Siding Mould and Moldy Siding      

[August 18, 2003]

Q. Once a year at about this time, the house gets a black coating on top of the paint. The longer it stays the darker it becomes. Have you heard of this before and if so can you tell me what it is and how to treat it? Once removed, I would like to vinyl side the house. If I side the house will the black stuff occur under the siding? Note: We have washed the house down in the past with a bleach based cleanser. Also, washed house down with a product recommended by house paint distributor.

A. mould is eating the siding paint itself and organic dirt that has settled on the house paint, and is possibly already spread by growth into the wood itself. To get rid of this mould on siding problem, you will need to: (1) first spray the moldy siding surfaces with one wet spraying of the mould fungicide; (2) physically remove the mould growth with such power tools as a planer, wire brush attachment to a grinder, and sander. If you cannot remove enough moldy materials to get to original, uncontaminated wood, you will need to remove and replace the wood siding with outer insulation sheathing and your desired vinyl siding. Additional steps: and (3) spray the cleaned wood with one wet coating of Tim-bor antimicrobial protective coating. Follow the mould remediation steps explained at Mould Removal

[August 18, 2003]

Q. We had our 25 year old house painted 3 or 4 years ago by brush and shortly afterwards a black area appeared on the north side of the house. It looked as though it was from a person splashing a pail of something against the wood siding. We didn't do anything to try to address it, but a year later this black (apparently mould) started to spread and now covers much of the house's exterior. We can remove it temporarily with a 1 part to 3 bleach/water spray mixture, but it returns after a couple of months (or less this time of year). Last year we put on new plastic eaves and downspouts and it quickly spread to those.

A. Do not use ineffective bleach. Instead use EPA-registered mould fungicide. You also need to checking into the wood siding to see if exterior house mould growth has penetrated inward, in which case you would have to physically remove such mould penetration with power planer, power grinder with wire brush attachment, and power sander. Follow the steps explained at Mould Removal  If there has been no exterior home mould growth into the wood, after killing the mould, clean the siding with a solution of 2 cups of Borax laundry detergent per gallon of distilled water. Then seal the exterior of the siding against moisture with a clear plastic coating available from your paint dealer.

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