Metal building, black streaks, need to get it clean...IDEAS?

DownEastPowerWash

New member
Here is the deal, quite a large building which is all painted metal. It has black streaks like gutters but does not clean like a gutter. Here is what has been tried, Emulsifier plus with 12.5% bleach (no success), Mr. Muscle truck soap (limited success), WAB Squeaky Clean ds and straight (no success), two step acid wash (best results but not satisfied). All detergents were used in various strengths brushing and no brushing. Even tried GutterZap which works great on gutters but nothing on these streaks. I tried heat and not heat as well. Really don't want to have to brush the whole building due to the size of the building. Below are a couple of pictures of the streaks. Let me know what you think and thank you in advance.

20140916_114458.jpg20140917_135345_Richtone(HDR).jpg
 
What was the temperature when you tried the gutter cleaner? Most gutter cleaners are VERY temperature dependent.

Also, you mention these are like gutter streaks,.then you say you don't want to scrub the whole building,....well here's the rub,..if they are indeed like gutter streaks then scrubbing very well may be needed,..because not all gutters clean up with just spray on and rinse off. Just charge what it's worth.

* Also, I know these streaks you're talking about, I've seem them on other painted aluminum surfaces as well,.like garage doors,..and they are like gutter streaks. These pictures show the paint in good shape,..but never overlook the possibility that the aluminum itself is showing through.

Jeff
 
What was the temperature when you tried the gutter cleaner? Most gutter cleaners are VERY temperature dependent.

Also, you mention these are like gutter streaks,.then you say you don't want to scrub the whole building,....well here's the rub,..if they are indeed like gutter streaks then scrubbing very well may be needed,..because not all gutters clean up with just spray on and rinse off. Just charge what it's worth.

* Also, I know these streaks you're talking about, I've seem them on other painted aluminum surfaces as well,.like garage doors,..and they are like gutter streaks. These pictures show the paint in good shape,..but never overlook the possibility that the aluminum itself is showing through.

Jeff


Temp was about 65 degrees F and I tried cold water and warm water both same results. Even brushing the gutter solution on did not make a difference. I thought about the aluminum showing through but that does not appear to be the case in this situation. As far as brushing the whole building, we are talking about a building that is warehouse size and some places about 100 feet tall and is open 24/7 to complicate things further. Received some samples from my local chemical supplier today to give a try tomorrow. I shall keep you updated. Thanks for replies! Below is a photo of the building from above.

Building to be washed.png
 
In my experience 65 degrees is on the cool side for removing gutter streaks. Especially if you want to spray on and rinse off. On a building that size I would want optimum conditions,...HOT and HUMID!!

* Isn't there something else you could be doing instead of this building,...Ha,Ha,....

Jeff
 
I had a building just like this in early spring but luckily mine was not nearly as streaked as yours. Had to brush all of the steaks to remove them and quite a few did not go away completely. I set the expectation at the sale so everything went fine. It was definitely a lot of work with all of that brushing.
 
If you haven't tried F9 BARC yet I would definitely give it a shot. 1:2 water to F9, spray on, try different dwell times from 30 seconds to a couple minutes. Try brushing vs just pw'ing. Let me know how it goes. I have other processes too that might work so shoot me a text when you are there.


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