Shotgun fungus

How detailed do you get with shotgun fungus? I have a job today with practically clean windows that I’m wfp’ing but like every window has at least a dozen spores on it. When i do trad i wipe the wet window with my hand to feel for it cause otherwise i find it easy to miss. But i can’t get it off the screens anyway so was starting to think trying to remove each spore might be a waste of time.

I am not concerned with any that are on the screens. I scrub screen frames with soapy water and white pad and run the screens through my screen cleaner. On the glass I soak the window good, give it a moment to dwell and loosen the shotgun fungus, then gently scrap and it usually comes off.

Gonna hav e to ladder up

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Ended up having to do that anyway cause every window dried with spots.

Next time you plan to wfp a house be attentive to the problem fungi windows before wasting time. We have a good amount in this neck of the woods

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In my area/experience it’s normally only on the first floor, so… not such a big deal to scrape gently or fingernail it off in small quantities.

Sometimes there is a lot of it on many windows (aged Floridians LOVE their mulch) so I will discuss it prior to pricing, that for my normal price I can’t spend hours picking the dots off with my fingernail.

So they have a choice to pony up some extra cash and I’ll get rid of it while strongly recommending a switch to stone or pebble ground coverings.

Or, if they don’t mind the dots as long as the rest of the glass is perfect then I’ll charge normal and WFP like normal as well.

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Yea, problem is each of those dots leaves a streak of dried solution. Best to explain the issue you are faced with and this is the price to take care of that, or understand that some streaking will be left behind - unless you want to towel dry by hand afterwards, then there is a charge for that.

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My mantra these days

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advise the homeowner to change out their mulch. I’m its all over their house as well

I was actually wondering about that. Is there a treatment or a different type of mulch that’s better to use? Or does this just happen with age?

Large bark mulch

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Large bark mulch attracts bugs. That is mainly why logs get hewn to remove the bark and not give a home to bugs. Here in Florida, pine bark mulch attracts roaches and palmetto bugs.
Rubber mulch is a relatively new comer. Or rocks and gravel doesn’t have shotgun fungus either.

Around here EVERYONE uses mulch…well, wealthy people. The rest of us just have grass or dirt. I doubt people can be convinced otherwise. I do like the mulch that smells like beef jerky though.

I think it’s tacky but that’s just me. Lol

http://extension.psu.edu/pests/plant-diseases/artillery-fungus/research-reports/use-of-mushroom-compost-to-suppress-artillery-fungi

On the estimate we bring it up and the link for this goes in the email. Always trying to add a little value.

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They make a rubber mulch as well. There is nothing out there to treat it except changing your mulch out. It doesn’t softwash off and its something we have to inform the customer that we can’t get off with a standard cleaning.

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If it is fresh it comes off easily, if it has had a chance to bake on - well, there is a charge for that. :wink:

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I’m 3 weeks out on work… I don’t have the extra man power to send to a customers house with magic erasers and scrub 10,000 black dots off their siding. I don’t see it as a $$$ making service

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You’d have high turnover anyway. Lol

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Even if you get the black dot off there’s typically a brown stain behind it that won’t come off except with a coat of paint

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