Amazing Roll Off On My House?

Setec Astronomy · 08-25-09, 12:38

So anyway, I get this black and green mold/moss/mildew/fungus/whatever mostly on the north side of my house (none on the south side, a little bit on the other sides). I thought the polypropylene siding I went with a few years ago would help, but it seems to be worse than the painted wood. This siding actually has paint on it (which means it can be repainted if you decide you didn't like the color of it), so it may be this life-form is eating the paint.

I've used the bleach house cleaners, but they only seem to work with agitation, so this year I tried using my pressure washer (I had not wanted to do that previously because I was worried about blasting water into my walls--don't get me started on the idiot contractors who put the siding up), which worked pretty well, but you had to get the nozzle close, so it was really about as much work as the bleach spray with agitation (although without getting bleach in my eyes).

There were some spots that weren't easy to get to with the PW, so I was hunting around the internet and found this stuff: Spray & Forget, No Rinse, Roof and Siding Cleaner - Removes Green & Black Algae, Mildew, Moss, and Lichen Stains from External Surfaces

It says it gets rid of green stuff in 1-5 days and black stuff in 1-5 weeks. It also is supposed to have a residual effect that lasts for a year. I found a local hardware store that had it (at a bit less than the outrageous list price), and it seems to work as advertised, I'm not sure it will completely take the black off, but it doesn't seem visible from a distance. Wondering how this stuff works, I looked at the MSDS, all the important ingredients are "trade secrets" and not listed. However, somewhere in the instructions or website or bottle it kind of refers to itself as an "alkaline cleaner" which made me wonder if I just went around and sprayed APC on my house if I would get the same results.

Which led me to today in a thread here where Amazing Roll Off was suggested for a mildewed camper, and I went to read the description of it...and it kind of sounds like it might work for my house, and it's about half the price of that Spray and Forget stuff. Anybody have any experience doing something like this? Would I have to agitate?

RustyBumper · 08-25-09, 12:42

I've read on another board where a guy used to clean the side of his house and his gutters. He said that ARO worked like a charm.

*Edited bekoz eye kain't spell wright.

Pats300zx · 08-25-09, 01:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by RustyBumper

I've read on another board where a guy used to clean the side of his house and his gutters. He said that ARO worked like a charm.

*Edited bekoz eye kain't spell wright.

Bryan Barnsworth (GMABlack) used it to remove some mildrew on his gutters. He loves ARO.

Setec Astronomy · 08-25-09, 01:56

But did it need scrubbing, or was it a spray on/leave it or a spray on/hose off?

gmblack3a · 08-26-09, 05:26

ARO to clean gutters.

I think it says on the bottle of ARO to be careful on painted surfaces. I did not spray it directly onto the wood painted soffit and fascia. I could see some of the paint bleeding off when I pressure washed those painted areas. The house was painted 4 years ago. The stucco was also painted at the same time, but had no problems with bleed off of the paint there.

I added a cup of ARO to a 3 gallon bucket of water. I tried to scrub with that but it would not remove all of the black stains on the gutters. So I mixed up ARO 1:3 water and used a sprayer to apply it. It was scrubbed with a green brush on a handle and then pressure washed. This removed 90% of the black stains. I repeated the application to get them 100% clean. I used less then a gallon of ARO and my house is a 2900 st ft ranch with garage.

I have cleaned my gutters in the past with bleach or APC and was never able to get them this clean.

Setec Astronomy · 08-26-09, 05:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmblack3a

ARO to clean gutters.
So I mixed up ARO 1:3 water and used a sprayer to apply it. It was scrubbed with a green brush on a handle and.

Oh I see, I was simply on the WRONG FORUM

. I'm trying to get away from having to scrub the whole house, so I guess I'll just spring for the extra money and hose it down with that Spray and Forget stuff. I don't really feel like experimenting if the failure of the experiment means having to scrub again or having to do an up close and personal with the pressure washer. The S&F you do a once-a-year hosedown.

Thanks for the info/link

salty · 08-26-09, 08:21

Something to try: equal parts vinegar, 3% hydrogen peroxide and water. Not sure how it works so well on various stains.

gmblack3a · 08-26-09, 09:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

Oh I see, I was simply on the WRONG FORUM . I'm trying to get away from having to scrub the whole house, so I guess I'll just spring for the extra money and hose it down with that Spray and Forget stuff. I don't really feel like experimenting if the failure of the experiment means having to scrub again or having to do an up close and personal with the pressure washer. The S&F you do a once-a-year hosedown.

Thanks for the info/link

We all have our faults.

Can't blame you on not wanting to scrub the entire house down. Are you working with a ranch or two story?

Let us know how the S&F works for you.

Setec Astronomy · 08-26-09, 11:11

It's a split, so some parts are really tough to reach, and a lot of that is on a ladder. As I noted, I thought a plastic house would be easy to clean, I guess I kind of presumed that the white color was not painted as the back looked the same as the front, but when I first got this mildew and cleaned it off with the bleach/detergent house spray, the really badly mildewed spots seemed to have surface damage, which is when I realized what the mfr. was talking about with the fact that the siding is paintable, is that there is something molded in/coated on at the factory which allows paint to stick and apparantly is a fungal nutrient. (It's Nailite siding)

I got the little spray bottle and sprayed the spots by hand that I couldn't reach with the pressure washer, and as I said, the 1-5 days for green and 1-5 weeks for black seems to be on track. The house spray version of the S&F with the built-in hose connection is about $60 locally and I guess it will be worth it if I can spray the whole house once a year from the ground and never have any of this stuff grow back.

frostydog · 08-27-09, 05:07

Setec,
Just a suggestion, DriveUp Super Clean Drive Up USA Concrete Cleaners and Degeasers
has worked really well for me on many surfaces, though i never tried it on painted siding specifically. I did use it on painted exterior wood surfaces of our house that get mildew/mold and it work very, very well. I've also used it on brick and concrete with much success.

Actually, most of our exterior trim of our house is white and this stuff makes the white trim just POP its so white.

I read an old thread from DavidB a while ago suggesting this stuff and have been a devoted follower ever since.

It's available locally, a gallon cost about $10 (so it's pretty cheap) and best of all it won't harm grass, shrubs, etc..

I usually use a backpack sprayer to apply, let it soak and use a hose, or even better (low pressure) pressure washer to spray off. I've never had to aggitate in any way, although bad stains may need to soak for 24 hours and a second coat a few hours later if need be. Obviously be careful with painted surfaces and a pressure washer...you don't want to blow the paint off (I learned that the hard way).

I've even sprayed it on stains on my driveway and let it there for days until it rained and once the rain came most if not all the stain was gone.