Best Way to Clean Aluminum Siding on a House

Aluminum Siding Defects, Diagnosis, Repair
How to inspect, install, repair, make clean or paint one-time aluminum siding

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Aluminum siding inspection, installation, diagnosis, repair, cleaning or painting:

This commodity discusses the identification, history, and common defects observed in aluminum exterior building siding, such every bit weathering, paint loss, dents, and questions almost the need for a vapor barrier behind asphalt siding and over building capsule. Included are comments from several recognized building inspection and structure authorities.

Our page top photograph shows 1960'south vintage (wideboard) aluminum building siding installed over peeling deteriorated wood clapboards on a pre-1900 home in Poughkeepsie, NY.

We also provide an Article Alphabetize for this topic, or yous tin endeavour the page acme or bottom SEARCH BOX every bit a quick way to notice information you demand.

Aluminum Siding History, Defects, Vapor Barriers, Inspection, and Diagnosis

Aluminum siding, produced from aluminum roll stock and painted in a broad diverseness of colors, provided a durable outside building cladding that resisted rust and rot. Aluminum siding in its earlier forms was typically produced in a (roughly) 6" broad clapboard stock, installed with a fiberboard backer to resist denting in some cases.

Aluminum & steel building siding was very popular and widely installed in Due north America from the 1940's into the 1970's. By the 1970's a narrow-width aluminum siding "board" stock (shown in a higher place) was in pop use in both smooth surface forms and in embossed designs resembling wood.

Because of the big amounts of energy used to produce aluminum siding and increasing raw materials costs, aluminum siding declined in popularity in the U.S. in the 1970's.

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Article Contents

• SIDING, ALUMINUM Aluminum Siding History, Defects, Vapor Barriers, Inspection, and Diagnosis
  • ALUMINUM SIDING Impairment Assessment
  • Edifice SIDING in GROUND CONTACT: buckled siding confirms insect damage or rot & structural damage
  • COMPARE ALUMINUM SIDING NARROW & WIDE WIDTHS
  • CLEAN or PAINT ALUMINUM SIDING
  • PAINT LOSS on ALUMINUM SIDING

How to Identify Aluminum Building Siding

It's easy to distinguish between aluminum siding and vinyl siding products past careful visual inspection of the material edges or by observation of dents (aluminum) versus breaks or impact damage (vinyl).

But to distinguish between aluminum siding and it'due south steel await alike you lot may need a magnet (or you might encounter rust).

Aluminum Siding Damage Inspection

Edifice siding in ground contact: take a chance of insect damage or rot & structural impairment

Don't install any edifice siding downwards in contact with the soil or below the soil level (below left) - doing so is inviting a hidden termite or carpenter assail. On occasion nosotros have inspected a building whose bottom course of siding was bulged outwards.

Knowing that it would have been virtually impossible to install the siding in that form, a skillful guess is that the building sills and or lower walls have been damaged by rot or insect pests.

Our siding photograph at below left shows a roof gutter downspout spilling right past the aluminum siding that has been buried below ground level. Adding water increases the risk of hidden insect or rot damage.

This often hidden condition and the need for possibly costly building repairs can exist verified past interior inspection or by removing some exterior siding at the wall bottom. This is not a defect peculiar to aluminum, vinyl, or other siding products - you tin can make this mistake with any wall cladding.

Buckled Aluminum Siding at Ground Level Risks Big Trouble

The condition of edifice siding may be more a corrective issue. For people interested in detecting hidden building damage the photo at left is one of the more than important ones we've taken.

This aluminum siding photograph illustrates buckling aluminum siding at the wall lesser - not a defect in the siding cloth only a poor installation (cached in the ground) inviting insect and rot problems in the building construction.

The aluminum siding is buckled in the bottom ii courses on this dwelling house but is intact on upper courses.

The building, built over an inaccessible clamber space had suffered such extreme termite impairment to its sills and lower woods-framed walls that the weight of the edifice above had crushed and buckled the aluminum siding.

An agreement of how siding is installed on buildings (from the bottom of the wall upwards) would lead an observer to realize that you couldn't install buckle siding in this fashion, the harm had to occur by a downward motion of the structure (or an earth heave which was very unlikely in this design).

Very extensive and costly sill and wall framing repairs were needed - an opinion confirmed when the lower siding segments were removed.

Burying just most any building exterior wall covering or siding is asking for trouble.

See SIDING CLEARANCE TO Ground

Run into also VINYL SIDING Buried at WALL BOTTOM

Aluminum Siding Damage: Bear on vs. Settlement-Buckling

Question: Buckling getting worse at aluminum-sided commercial building

2018/05/28 SD said:

Only leased building and moved in. 2 story office building with warehouse. Buckling is noted to exist getting worse. This is below offices. Should nosotros be concerned for rubber?

Reply: settling or crushing construction is important and potentially dangerous: how to investigate further

SD

I tin can't appraise overall prophylactic related to the condition of the building from only your photo but here are some considerations:

If the damage is from settlement of the structure, non from touch by vehicles, and so the structure, perhaps wood-framed, is damaged, maybe by rot or insect attack.

Sentinel out: Your ascertainment that the siding damage seems to be getting worse, once again if you're sure that nobody is bumping vehicles into the aluminum-sided wall, suggests that significant building settlement or motility is ongoing.

That is likely to ultimately require significant expense to repair.

You lot tin can confirm that the siding buckling is really due to building movement and not vehicles by

• Inspection of the building wall construction and supporting foundation or footings - you may need to remove drywall or paneling inside if there is not open up access to the wall structure
• Inspection of other building walls that are not adjoined by a parking lot

If a forest-framed building framing structure is damaged enough to squash downwards the lower portion of metal siding as in your photo the damage is significant. The construction could exist un-stable. That would be unsafe.

If the edifice is steel framed and the frame is damaged by rust or corrosion similar concerns apply.

If the damage is non to the framed structure but to the supporting foundations or footings the damage is significant, ordinarily progresses more-slowly, only could exist unsafe if the movement that has already occurred is sufficient to damage, pause, or separate structural connections.

Aluminum Siding Details at Roof Abutments

Nosotros cite the roof-siding abutment signal as a common location of rot or insect damage. While wood siding too cupboard to the roof surface will by and large rot, aluminum or vinyl don't suffer the aforementioned take a chance.

All the same if proper step flashing was not installed under the roof shingles and against the wall under the siding, this same location becomes a roof or wall leak.

I don't like to caulk this expanse - information technology's an unreliable repair. Notice that the installer omitted any J-channel at the siding lesser edge, mayhap figuring that it wasn't necessary.

I'd accept a closer look at the siding and flashing at the roof-wall abutment shown higher up.

Also notice how close that window sill and trim are to the roof surface? Expect to find rot at this location.

Aluminum Siding Dents & Holes

Dents in aluminum siding are substantially only a cosmetic concern, except for the more subtle case of a dent that deforms trim, flashing or sealant that permits leaks into the wall structure.

Holes in aluminum siding are likely to be serious h2o entry points risking hidden damage such every bit rot or insect attack or perhaps a costly mold contamination upshot.

The hole in aluminum siding shown above was observed past the writer [DF] at an aluminum-sided trailer in Prattsville, NY.

Comparing Aluminum Siding Wide and Narrow Widths

Our aluminum siding photograph (below left) provides a close up of 1960's vintage aluminum siding that is losing its pigment blanket.

The right hand photo shows a nice algae growth on this shaded, aluminum-sided edifice wall that was covered with a narrow-gauge wood-pattern embossed aluminum siding production in the 1980'south.

Cause & Evaluation of Paint loss on aluminum siding

Watch out: some versions of aluminum siding (especially from the 1960's) included a paint blanket that weathered, chalked, and even done off entirely, leaving a bare aluminum surface (photos beneath).

Besides the obvious advent of aluminum siding that has lost its paint - shown in a higher place, even aluminum siding that has retained its white colour (or other color in later on siding products) may exist chalky and in poor status.

Chalking pigment or paint loss on aluminum siding is acquired by aging of the paint or to put it more than technically: binders have been lost from the paint blanket, leaving pigment that can wash or wipe away.

More about the mechanisms involved in paint failure is at PAINT FALURE, DIAGNOSIS.

Check for chalking in the pigment surface

A simple field-exam of the status of the surface of older aluminum siding is to wipe a finger beyond the siding surface - peradventure it's best to cull an unobtrusive spot then you don't leave an ugly smear. If your finger comes away white with oxidized paint you have an idea that the surface is deteriorating.

As the photographs below show, paint loss on older, typically broad-board aluminum siding, tin exist so extreme that the silvery aluminum below is exposed.

The painted coating on some aluminum siding can also be "pulled" off of aluminum siding by some fungal growths (artillery mucus) and by vines (photo below).

Our aluminum siding photo (higher up at left) shows a close upwardly of a fungal growth on an embossed aluminum siding product.

The mold growth on this siding is not a production defect, information technology is the result of site atmospheric condition - moisture and shade, as is the green and black algae shown on the siding in a photograph before in this article.

How to Make clean or Paint Aluminum Siding

Step 1: clean the aluminum siding

Aluminum siding (and other siding products) can exist cleaned by ability washing or past hand scrubbing. Don't exist upset if scrubbing the weathered aluminum siding causes more paint-loss. That's part of proper surface preparation in that your new paint will bond better and last longer if installed on a sound, secure, surface. Painting over dirt or chalked pigment surfaces may non give a lasting paint chore. .

Watch out: don't spray your power washer "up" under any building siding product or you take a chance blowing h2o into the edifice walls, causing a mold or water damage problem.

Lookout out: also don't use solvents such every bit acetone, lacquer thinner, or mineral spirits to make clean aluminum siding in preparation for painting.

Not simply are some of these solvents dangerous to handle, a run of acetone or lacquer thinner down a painted wall tin can leave a dissolved run-pattern that telegraphs through the new pigment task

. If you already made this error, when the wall surface is dry, sand it lightly with 200 grit emery paper or finer. Nosotros but use a solvent, such as mineral spirits, if road tar or roof cement cobblestone has been splashed onto the to-be-painted aluminum surface.

Y'all tin paint bald and balding aluminum siding just without proper surface preparation such as power-washing, the paint job won't be durable.

And power-washing to make clean siding or to fix it for painting can itself cause trouble if the power-washer is not handled properly.

Spraying "up" against the lower edges of aluminum (or vinyl) siding forces water into the building wall system and can in the worst cases soak edifice wall insulation or cause a costly mold contagion problem. Don't practice that.

Step 2: Choose the primer and paint for aluminum siding

With careful surface preparation and selection of a paint or primer + top coat pigment specifically recommended by its manufacturer for aluminum siding, it is possible to re-paint weathered aluminum siding - of grade we then accept converted a "no maintenance" material into one that will require occasional repainting.

The siding above is installed down to footing contact at a stone patio, offering an inviting path to termites or carpenter ants who may enter the edifice wall or floor framing.

The clay and droppings on the siding tells united states of america that there is considerable rain splash-up onto these walls, adding wet conditions and increasing the risk of insect damage, leaks, or rot. In fact extensive termite damage was institute in the floors of this building.

At above right you can see peeling paint on the lower course of siding every bit well as efforts to seal the siding-to-patio joint with outside caulk. Painting did not help to protect this edifice.

Following surface scrubbing and cleaning, select the pigment for your aluminum siding by request your local pigment store for product suggestions.

• Choose the primer for aluminum siding: Oftentimes the paint supplier will recommend an acrylic primer and ane or two top-coats of an acrylic stop paint.

  An acrylic primer is especially helpful if the surface to be painted was chalky. The Paint Quality Institute (http://world wide web.paintquality.com/, 2015/11/21) recommends a latex corrosion-inhibiting primer coat

• Choose the top glaze pigment for aluminum siding: most sources recommend a 100% acrylic latex primer peak coat in a flat or satin stop.

  Modernistic paints described as "acrylic" are more than properly, "acrylic latex". I would not try using an alkyd or enamel pigment on metallic siding. It's slow to dry, remains tacky longer, and is more likely to sag or run.

• Nosotros discover that satin finishes, being a step closer to a sleeky enamel finish, are a fleck more hard-surfaced, more than durable, and easier to clean.

  However experts at diverse pigment sources point out that flat paints practice a betrer job than the slightly more than glossy satin finishes if you demand to hibernate surface irregularities such equally scratches and dents.

Step 3: Utilize primer, let dry out, apply height coat(s) of paint on the aluminum siding

Be sure that the surfaces to be painted are non but clean of loose paint and soil just that they are dry, that you are painting in warm but not hot weather, and that rain is not expected for at to the lowest degree 24-hours.

Professional firm painters similar to spray the pigment onto the walls - making the covering of the nether-lip of the siding far easier and faster than using a roller or brush.

I've used a combination of spray and roller and brush to both get the paint onto the wall and, where surfaces are irregular (more than common on wood siding) brush it well into the surface. Spraying paint on top of fifty-fifty a small amount of debris is going to mean a curt paint job life. Spraying besides much paint on the wall means runs and sags in the paint task: it'due south better to spray two thin coats than one thick glaze.

If you spray too much pigment on the wall, speedily brush out the run or sag with a fine-bristle brush.

Steel Building Siding

Steel building siding was sold based on advantages like to aluminum siding (run across Aluminum siding) but with disadvantages of heavier weight, more difficult to install (harder to cut and trim), and vulnerable to rust.

Steel siding was never as popular in North America as aluminum nor its later replacement - vinyl.

Photos and notes on steel siding are wanted - CONTACT Usa.

Below: corrugated steel siding on a medical heart in Oxaca, Mexico. This building, located in the highlands above Pluma de Hidalgo, serves as a medical center.

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