Help needed with brightening un-stained ("natural") board and batten siding

I also posted this over at PWR, but it seems like traffic has been kind of dead over there, so I figured I’d post it here, as well.

I was hoping some of your wood experts could give me some direction on this. It appears to be either pine or hemlock - the customer didn’t know. She’s hoping to get the wood brightened up to a much lighter shade. I don’t even know if that will be possible.

What will be the best process for brightening this siding? Which chems, pressure, etc? And how many man-hours would you plan on spending on this, if it were one guy with a 5.5gpm machine?

It’s a 2 story house that’s approx. 25’x35’. You can view the pics on the PWR forum here: Help with brightening un-stained ("natural") board and batten siding? - Residential - Pressure Washing Resource

honestly, i would pass on this job if you don’t have a lot of experience with wood. that’s a BIG job to learn the ropes on. looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

You could look into Sunbrite Supply… do a safe wash mix (they sell) and then “wood brightened”.

Stupid spell check! “Wood Brightner”

You mix it in a pump sprayer, spray on while still wet after cleaned with safe wash them rinse. I use a downstream injector to keep the pressure lower.

The pic I sent shows some new steps that were added before the deck cleaning. They dried much lighter after cleaning.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I’m thinking I may end up passing on this one.

@c_wininger, do you mind elaborating on how it could become a disaster?

Also, I hate to be the one to ask, but how would you bid this? I’m thinking the easiest way out on this may be to bid it out of the customer’s price range (and/or high enough that it will be worth the trouble if I do win it). She did seem concerned with budget (this was a H/A lead), so I wasn’t really holding my breath on winning this one, anyway.

Another thing to think about the scope of work and cost may technically require a type of contractors license and if it did and something went wrong your insurance would likely drop you and not cover it

i could see it being really difficult to get an even look to the wood. it could come out blotchy and inconsistent. plus, you’ll have to get a little pressure on it most likely, which will be impossible on the high spots without a lift or scaffolding.