Concrete Dust On Prefinished Hardie

Cecil

I hired a contractor to install prefinished (timberbark) on my house. He finished up last week-about 40 sq. When I went around the house to do the inspection I noticed a lot of white dust all over the siding. Contractor called Hardie and they said to wipe down with water and Dawn dish detergent. This helped but I still have white dust on my siding that I think looks terrible. I think my contractor may have done a few things incorrectly so help me out if you can:

1) He would remove the plastic covering before working on each siding piece. Basically, he would the plastic off, cut the siding, and hang the siding. I think he should have moved the plastic off the area to be cut, cut the siding, hang the siding and then remove the plastic before going on to the next piece.

2) He cut too close to the house on windy days and cement dust was blowing right on the siding. He used Hardie shears and a circular saw but the saw was obviously causing the dust.

3) He would not wipe the siding off before moving on. He said he would wipe the house down after it was all hung. He did this but I have to assume that cement dust sitting on siding for a month while he did the job could have permanetly damaged the siding.

I have called Hardie and they said I can use Dawn or a diluted solution of GoJo or CLR. My contractor has cleaned the house twice. He has agreed to allow a Hardie rep to come out and inspect.

I think the concrete dust has permantly settled on the siding and can't be removed (2 attempts withe water an dawn so far with some improvement but not nearly like a fresh piece of siding. What should I do? Do you have other cleaning recommendations? Does it sound like my contractor may have done the install improperly? I am hanging on to my final payment until this gets resolved. My contractor is reasonable and he is coming back tomorrow to see the areas that are of concern (most of the house still). He has no problem trying to fix it but I doubt he would want to spend money like having it painted to make it right. I feel it may need painting at this point which really upsets me since I paid extra for prefinished not only in material but labor. Help please!

Chris Johnson

Your trade says - Handyman -

Unfortunately you sound like a homeowner only

If Hardi is coming out to review than so be it...

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Chris

Michaeljp86

I have to agree with you.

How did you wash it? with a rag?

Im sure it will come clean if you use the right stuff. Try using a stiff scrub brush and get some better soap.

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