I built a new house here in NC last summer. The builder supposedly put 2-3 coats of paint on all exterior wood (house is mostly brick, but windows & some trim are wood). I now have mildew showing up on the window sashes (on the wood side stiles, not the glazing bead) and on some trim & soffitt. The soffitt is vented Hardi-soffitt & the trim is SPF. This is occurring on 3 sides of the house – some in direct sunlight, some in partial shade, some on the screen porch. It is hit or miss – for example, I have 5 windows on the screen porch, but mildew is on only 1 of them ????
It has been a very wet summer. I called my builder and he sent his warranty guy by to look at it. His reply was “Well, everything is going to mildew as wet as this summer has been”.
I’m not so sure I buy that. I’m thinking the paint is too thin to adequately keep the moisture out. Also, none of my neighbors are having this problem.
I’d appreciate some feedback from some of you all.
Replies
Anyone ??
Like Piffin said - check the EPA's website for cleaning mildew/mold information
(I recommend TSP or automatic dishwashing detergent.)
_______________________
Why Don't Blind People Like To Sky Dive?
Because it scares the bejabbers out of the dog
Your mileage may vary ....
Mildew is your state flower.
It has been extremely bad all up the east coast with this wet summer. Maine smells like Georgia. wash it off and get on with life. No reason to suspect builder. Lots of variables can effect where and when it blossoms.
Excellence is its own reward!
I own an 1866 farm house in upstate NY and we've had rain every few days for months. There is not a brown blade of grass for miles. This is the 1st year I've noticed a black mold/mildew appearing in areas on the outside of the house. Not all over, just in a couple areas which get a lot of shade. Mostly on the ceiling of the open front porch which obviously gets no sun. This may not help much but I thought you might be interested that my porch has a similiar problem this year. The house was last painted 5-6 years ago.
Find out what type of paint they used and do some research. Contact the paint manufacturer or local paint stores. I'd get out some bleach and kill the mildew and see if it returns. Do you know of any other houses the builder built? Contact the home owner and see if your case is unique.
>I'd get out some bleach and kill the mildew and see if it returns.
FWIW, the experts seem to be moving away from recommending bleach - I believe the concern is people might spray it and breath the vapor which isn't real healthy.
There are borax solutions coming on the market which are supposed to be good, and TSP based products, although they can be fairly heavy duty too.
_______________________
Why Don't Blind People Like To Sky Dive?
Because it scares the bejabbers out of the dog
Your mileage may vary ....
I'm curious if nothing else.
Oil or latex paint?
Flat, satin, semi-gloss or gloss ?
Do the neighboring houses with no problems have the same type and sheen of paint?
Was a fungicide added to the paint?
Like Piffin said, mildew is the state flower. I live about 25 miles SE of Raleigh. Mildew is a constant problem here. Cleaning it is an annual thing, at least. (And for gosh sakes, don't stand still -- the stuff will grow right on your body!) That's the bad news.
The god news is that in the past few weeks, I've made a decent living cleaning it up for other folks.
In my opinion, this is not something that your builder did wrong. Mildew grows readily on any kind of siding, and on concrete driveways. If it's on your painted windows, then you house sounds normal to me.
I concur with most all of the above. I live just south of Raleigh. This past weekend I spent 4 hours cleaning the outside trim on our house (4 years old). I have a power washer, but nothing works as good as a stiff brush, a hose, some Spick & Span (or other cleaner) and a whole lot of elbow grease. Oh yea - and an assortment of ladders. Pressure washers can drive water into places where you don't want it, and don't get this type of grime off very well.
I always wanted to visit Raleigh, my family first farm was just north of raleigh in 1672, right now its under that Kerr Resavoid (lake)
BACK TO TOPIC Here on the gulf coast everybody has a pressure washer. mold grow on everything. My concrete porches are green, windows on truck get green during wet season. We had 37 inches of rain in 90 days this summer. Mold, pressure washers and bleach a weekly deal here.
I'm suprised to see it mildewing so quickly. It's fairly common here (CT) to add a mildewcide to exterior trim paint. It helps for a while, but certainly not forever.
The only time I've seen a house mildew in its first year was when the painter used solid stain on the exterior trim instead of paint. The cedar claps, which were solid stain didn't mildew...but the trim did, and in a big way.
A washdown with water with bleach and TSP cleaned it up, followed by painting.
Thanks for the feedback.
The paint is Porter Acri-Pro 100 Semi-gloss. The data sheet on their web page says it is mildew resistant. I really doubt if any additional mildewcide was added. As best I can tell, this is their contractor grade paint, and not necessarily their best paint.
I have also found a few small areas on the window mullions that have NO paint, only the factory primer. There is no mildew on the unpainted areas.
My next door neighbor has no mildew. His house sits at the same orientation as mine, had a different builder and therefore likely different painter and paint.
After finding the unpaited spots (I was supposed to get 2 coats!) I think I am going to push the builder on cleaning & re-painting these areas. He has a pretty good reputation, and we are really pleased with the house overall, so I feel like he will do the right thing. Since we are talking about a 4,000 SF house (not boasting, but this is a custom home, not a track built starter home), I really don't feel like I'm asking too much.
Edited 10/8/2003 9:30:49 PM ET by Fishinwuf
As a builder in the Texas Gulf Coast area, here's some advice for what it's worth. Have the builder get the paint manufacturer involved. I had a similar situation arise on the north side of a house in the deep piney woods. I had the paint manufacturer measure the thickness of the paint on the wall. As it turned out, my painter had exceeded the recommended application and told the owner so. They then supplied the homeower with an instruction sheet for the care and feeding of the painted Hardie Siding. I was prepared to clean and repaint the house if necessary. If the company finds paint skips and inadequate paint job,then you have leverage with the builder.If everything is as should be, then it's probably the paint. Either way you have an answer and can pursue a remedy if you desire. Or you can spray it with bleach and then pressure wash. That folks around here do.
Thanks for the input Bill.
I've checked with Porter's techincal support and they said the only means they have to test paint thickness is to take a sample and examine it under a microscope.
Bill - can you provide any more info on the field test that was done on the project you spoke of? If they can prove my paint is properly applied and to the proper thickness, I will acept that.
Also, Porter said they really do not think it is a thickness issue, although the individual has not seen my house. He suggested using "Mildew Check" by PPG and Olympic ( PPG owns Porter and Olympic). Anyone ever use this product? Comments?
Lastly, what is the best mildewcide to add to the paint if I end up re-painting?
Edited 10/28/2003 5:52:49 PM ET by Fishinwuf