cleaning, right. So while you're washing the house,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: this is also a time to inspect the siding, you know,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: see what you've got. As you're working around, you're going
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: to look for peeling paint, flaking paint, you know, if
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: it's been you know, painted, if the house has already
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: been painted one before, look for those things. Loose paint
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: needs to be scraped away. You want to feather sand
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: any rough edges where it's practical, so that you don't
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: see a hard ridge through the new finish, you know,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: so look for that. Look for corrosion on certain surfaces
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: out there. Look for bare aluminum, dense damaged panels, failed
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: calk around windows, doors, you know, penetrations, things like that.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Any bare aluminum that you find or corroded areas, they
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: may need to be spot primed with the appropriate primer
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: before you move on. So ask about that, you know,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: take some pictures in if you do run into those areas,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: we'll recommend the right primer. But overall, if the existing
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: factory finish is intact, if it's firmly bonded and completely clean,
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: you usually don't need to do anything. At that point.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: You just go on to finished paint. You don't need
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: to prime the entire house, no matter what you read online.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: If it's in good shape, the factory finish is there
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: and it's clean, you don't need to prime it. You
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: can go straight to using a high quality exterior acrylic paint.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: So that's all of the prep work to get you there. Now.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: The other parts of the question were things like what
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: product do I need to use? Do you have any
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: one coat products? I don't have time to answer that
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: right now. So what we're gonna do is this, We're
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: gonna pause this part of the conversation, and we're gonna
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: talk about lgae and mold and mildew and moss and
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: lichen on your siding and how to clean that off
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: safely without killing your plants or damaging the siding material.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: And then at the end of the show, the last
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: segment will come back and answer the other half of
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: this question about aluminum siding and the right products to use.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: We'll get to all of that right after. This Home
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: in Progress is brought to you by repcoll Like Paints
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: and Benjamin Moore. You know, people often think of paint
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: as just another line item on the project's supply list.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: But here's the thing. Everything you do, every hour of prep,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: every stroke of the brush, all comes down to the
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: quality of the paint. The paint is the project. Make
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: sure it's the best. So last week I was talking
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: about painting brick, you know, like the exterior of your home,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: and I mentioned how easy brick was to maintain when
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: it's not painted. You're listening to Home in progress by
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Repcolite Paint sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And I'm not going
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: to recap everything I said, but if you missed last week,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: you know one thing I'll say right off that if
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: you missed it and you do want to paint your
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: brick house, you know that sounds like something really good
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: to you. Change the look entirely. If that's you, stop
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: out at Repcolite and ask about roma bio products for brick,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: for masonry, for materials like that. We've got a limewash,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: We've got a mineral paint, and those products are going
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: to give you the look you want, you know, a
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: painted look without some of the big maintenance issues that
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: you do get if you'd use regular house paint. That
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: was a big conversation we had last week. And I
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: said all of that, I set a bunch of other stuff.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: And in the midst of that huge conversation, I was
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: talking specifically about how brick houses don't ask a lot
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: from us. I said something basically right along those lines.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: They don't ask a lot from us. They're just there.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: You know, we don't clean them, most people don't seal them.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Blah blah blah blah blah. I said, all of that.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Last week, however, in the course of saying that, I
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: said something that got in my head. I said that
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: every now and then we go around and we clean
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: the lgae off of them. Just a little throwaway comment,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: you know. It was just just a nothing comment. It
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: wasn't even in the script I was working from. It
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: just popped into my head and I said it because
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: I'd had to do that in the past. Well, anyway,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: thanks a lot to me. That offhand remark about removing
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: algae got in my head this past week, and it
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: annoyed me and Nagny and nag Me and Nagny so
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: much that I decided I've got to actually go and
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: take a look around my whole house to confirm that
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: I don't have any algae there to deal with. I
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: couldn't even almost sleep at night because now this whole
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: idea that there's algae on the house that I need
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: to clean off got in my head. I've got so
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: many issues it's not even funny. The list just goes
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: on and on forever. Anyway, I took a spin around
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: the house, convinced I'm gonna find no lgae, nothing like
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: that to worry about, and in fact what happened was
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: of course, there's a ton of it. It's all over
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: the place. I've got all kinds of stuff to clean off.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: So that's what we're going to talk about today, because
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: I've got to do it. And since I've got to
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: do it, I want to make sure there's as many
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: other people out there doing the same thing. You know,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: if I'm going to wreck a Saturday, I want you
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: guys to feel the same thing. No, that's not true.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: That's not true. I want to give you the infos
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: so you don't have to do the deep dive stuff
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: that I had to do to figure out the right
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: way to do it. It's very altruistic. It's not what
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: I first said it was anyway, I know you know
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: what I'm what I'm talking about. You've seen it before,
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: seen it on houses. On your house probably it's usually
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: on the side of the house that doesn't get much sun,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: you know. For me, it's right underneath two ancient maple
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: trees in the back, you know, and along the base
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: of the wall. At my house, the back wall, the
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: entire back, the brick all there has a lot of
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: green over it. Now, brick is on most of the
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: house but I've also got some vinyl you know, vinyl
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: siding on an addition in the back, and both of
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: these surfaces have this green stuff growing on them. So
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: that's my house. That's my situation. What's your house looking like? Now?
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: I want to try to get in your head and
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: get you looking at your house. So take a spin
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: around it sometime later today or this weekend or next
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: week and just really take a look. You may see
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: some of that same green stuff I'm seeing. You may
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: find something different. You know. It could be fuzzy, could
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: be streaky, could be thick and soft, could be crusty,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: it could be firmly attached to the surface. All of
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: those things that I just described can be signs of
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: biological growth. Okay, biological growth. But before you decide how
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: you clean it off and what you need to do,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: you need to have some idea what you're actually dealing with,
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: right because there's all differ different things algae, mold, moss,
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: and like, and they can all show up on the
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: exterior of a home, but you know, they don't look
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: exactly the same. They don't always respond to cleaning in
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: the same way. So you've got to know what you're
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: dealing with in order to know how to clean it.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: And just as importantly, the surface that you're working on matters,
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: you know, maybe as much as the growth. It matters
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: a lot. So let's start with the most common thing
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: that you're likely to see out there, and we'll just
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: work our way through all of this. You've got the
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: info you need to get this stuff off your house,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: all right, most common thing you're likely to see a
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: thin green film that's grown on the house, It's probably
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: going to be algae. That's most likely what that is.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: That's what's on my house. It shows up on you know,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: shaded damp areas, especially, you know, the north side of
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: the home, behind bushes, under trees are really you know,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: pretty much anywhere the surface doesn't dry very quickly. Algae
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: is usually flat. It might feel a little bit slick
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: when it's wet. So just go and give that siding
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: a good lick and then touch it and if it's
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: all still slimy, now you probably don't want to lick it.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: If you get it wet, you know, with any other
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: method besides licking it, and it's slimy, you know, that's
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: probably algae. It tends to spread out across the surface
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: rather than growing in obvious clumps. So that's algae. Speaking
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: of obvious clumps, you know something else that could be
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: growing on the surface, There could be moss. You know what.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Moss looks like. It's thicker, it's soft, kind of looks cool,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: you know. On brick, it kind of looks old worldy,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: you know, like it's some kind of fairytale house. But
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: you really don't want it on your home. Moss holds
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: moisture against the surface, and it can cause a lot
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: of different issues. You know, on vinyl, it's mainly going
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: to be you know, staining and maintenance problem, you know,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: because the vinyl itself that's not going to rot, but
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: it can stain and that can be a problem. But
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: on wood siding or wood shingles, that trapped moisture can
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: contribute to peeling, paint decay eventually rot. On brick and
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: stucco and stone and fiber sment and all of those materials,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: it can keep cracks, joints, mortar and damage finishes wet
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: longer than they should be, and that can be a problem.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: So that's moss. Now, if the stuff growing on your
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: home is crusty, firmly attached, maybe a little gray, maybe
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: a little yellow, maybe pale green, maybe orange, maybe even black.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: If that sounds like what you're seeing, it's probably Does
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: anybody know, does anybody out there listening know? If you do,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: shout it out loud in your home, in your car,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: roll down your window and just shout it out. What's
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: the answer? What are you looking at? It's lichen? Probably lichen.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Now lichen is tougher, you know, tougher to deal with
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: because it attaches itself pretty aggressively to a surface, and
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: if you start scraping it off soft brick or old mortar,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: you could actually remove part of the surface along with it.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: We get it on our roofs as well, and it
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: can really do a lot of damage up there. So
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: that's liking. Now. Something else you could see in your
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: home as you do your little walk around is mold
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: or other fungal growth, and these can appear, you know, darker, blotchy, fuzzy,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: or even powdery. And finally, speaking of fuzzy or powdery
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: stuff on the side of your home, specifically brick or concrete.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: If it's whitish in color, there's a really good chance
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: it's efflorescence. We talk about it a lot on the show.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: We talk about effluorescence a lot. I love saying it.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: It's a very fun word to say. I couldn't say
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: it in the beginning. I practiced for many long, many
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: long weeks, many long weeks of training, and now I
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: can say efflorescence without even without even batting an eye. Efflorescence.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: It just rolls off my tongue. Anyway. Efflorescence is not
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: a biological growth at all. It looks like it is,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: looks like it's really gross, looks like it's mold or
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: something like that. But it's actually just you know, basically
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: salt deposits, and it means that moisture is moving through
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: you know, that block, that brick or whatever. So you
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: should look into it and try to figure out, you know,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: the moisture issue that's causing that efflorescence. But it's another
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: conversation for another day. It's not a biological thing. It's
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: not gross at all. It's just salt deposits. All right.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: Those are some of the common biological things that you
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: could find on the side of your home. Now let's
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: talk about dealing with them and getting them off right,
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: that's the main thing we wanted least things off of
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: our home. And the first thing to think about when
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: it comes to this is that all of this growth
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: is being helped along by moisture. This is the boring part.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, maybe it's all boring. This is the most
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: boring part because before we actually get to fixing the problem,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: we've got to address why the problem's happening in the
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: first place, right, And moisture is really the cause of
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: all of these things. So cleaning is going to remove
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: the growth, but it's not going to, you know, remove
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: the reason that it grew there in the first place.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: So before you start mixing up cleaner, look at the
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: area around you know, where you're getting all this stuff.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: You know, maybe you can determine what's going on, what's
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: causing the moisture that's leading to this problem in the
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: first place. Are the gutters you know, clogged and overflowing.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Is a downspout dumping water right beside the wall. Maybe
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: it's a sprinkler hitting the siding every morning. Our shrubs,
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: you know, growing too tightly against the house, so there's
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: no airflow. Maybe you've got mulch or soil piled up
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: too high against the brick. Is the wall, you know,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: just beneath a heavy tree canopy where it stays shaded
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: and damp most of the day. You know, not much
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: you can do with that or about that, other than
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: cut trees down. But is that part of what's going on.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: The big thing is to kind of go through and
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: figure out what's causing this moisture, this excess moisture in
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: the first place. Because if you clean the wall but
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: you don't deal with any of that, all of this
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: green stuff, all this biological growth is going to probably
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: come back and probably can come back pretty soon. And
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: that leads us finally to the second part of the project.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: How do you clean it safely and get it off
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: your house without damaging anything, without killing your plants or
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: any of those things. How do you do it? Well,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: let's get to all of that, everything you need to know,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: but let's do it right after This home in progress
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: is brought to you by Repcolite Paints and Benjamin Moore.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Think about it. You spend hours prepping, sanding, taping, and
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: then finally painting. Don't throw all that work away with
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: an inferior product. The paint isn't just another supply. The
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: paint is the project, make sure it's the best, and
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: we're back. You're listening to Home in Progress by Repcolite Paint,
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: sponsored by Benjamin Moore, and we're talking about how to
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: clean biological growth off your house. Sounds really high tech,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: sounds really medical, really fancy, like I've got a degree
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: or something, but we're really just talking about mold, dealing
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: with mold and lgae and lichen and all of that stuff. Now,
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: before you clean anything off your siding, before we get
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: into that, I do have an important distinction that I've
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: got to make. Moss and lichen. Okay, we talked about
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: those in the last segment. They're different from mold, mildew
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: and algae. They're thicker, they're more firmly attached, and it's
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: much easier to damage the surface while you're getting them off.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: So today I'm going to focus on algae, mold, and mildew,
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: things that most of us can handle with general washing
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: and the right cleaner. Moss and lichen they're going to
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: get their own conversation next week, because removing them safely
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: depends a lot on whether they're on brick or wood,
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: or stucco or stone or roofing or whatever. So we're
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: going to talk about that next week, so you can
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: set your calendars, you know, get your phone out and
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: make those you know, set your alarms, set your reminders,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: because you don't want to miss that. It's going to
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: be fun lichen and moss next week. Actually, we'll even
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: talk about dealing with it on your roof and that's
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: a real pain in the next so it actually I'm
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: making a lot of fun about that, not being very exciting,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: but it's going to be good info. So next week
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: that's coming up. Right now, when you're cleaning algae, mold
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: or mildew, what you're really trying to do is two
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: different things here. We got to keep both of these
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: things in mind. You're trying to remove the growth and
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: the staining that you can see, you know, and depending
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: on what you're dealing with, you've actually got to kill it.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: So that's one thing, remove the growth and the staining
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: and kill whatever you're dealing with. And the second thing
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: is you want to do all of that without damaging
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: the surface underneath. So here's the first rule, and this
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: rule is going to run through everything. It's like the
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: Golden rule of cleaning mold and algae and mildew off
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: your home. It's pretty common sense, but it's this, use
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: the generalist method possible that will accomplish the task. Don't
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: start by grabbing the strongest chemical that you can find
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: or firing up the pressure washer and blasting away at
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: the house. Feels good, feels fun, feels like what we
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: want to do. But resist that urge, you know, resist
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: that urge instead, start slow and look things over. Sounds
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: really boring. This is the boring part of the whole project,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: but it's really important. This is the kind of thing
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: I normally would just skip over and jump over so
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: I can get to something active. It doesn't feel like
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: this is active, but it's important. Look things over, Inspect
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: the surface. If it's brick, you want to look closely
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: at the mortar joints. You know, is the mortar solid
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: or is it loose and powdery? Are the brick faces flaking?
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Are they cracking? Are there places where water could get
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: into the wall. Because if the masonry is already deteriorating,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: aggressive cleaning is going to make it way worse fast.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: So check that out. Same thing with siding, you know,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: look that over loose vinyl, open caulk joints, peeling paint,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: damaged fiber, cment edges. All of that changes how carefully
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: you have to work. So look the surface over well. Next,
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: confirm what you're actually dealing with. You know, picking the
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: right cleaner depends on what you're trying to remove. And
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: first off, there's actually maybe some happy news. You know.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: It's just possible that what you're seeing, you know, and
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: maybe you're thinking it's algae or something like that, it's
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: possible that what you're seeing isn't biological at all, or
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: at least not in the same sense as the things
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: that we talked about. It could just be dirt or pollen.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Pollen could be a big one. It could just be
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: a light film of grime, you know. I don't know.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: Maybe you live next to some kind of crazy, big
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: factory and it's just cranking out Victorian grime all over
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: your home. I don't know, But it could be any
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: of those things. And if that's the case, you probably
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: don't need a specialty product, you know, or a specialty
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: cleaner at all. Just a little mild dish soap, you know,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: a bucket of water and a little scrub brush and
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: a hose to rinse it. You should be good, you
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: should be able to get it all cleaned off. But
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: if what you're dealing with is actual growth, you know,
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: something that's growing algae, mildew, mold. If it's that, then
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: you really do need to step up to something that's
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: built to handle that, something like Joe Max's House Cleaner
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: and Mildew Killer. You know, that's a really good option.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: We carry it at the store. It's a constant trade,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: it's a mildew side, it's a bleach activator, and it's
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: detergents all in one. You mix it with household bleach
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: and water, and that combination kills the mold in the mildew,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: and it's gonna lift the dirt and the staining at
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: the same time. It's also rated for just about everything
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: that you've got on the outside of your house, so vinyl.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: It's rated for aluminum siding, for painted or stained wood siding,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: for trim, for fences, for stucco, for concrete, for brick.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: You know, basically it'll cover everything. So Joe Maax Housecleaner
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: and Mildew Killer, it's a really good option because you know,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: if you've got multiple surfaces like I've got brick and vinyl.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: You can get this one thing and you're not gonna
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: be hunting for a different cleaner for multiple surfaces. This
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: will cover it all. And using Joe Max is about
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: as simple as it gets. This also is really good.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: You mix it according to the label directions, you spray
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: it on, you give it about five minutes or so
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: to work, and then you rinse it off. There's not
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: going to be any scrubbing on most surfaces. Now. If
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: it's rough and textured, you know, like like brick or something,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: maybe a light scrub is going to be necessary, but
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: not a heavy scrubbing, you know on vinyl and stuff
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: like that. You just spray it on, let it sit,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: rinse it off, and you should be done now. A
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: couple things to know going in with Joe Mix. Mix
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: only what you're going to use in the next little bit,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: you know, in the next few hours, because once it's
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: got the bleach added in, it's really only good for
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: a few hours. So you don't want to mix a
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: whole bunch and then not be able to use it.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: You can't save it, So mix only what you need
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: as you go. And also you want to make sure
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: with any cleaner that you're using, test an out of
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: the way spot first. It's especially worth doing on bare
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: or weathered wood since this is really meant for wood
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: that's been painted or stained. So test it in and
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: out of the way spot. Make sure you don't get
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: any undesirable effects. Now, what if your situation is slightly different.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: You know, we've been talking about just cleaning mold, mildew
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: or LG off of a surface, you know, just cleaning
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: it off because we don't like the look esthetically. What
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: if you're getting ready to repaint, you know, mold, mildualga,
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: whatever is growing on a surface that you're going to
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: paint over. Do you need to go through all these
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: steps to kill it and do all of that before
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: you paint? Can't just clean it off a little bit,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: make sure there's no dust and then throw your primer on. No,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: what if you're throwing on a product that says it's
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: a mildew side or a you know, it's going to
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: prevent mold growth, you know, do you still need to
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: kill it? Then you do? A mildew side in your
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: paint is going to prevent new mildew new mold from
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: forming or at least it's going to inhibit it. It's not
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: going to prevent something that's underneath that surface from bleeding
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: back through or growing back through. Bleeding is the wrong word,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: but growing back through. So you definitely need to make
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: sure that you clean it, you kill it, you rinse it,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: and then let that surface dry really well before you
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: put any paint or primer on. And for all of that,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: doing all of that, Joe Max is really good. It's
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: just the one product you need for any situation you're
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: dealing with outside, you know, trying to clean it or
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: trying to get it prepped for paint. Joe Max is
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: the way to go. All right, there are other cleaner
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: out there, Obviously, this is the one I like. That's
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: why I spend so much time talking about it. But
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: whatever you go with. Once you've picked your product, let's
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: just get moving. It's time to actually get to the
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: cleaning part. And remember that same idea that we floated
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: earlier is still in effect here, the golden rule of
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: dealing with these things. Use the generalist method that's going
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: to get the job done. Now. Usually that's going to
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: be a garden hose, the right cleaner, and a soft
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: bristle brush, natural bristle on brick, soft nylon, or just
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: a cloth on vinyl. You know, you're just trying to
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: lift the growth off the surface. You're not sanding the house.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: You know, you're not putting in all of that effort,
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: you know, just lightly getting it off. And the garden
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: hose when you're using that, keep the pressure low. Now,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: I know the pressure washer thing is really tempting. You know,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: I've got one to It feels like the tool to
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: use for the job. But especially on brick that face,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: that mortar, you know, they're more fragile than they look.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: High pressure can erode weak mortar. It can etch the brick,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: it can strip the outer surface. It can dry water
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: right into the wall. And vinyl it's a different risk.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: But it's just as real. Vinyl is designed, you know,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: to shed rain. It isn't designed to stop a concentrated
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: jet of water being sprayed upward beneath the lapse. So
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: keep that in mind, even when you're just generally cleaning
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: your house with a power washer. That siding is not
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: made to resist water coming in from that angle. You know,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: it's it's built to handle rain coming at it from
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: the angle rain always does running downward, not something shooting up.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: Same thing like with your roof. I did that once
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: trying to clean something off the road. No, I wasn't
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: cleaning it. I was trying to get a frisbee down,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: and I thought, rather than get the ladder out, I'm
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: going to just you know, get a hose and direct
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: the jet. It seemed like a lot of fun and
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: I could shoot the frisbee down and it worked. But
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: when I went into the bedroom at the end of
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: the night to you know, went into my closet, the
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: little light in my closet was full of water. It
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: turned out I'd shot all the water up under the
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: shingles dripped into there. I learned a big lesson that day.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: You don't want to learn that lesson. So same concept
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: with your vinyl siding. When you're cleaning your house or
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: doing the project that we're talking about. If you've got
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: a pressure washer or even a hose, be careful about
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: the angle at which you're spraying the surface. Now, when
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: it comes to the cleaner that you've chosen, be sure
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: that you read the label thoroughly. Make sure that the
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: actual surface that you're trying to clean is listed on
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: the label as a recommended surface, and then use the
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: product the way it's written, follow the mix, the waight, time,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: the rints, all of that. Don't get creative. Stronger isn't
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: better longer. You know, leaving it on a surface longer
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: isn't better. A cup instead of a half cup isn't better.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: It's just a better way to wreck that surface or
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: to really complicate your project. So follow the label directions exactly.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: And speaking of cleaners, you know, do you really even
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: need a specific cleaner? Some people have to be wondering
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: that adding bleach to the Joe Max? Can I just
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: skip the Joe Max, go straight to the bleach and
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: call it good. Well, here's the thing. Using bleach straight,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: there's a few reasons why you might not want to
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: do that. First off, you run a greater risk of
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: mixing it too strongly. You know that Joe Max has
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: a ratio right on it, and if you follow that,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: you'll be fine with straight bleach. You could mix it
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: too strongly. A second, and this is a bigger point,
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: plain bleach is a lousy cleaner. You know, it'll oxidize
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: a stain lighter, but it beads up and it runs off,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: it doesn't actually lift the dirt and the residue. Joe
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Max has detergents in it that let it wet the
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: surface and then carry the gunk away. So that's a
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: big deal. And one other thing to remember is that
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: plain bleach flashes off really fast. You know, it can
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: lighten a mildew stain and then evaporate before it's really
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: killed the growth, so it ends up coming right back
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: the formulated product, you know, the Joe Max thing is
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: made to stay put and actually kill it. Now, none
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: of that makes bleach harmless, of course, and this is
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: true of Joe Max too, because it's a bleach product.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: It can burn plants, corrode metal, discolor some surfaces, affect
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: coatings and sealings, and leave residue if you don't rinse
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: it well and in a timely manner. So you've got
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: to follow label instructions when you're working with a product
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: like this that has some bleach in it, But it's
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: still going to be a better way to go than
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: to just use straight bleach. Now, speaking to plants, you've
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: got to be sure to keep your landscaping in mind.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: Listen to this part of what I'm saying, really well,
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: this is a really legitimate concern, and you want to
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: take it seriously, and you want to take the necessary precautions.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: You know, I don't want to be responsible for the
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: death of the hydrangeas at your home. So water the
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: plants around your work area, you know, ahead of working,
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: water them down, Wet the leaves, wet the soil really well.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: You don't want roots sitting in bone dry ground ready
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: to drink up whatever runs off the wall. You can
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: loosely cover anything especially delicate while you apply the cleaner,
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: but don't leave plastic, you know, over a plant in
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: direct sun, or you're gonna cook it and you're gonna
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: cook it really fast. So if you have to put
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: plastic down, put a lightweight plastic down in then get
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: it off as soon as you can. Work on a
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: calm day so that the spray that you're putting on
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: isn't drifting around. Use the least cleaner that you need,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: you know, don't overdo it. Keep a second hose handy
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: so that you can rinse accidental over spray right away,
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: and don't let run off pool at the base of
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: your plants or run into a storm. Drain a pond,
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: a stream, or a rain garden or any of those things.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: So keep all of that in mind when you're working
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: with your plants or around your landscaping, because that's you're
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: not going to enjoy that day if you kill a
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: bunch of plants. Lastly, I mentioned that at the beginning
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: of all of this, but I'll bring it up once more.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: No cleaner is going to solve the real problem, you know,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: which is moisture. You know, you can clean off what
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: was there, you can use a mildew side on it,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: and all of that. But if the wall keeps staying damp,
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: you know from an overflowing gutter or a sprinkler hitting it,
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: or heavy shade or shrubs choking off the airflow. If
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: the wall keeps staying damp, that growth is gonna come back.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: But on the upside, if it does, you've now got
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: a plan for how to get rid of it. Next
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: week we're gonna tackle moss and like and so put
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: that in your calendars. You're not gonna want to miss it.
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: It's a little trickier to deal with, but it's gonna
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: be good info. We'll get to that next week. All right,
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: let's shift gears back to that first segment where we
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: started talking about aluminum siding. Let's finish that whole conversation
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: by talking about the right paints to use. That's all
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: coming up next. Stick around. You're listening to Home in Progress,
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: where the projects are real, the mistakes, they're educational, sometimes painful,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: mostly educational. And the only thing more stubborn than that
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: old wallpaper on your bathroom wall is your determination to
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: get it fixed. Probably sponsored by Repolite Paints and Benjamin Moore,
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: Paint with a Purpose, people who care, and everything you
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: need to get the job done right. And we're back.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Home in Progress by Repcolite paintspnswered by
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Benjamin Moore. And at the very beginning of the show,
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: I started answering a listener question about painting aluminum siding,
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: and the first part of the show, in that segment,
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: we talked all about all the prep steps that you
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: need to go through, and I got us up to
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: the point where we would actually go about picking out
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: the exterior paint, the paint you're going to use, and
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: that's when I ran out of time. So let's pick
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: that up at this point right now, and what you're
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: looking for Here for aluminum siding is a high quality
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: exterior acrylic paint. Unless you've got bare aluminum. You don't
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: need a primer, no matter what the Internet tells you.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: As long as the surface is clean and ready for
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: paint and it's got that original factory finish on it,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: you can go straight to a high quality exterior acrylic
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: skip the primer. Now, in the question, the listener was
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: wondering if there was a way to do all of
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: the painting and get one coat coverage on all of it. Well,
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: when it comes to that, I guess it's a little
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: bit of sad news. We always always always recommend to
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: The first coat is going to make the original color
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: disappear for the most part. You know, the color that
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: was previously down there, it's going to hide and cover that.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: And you might step back after that one coat and think,
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: you know, this looks pretty good. Maybe I don't need
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: a second one. But that second coat provides some really
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: really big benefits. First off, it's going to improve your
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: color uniformity. You know, exterior siding has a lot of
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: horizontal lines, overlaps, seams, shadows, and changing angles. One coat
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: can leave thin areas or slight variations that are hard
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: to see while you're standing close to the wall, but
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: when you step back or when the afternoon sun hits
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: the house, those variations can become really obvious. A second
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: coat is going to even everything out. Secondly, second coat's
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: going to give you better sheen uniformity. You're way less
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: likely to see dull areas and shiny areas, you know,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: lap marks, or differences between brushed and rolled sections, So
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: it's really important for that reason. Third, and probably most importantly,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: it's going to build a more consistent paint film. You know,
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: because a lot of your durability depends on having enough
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: paint on the surface. The coating has to protect against sunlight, rain, temperature, swayings, expansion,
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: contraction in years of weather. One thin coat may change
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: the color, but two properly applied coats is going to
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: create a stronger and more uniform protective layer. Now, that
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean twice as much paint automatically gives you twice
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: the lifespan. That's not what I'm saying. It does mean
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: that you're giving the coating the film thickness and consistency
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: that it was designed to have by the manufacturers. Now,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: when it comes to products, I've got a number of
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: Benjamin More products that I like to recommend for this
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: or exterior. That's going to be the premium recommendation. It's
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: going to offer excellent hiding, super you know, really strong
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: color retention, really great durability. If you're looking to go
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: to a rich, deeper color than what's already on the house.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Aura is especially attractive because it does such a good
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: job with strong colors. Regal Select Exterior that's also an
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: excellent option. It's a high quality, durable exterior paint with
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: good application properties, long term performance. It's a really solid
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: choice for a full aluminum siding repaint. So Regal Exterior
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: that's a great option. Element Guard is another really strong option,
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: especially when weather conditions are less predictable. You know, if
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: you're painting later in the season or early in the season.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: Element Guard is great because it's designed to tolerate moisture
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: relatively soon after application. You know, if you put it
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: down and it's had an hour to dry and then
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: you get driving rain or something like that, or even
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: a heavy dew that sits on it, it's going to
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: be fine. It only needs that hour. That's not the
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: case for most exterior paints. So if you are painting
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: early in the season or late in the season, element
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: Guard really really great, super helpful in Michigan where the
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: forecast sometimes seems to change while you're opening, the paint
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: can not so much. Now you know, now we know
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: what we're getting for the most part, and it's just
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: dry and hot. But again, early spring, late fall, element
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: Guard really good way to go. All three of those
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: products use Benjamin Moore's gen X Colorance system. And Colorance
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: are boring to talk about, but gen X Colorance just quickly.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: They're designed to work as part of the paint formula
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: rather than relying on traditional universal colorance that end up
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: weakening certain properties of the base paint. You know, these
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: gen X Colorance work with the paint formula. You know,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: they enhance the product. They give you improved hiding, improved durability,
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: excellent color performance even in deeper colors. So that's really cool.
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: Repcolite also makes Endura and we use a set of
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: colorants that are kind of similar to the gen X
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: Colorance from Benjamin Moore. You're going to see a definite
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: difference in the premium colorance that we use and Endura,
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: our own brand, is probably going to give you a
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: little bit of a price savings, So all of those
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: products would be great on aluminum siding. One final consideration
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: with aluminum siding is to really keep your eye on
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: the temperature, and I'm talking surface temperature. Each product is
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: going to on the back of the can or on
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: its tech data sheet, it's going to tell you the
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: temperature range it should be applied in. We talked about
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: that a couple of weeks ago. That range is referencing
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: not just air temperature, but the surface temp. And if
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: you're painting that aluminum siding and it's a darker color originally,
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: it's going to heat up even faster. So you do
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: want to make sure that you're gauging how hot that
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: siding is before you start brushing or rolling paint onto it,
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: because that can lead to all kinds of problems. You
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: definitely need to be in that safe working zone, that range,
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: that temperature range for your product to give you the
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: best performance down the road. All right, As always, if
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: you have any questions on this kind of a project
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: or any project, stop by your closest Repcolite and we'll
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: walk you through whatever you're working on all right. That's
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: going to do it for this episode. If you want
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: to catch it again, you can find it online at
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: Repcolight dot com. Whatever you do today, make sure Paints
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: a part of it. Have a great weekend everybody, and
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: I'll see you next week for home and progress. Dan Hansen,
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: thanks for listening.