Black Spots On Vinyl Siding

Removing spots from vinyl siding.

Black spots on vinyl siding.

The vinyl siding institute yes there really is such an organization offers some helpful and specific tips for dealing with stubborn moldy spots on your siding. We have thousands of tiny black spots pin head size all over the siding of our house. A first use a scraper or wire brush and scrape over a section of affected vinyl siding. We have these small black spots that look like specks of tar all over our white vinyl siding of our house.

I ve found the following over the counter product works with elbow grease to remove the spots. Thankfully i only have one area that has plants next to it so the bleach solution wouldn t hurt them but not sure about my deck stains. The worst thing about this fungus is that it shoots spores up to 20 feet which often land on siding cars. Here is what the spores look like on the vinyl siding.

Vinyl siding stain diagnosis. It goes all the way up to my second story windows and is even under my soffit and on my gutters. I have been experimenting with various solutions on my vinyl siding to remove the spots. The artillery fungus or shotgun fungus is a wood decay fungus that likes to live on moist landscape mulch.

Some tell us it s from spiders. Also known as artillery or cannonball fungus sphaerobolus it uses internal water pressure to forcefully fire its spores similar to seeds up to 20 feet away the fungus sets its sights on bright areas so that means it will aim for any pale surface that reflects light such as the siding on your house. The black tar like spots that are all over your vinyl siding are more than likely a fungus called sphaerobolus stellatus better known as artillery or shotgun fungus although it s most often found on the east coast it can grow anywhere and especially thrives in areas that have cool damp springs or rainy fall weather conditions. Distinguishing the type of stain found on siding is useful in deciding on the cause and thus the cure or prevention of staining.

Store bought cleaners such as windex will usually do the job for these kinds of spots but if you want to make your own chemical free solution you can use a natural mixture of. Dirt from rain splash up algae lichens mold moss or even smoke or chemical stains have different causes and different preventative measures. A side of my house in new york is covered in the dots. It s hard to see shotgun fungus itself because it s only 2 millimeters wide.

Here is a photo of what the actual fungus that produces the black spores. Others have said it s a fungus from mulch.