Cleaning Red Cedar Shake Siding

Leaving sh on wood can cause damage.

Cleaning red cedar shake siding.

Start by cleaning a small area. While you can use household bleach to kill mold and algae it tends to make the cedar shingle s surface fuzzy because of the excessive pulping reaction when using it. The side of the house with the least sun exposure can be the worst spot with the cedar developing mildew or mold that looks black. A soft wash also known as a non pressure wash is where you take low pressure water and spray down a surface.

Conduct a soft wash on your roof. Removing the the wood mold with oxygen bleach. Use it to clean fences decks furniture cedar siding or roofing barn board and log homes. Apply it with a pump sprayerlet it sit for about 15 minutes before rinsing it off with with a garden hose.

The cedar bureau recommends using a solution of 1 part bleach to 3 parts water. Much like a wooden deck you can use detergents and a pressure washer to blast the grime away and reveal the beautiful cedar color within. Cleaning away the age is the first step in caring for cedar shingles. Get rid of that grunge by cleaning your cedar siding with an.

Department of agriculture s forest services laboratory recommends cleaning cedar shingles with an oxidizing bleach as opposed to a household bleach to avoid damaging the wood. Use a 12 volt pump system with pressure of about 60 psi. When you have completed your cleaning let it dry for 48 hours and then apply our cedar seal to protect it. This is important as standard high pressure power washes might damage cedar shingles.

Cedar shingles can also grow moss and algae or develop iron staining which requires periodic cleaning. The safe and effective way to clean the wood is oxygen bleach. Here we show the application of a softwash wood cleaning mix. It is non toxic to trees and vegetation and will not remove natural color from the siding.

The oxygen bleach comes as a granular powder that mixes with water. Algae and mold will cause deterioration and discoloration to your cedar siding. Mix a commercial wood cleaner in a regular garden sprayer according to the manufacturer s directions and spray the cleaner onto a small area of your cedar shakes starting at the top and working your way down. Allow the cleaner to soak into the wood for 15 to 20 minutes.

Cedar shake siding will grow algae and mold if it s not cleaned once in a while.