How to Ruin Your Siding
Siding comes in a wide variety of sizes, styles and materials making it one of the top ways to cover the exterior of a home. Some require maintenance-others very little-but one things for certain: if you do any of the following home improvement maintenance on your siding; you may be doing more harm than good. Use this guide to protecting your siding and prevent the damages that are so common with these home exterior materials.
Pressure Washing
This is one of the biggest killers for siding materials. Pressure washers squirt pressurized water to blast away stains and debris. But in most cases, pressure washing siding ends up making it all wet-both inside and out. Siding is designed to have water seep off of it from the roof to the ground. When pressure washing siding, the water comes in at an odd angle, allowing water to enter between siding panels, ensuring water damages the subwalls behind the siding materials. In some cases, it can end up going into the home.
Clean siding using a stiff bristled brush and a bucket of warm soapy water to clean your siding. A telescoping handle can help to reach all of those hard to reach spots.
Painting
Some siding materials need to be painted. But when you use the wrong techniques or materials for painting your siding and you can bet that it was all for nothing. When painting siding, it’s imperative to caulk and seal all of the materials first. Any cracks, gaps or spaces need to be filed with quality outdoor caulking that’s designed for siding and meant to be painted. You’ll also need to use the right exterior paint. Inferior products will only need to be repainted more often.
Pest Protection
Some siding materials like vinyl or cedar may already be pest free and stay that way over time. Or so you may think. Siding materials on the surface may be pest proof, but the material behind the siding certainly isn’t. It’s important-especially in areas where termites are a problem-to have a pest control service spray your home’s exterior for bugs at least every six months. This will prevent unruly insect infestations from coming in behind your siding and into your home.
Most homes have eaves drip, soffit and fascia to protect their homes exterior from water intrusion through the walls. While these materials work great for keeping most rain and snow storms at bay; it doesn’t always do the trick. That’s where gutters and downspouts come into play. With the addition of these water diverters, you can better protect your siding products from water intrusion, dry rot and stains.
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