A client sent me pictures of his home and asked to clean up this wall that was hit pretty hard by swallows. He’s already removed the nests, so it’s really just the poo that he wants gone. What would you guys recommend? In the past when I’ve tried to clean smaller areas of bird poo from painted siding I’ve had problems with marks in the paint after it was cleaned off.
do you have a pressure washer?
I do. I would prefer to use soft washing techniques as the paint seems to be weathered enough that it may peel and flake under high pressure. I just have limited soft washing experience and would like a good product/technique recommendation for this situation.
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Just throwing it out there paint it. Or just let them know this is how it could to happen because bird poo is acid and your paint is chipping.
jimmyswcs
Sorry yeah dude just give them the exp on it. And let it be know that you got exp in paint also and grab a few guys from the streets to do it. (an idea) good luck champ
jimmyswcs
Bird poo is very acidic (it causes major problems in urban areas with limestone buildings) and likely to have permanently stained (yellowing) the paint work of the siding.
So whilst you can wash the poo matter from the exterior of the paintwork layer, it will be left with acidic staining, which goes deep within the paint layer/s.
(It is recommended by all major car manufacturers to wash bird poo off paintwork straight away for this reason)
Ive also noticed it can cause this issue with glass also as a number of homes I work on, have this type of staining I just cant get rid off regardless of what type of restoration chems I’ve used.
yeah, soft wash it. your machine might have a downstream injector built in. otherwise, buy a kit from bob at pressuretek. that’s the only appropriate way to clean that. 3 gallons of 12.5% bleach, 2 gallons of water, 5 oz of house wash soap like elemonator, or laundry detergent will do in a pinch, downstream on, dwell 10-15 minutes, low pressure rinse off. you might need to agitate with a soft bristle brush on the stubborn spots, but that’s ok.
you can do all of this in a test spot with a spray bottle and garden hose to make sure it won’t mess up the finish. just get your ratios right. a downstream injector usually dilutes about 10:1- so 12.5% diluted 3:2 gets you 8% mix, diluted 10:1, which gets you about .8% sodium hypochlorite hitting the surface. simple math. don’t be afraid, just test, get the green light from the custy, and go for it.
for what’s pictured, that’s probably a $200-$400 job, depending on your market. even with a dinky machine, you’re looking at an hour worth of work.
