How to Clean Your Home’s Siding

Ensuring your Columbus home is well cared for is part and parcel of being a homeowner. Routine maintenance helps us keep costs down and keeps needed repairs to a minimum. And when you’re talking home exterior, little is more important than the health and cleanliness of your siding! At APCO, our professionals take home exterior care very seriously, and today we’d like to take a moment to help you understand how to clean your siding effectively and why it’s so important.

Is your siding looking scruffy or are signs of damage starting to show? If so, contact the certified home service professionals at APCO online to learn more about siding replacement!

Why Is Siding Care Such a Big Deal?

Your siding is one of the first lines of defense against weather, wind, and sun damage. Modern siding keeps your home safe, and even plays a vital role in energy-efficiency! And while current siding options tend to be very resilient and durable, they aren’t impervious. Leaving dirt and grime caked on can rapidly develop into cracks and damage, and even potentially mold infestation, which will all result in a costly and untimely replacement.

To combat this problem, routine cleaning is key! Not only will it help to keep your gorgeous Ohio home looking its best, but it will mitigate general wear and tear, protecting both your investment in siding installation and your home.

Cleaning Vinyl Siding

Vinyl is durable, attractive, and tends to last a long, long time. And thankfully, keeping it clean is actually pretty fuss-free! To get your vinyl clean and clear, follow these steps:

1. First make sure to use soft cleaning materials. A soft-bristle brush and or soft cotton cloth is great. These ensure your vinyl doesn’t get marred or scratched while you clean.
2. Once you have your chosen tools, it’s time to pick your cleaner of choice. There are actually a lot of great options that are suited to cleaning vinyl. You can use: water and oxygen bleach (1 gallon of water per cup of bleach), vinegar and water (60:40 water:vinegar), or commercial cleaners that are rated for your siding type.
3. Take it a square at a time, dividing up your siding bit by bit and ensure you really spend some time getting in there. The objective is to remove mold spore and pollen, not just dust!
4. Once you’re done, you can just let your siding dry on its own with nothing else to worry about!

You can employ the use of a pressure washer if you’re dealing with some years-old grime, but be sure to consult your siding products specs, as some vinyl siding can be damaged by pressure washers on high settings.

Cleaning Wood Siding

Taking care of finished, coated, or painted wood is actually fairly similar to what you did with the vinyl. There are a few key differences, however. First off, do not rely on a pressure washer! Those things can strip down wood, making a massive mess.

Secondly, you’ll need to pay attention to your cleaner of choice again. The vinegar mixture listed above works just fine, and there are some really good chemical products available at your hardware store, too. We wouldn’t highly recommend the bleach, but your wood siding in Ohio might handle it differently than others.

Siding Replacement Services in Columbus with APCO

Is your siding starting to show its years, or are you ready to gain the benefits of a siding that needs less maintenance like our Celect siding? If so, contact our experts today to learn more!