Black Spots On Wood Siding

If you notice lots of tiny black or dark brown spots developing on your siding above a landscaped area of your yard as seen below it is most likely artillery otherwise known as shotgun fungus.

Black spots on wood siding.

Black spots or stains on the other hand are not the natural progression. Black brown or gray stains on roofing products due to debris left on the roof surface such as piles of leaves and organic waste from nearby trees. For light black marks on flooring and siding just a simple sanding will remove the marks stains and lifetime wood treatment will cover the marks for more severe marks on boards and beams oxalic acid can be applied which reacts with iron stain and forms a colorless chemical complex. Surface dirt should be removed from cedar shake siding before attempting to remove black spots from the mold.

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 most common culprits are tannins mildew and mold. Artillery fungus black tar spots on houses artillery fungus seeing black tar spots on the sides of your house or vehicles. Distinguishing the type of stain found on siding is useful in deciding on the cause and thus the cure or prevention of staining.

Tannins ordinarily leach from cedar wood and do not normally cause any problems. Dirt from rain splash up algae lichens mold moss or even smoke or chemical stains have different causes and different preventative measures. Use the directions found on the product s container. The spots are about the size of the head of a pin and appear to be black or dark brown in color.

This article discusses common causes of stains or discoloration found on vinyl building siding. See debris staining and see proximate cause of roof shingle stains. Vinyl siding stain diagnosis. 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.

You can t get it all but you can really improve the overall look and reduce the dark areas considerably. Artillery fungus is a wood dwelling fungus commonly found in mulch. I am getting small dark spots on windows and the white siding of my house. Black stains on vinyl or painted building exterior wall siding may also be mold as our photo shows at above right.

One method that is usually successful is to use a wood cleaning product. Cleaning can remove ugly black marks from your fence. Cleaning restoring wood siding then we used wolman s deck brite to clean it to get rid of the dark stains left by the mold. Next we applied the wood restorer i use wolman s deck and fence brightener.