Vinyl fence cleaning - Page 2

fthunt · ‎12-24-2010

You all are scarring me! My contractor is scheduled to extend my wood privacy fence with vinyl......only one side of my backyard. My neighbor has several panels of vinyl all around his property and I have only seen them clean it twice. It's always pure white and clean except for a little rain dirt splash on the bottom. Are you ladies in the South where humidity is an issue - I'm wondering why your fences become so dirty. Any hints?

NickNack · ‎03-10-2010

@shaggygirl and others, I just had vinyl siding put on my house and am getting ready to have mulch spread. This makes it sound like I shouldn't do this if the mulch stains the vinyl when it rains. Maybe I should do pine straw instead. Should mulch not be used around vinyl siding?

The Bluebird Carries The Sky On His Back"
-Henry David Thoreau

Mom2Dogs · ‎03-09-2010

@shaggygirl...that is what the spots are!! Only one side of our fence has mulch so I will clean it as recommended, another thing to add to my summer to do list!

Dumb question, but do you think the fungus/spores are dangerous?

@NickNack...I am in the midwest... I think the fences get dirty just because they are outside and the birds poop all over them, sigh.

I would not worry about the mulch around the house...but I don't let stuff bother me a lot unless I am told it is dangerous, that's just me. We have siding on our house as well but we do have a foundation of cement block so the siding is not up against mulch.

So glad I started this thread, I learned a lot!

NickNack · ‎03-10-2010

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
@shaggygirl...that is what the spots are!! Only one side of our fence has mulch so I will clean it as recommended, another thing to add to my summer to do list!

Dumb question, but do you think the fungus/spores are dangerous?

@NickNack...I am in the midwest... I think the fences get dirty just because they are outside and the birds poop all over them, sigh.

I would not worry about the mulch around the house...but I don't let stuff bother me a lot unless I am told it is dangerous, that's just me. We have siding on our house as well but we do have a foundation of cement block so the siding is not up against mulch.

So glad I started this thread, I learned a lot!

@Mom2Dogs I have a foundation of cement block, too, so maybe the mulch would be okay. I know what you mean about the bird poop. I've only had my siding a month and have already washed bird poop off of it! I never really noticed it on my cedar siding.

The Bluebird Carries The Sky On His Back"
-Henry David Thoreau

shaggygirl · ‎11-24-2011

@Nicknack wrote:
@Mom2Dogs wrote:
@shaggygirl...that is what the spots are!! Only one side of our fence has mulch so I will clean it as recommended, another thing to add to my summer to do list!

Dumb question, but do you think the fungus/spores are dangerous?

@NickNack...I am in the midwest... I think the fences get dirty just because they are outside and the birds poop all over them, sigh.

I would not worry about the mulch around the house...but I don't let stuff bother me a lot unless I am told it is dangerous, that's just me. We have siding on our house as well but we do have a foundation of cement block so the siding is not up against mulch.

So glad I started this thread, I learned a lot!

@Mom2Dogs I have a foundation of cement block, too, so maybe the mulch would be okay. I know what you mean about the bird poop. I've only had my siding a month and have already washed bird poop off of it! I never really noticed it on my cedar siding.

To the best of my knowledge, and I've researched a lot about it, there is no danger to you. I have at least 2 feet of cement foundation before my siding starts. The thing is that once the little cup type things explode with the spore they can shoot up to 20 feet high. The best way to avoid this problem if you already have or plan to have mulch is to keep it fresh by raking it every so often to keep it aired out so it doesn't stay damp and also to refresh it with some new mulch every year. There is so much info on the web if you google it including what type of mulch is best to try to avoid this. I've been in this house over 30 years and always had mulch but no problem till last spring, I saw it after a hard rain which apparently can cause the firing off of the artillery spores. My mulch had not been touched in about 3 years. When my husband was alive he kept up with stuff like this, he's been gone a few years and I'm still learning some things as I go, sometimes the hard way. As I said in an earlier post, I had the guy who cuts my grass remove ALL the mulch after that happened and I had learned about the spores, that was last year. I finally just about 2 months had him put in new mulch around the house and in a flower bed. The first couple of hard rainfalls we had after that I got a bit OCD checking my living room and dining room windows, those two are long wind-out type so have the screens on the inside but NO BLACK DOTS on the outside of the glass. Also my bedroom bathroom screens, which have the screens on the outside (just on the bottom) have NO BLACK DOTS on the glass on top nor the screens on the bottom. I think I'll be OCD about it for a long time. As to how in God's name the spores got all the way to my fence I do not know cause it's pretty far away from the house itself. There was as I said, at one time mulch around it but now it looks like it has broken down into just dirt. Last spring there must have been just enough of it left to have the spores go flying after the same hard rain that made them explode around the house.

ValuSkr · ‎03-15-2014

@Mom2Dogs Artillery, or shotgun, fungus shoots its spores at light-colored objects - cars, house, fence, etc. And, as already noted, it can shoot them very high. I don't have personal experience, but my understanding is that the spores are near impossible to remove unless you get them right away. If I were you, I'd remove the mulch along the fence line.

Mom2Dogs · ‎03-09-2010

@ValuSkr, thanks for the advice....I will have to think about this because I do not like stone, very difficult to haul. There seems to be 2 sections of fence where the spores are bad, I am going to remove that mulch after cleaning the fence and then I will purchase new and watch....again, thanks.

shaggygirl · ‎11-24-2011

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
@ValuSkr, thanks for the advice....I will have to think about this because I do not like stone, very difficult to haul. There seems to be 2 sections of fence where the spores are bad, I am going to remove that mulch after cleaning the fence and then I will purchase new and watch....again, thanks.

Those two sections where the spores are bad. Just for the heck of it if I were you I would go out there and get down close to the mulch in front of them, look closely at it and see if you spot any of the little tiny cup like thingies from which they fire off. If you don't see any right on top move around a wee bit and look. In my flower bed, where I had started taking out the mulch myself before I realized how quickly the garbage bags were filling up and how heavy to carry and then had my lawn guy finish, I found lots & lots of them. They sort of look like tiny little light tan colored tea cups. Not to mention as I was on my knees scooping the mulch up it smelled awfully musty and it was also coming up like it was a thick peeling orange rind instead of loose mulch. I filled about 12 heavy duty lawn and leaf bags about a third of the way and would drag them out to the street for garbage pick-up a few each week till they were out of here. When I had my lawn guy finish the job holy cow he filled so many garbage bags and garbage cans with the mulch it was surprising considering my house isn't exactly huge. He hauled what he cleaned up away.