Hardwater Stains On Wood Siding

Wood is an excellent building material for the outdoors.

Hardwater stains on wood siding.

Vinyl siding is susceptible to stains just like any other housing material. Hard water stains are ugly but not impossible to remove. Whether it is used for house siding outdoor furniture decks fences or sheds wood holds up well against weathering as long as it is maintained but whenever water and wood mix there is the possibility of water stains. The best stains should last three to five years on a deck and even longer if applied to siding or fences which don t get as much abuse.

Inexpensive distilled white vinegar available in half or whole gallons at your grocery store is acidic enough to break down the hard water spots yet mild enough not to hurt the siding. The sun and water beat down on a deck snow can pile up. Wait about 10 to 15 minutes before proceeding as the hard water scale will take some time to soften. We have very high iron well water at our house.

On the other hand stain or dye will penetrate most materials including wood brick and sometimes even vinyl. Simple bleach solutions applied to the stain and then brushed away will return the vinyl to a state close to its original look. After some watering of the lawn we had some very heavy iron stains on the white vinyl siding. Therefore if your siding is very old and extremely discoloured your best bet might be to work with paint.