Wood siding exterior prep. Powerwash vs. Scrape
 

10-15 years ago I scraped and sanded the exterior wood siding of my house
before painting. I recently power washed my sister's deck and was impressed
with it's cleaning ability. Was wondering if power washing would be a good
replacement for scraping as surface prep. It would save me time - as I
don't have any friends to scrape my house this time around.


Thanks,

Monty

"Monty Hall" wrote in
message
. ..
10-15 years ago I scraped and sanded the exterior
wood siding of my house before painting. I recently
power washed my sister's deck and was impressed with
it's cleaning ability. Was wondering if power
washing would be a good replacement for scraping as
surface prep. It would save me time - as I don't
have any friends to scrape my house this time around.


Thanks,

Monty


Wellll, IFF you know how to use a power washer without
damaging the siding, and IFF you have the right tool,
I'd say yeah, go for it! But, soak the wood with too
much water or get it where it shouldn't go, you could
have some problems down the road.
It doesn't sound like you should do it, based on
your question. Perhaps someone else will have better
advice; that's all I can come up with. If you do, then
I 'd suggest a specific siding cleaner tool from, say,
Exel of DeVilibss et al. They're a little expensive,
but made for that job and with a little practice will
do a fair to good job in my experience (meaning I look
for the easy way, but it's not always the best way).

Pop

In Charleston SC - hot & humid - lots of spores in the air.
We scrape and sand; then power wash to remove spores; then paint when
dry.
Power washing as prep for paint is a double edged sword.
With the TCP & clorox it kills sporse, but it wets the wood.
If not carefully used, it pushes water in to the wall system that
eventually comes out - somehow.

TB

Well,

I decided to experiment w/ power washing. All seems to be going well. The
power washer's ability to remove paint is incredibly effective. The problem
is some of the paint tears/tatters in recessed surfaces which means I'll
have to go over with scraper as a final touch. For bulk removal power
washer very effective but it still doesn't eliminate scraping.

Monty

"Monty Hall" wrote in message
. ..
10-15 years ago I scraped and sanded the exterior wood siding of my house
before painting. I recently power washed my sister's deck and was
impressed with it's cleaning ability. Was wondering if power washing
would be a good replacement for scraping as surface prep. It would save
me time - as I don't have any friends to scrape my house this time around.


Thanks,

Monty