dealing with smoke stain on exterior walls - has anyone used either "Slipit" or Cabot's "The Finish"

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Macrovertigo

New Member
Jun 30, 2008
44
Southeast Vermont
edhuse.com
Hi, I am dealing with the pellet stove smoke stains on the exterior wall where the stove vents. It didn't respond to the dishwashing detergent so I will try TSP (trisodium phosphate), especially because I want to paint with something easier to clean then the Ace Royal exterior paint that it has on it now. Has anyone used Cabot's "The Finish" housepaint with Teflon component? I found out about it while searching online for anything like teflon that I could add to housepaint, or to paint with at all. It sounds perfect. I am planning to wax it afterward with Slipit, if it will take at all - I suspect that the teflon-based paint will resist the Slipit gel.
If you have had any experience using either of these products to make your exit wall easy to clean in the Spring, please let me know how it went for you.
I found the housepaint with teflon component at www.cabotstain.com (they call it "The Finish"), and the Slipit gel is at www.slipit.com
(For my part, I will post here if anything notable happens.)
 
try going to a car dealer and ask fro a can of surface claener, that the detail depart uses to clean the plastic. I have used it befor and works really well. it also cleans up the pipe nicely.
 
Macrovertigo I'll bet it would be a good idea to post a photo of your problem so people can see how they might help.

My piping has a 5' internal rise then a 90 degree to turn to the outside and then through the wall. I have clay colored vinyl siding on the exterior of my home. I was concerned before my install that I might have stains on my siding, but after 2.75 tons I have no stain whatsoever.
 
Macrovertigo said:
Hi, I am dealing with the pellet stove smoke stains on the exterior wall where the stove vents. It didn't respond to the dishwashing detergent so I will try TSP (trisodium phosphate), especially because I want to paint with something easier to clean then the Ace Royal exterior paint that it has on it now. Has anyone used Cabot's "The Finish" housepaint with Teflon component? I found out about it while searching online for anything like teflon that I could add to housepaint, or to paint with at all. It sounds perfect. I am planning to wax it afterward with Slipit, if it will take at all - I suspect that the teflon-based paint will resist the Slipit gel.
If you have had any experience using either of these products to make your exit wall easy to clean in the Spring, please let me know how it went for you.
I found the housepaint with teflon component at www.cabotstain.com (they call it "The Finish"), and the Slipit gel is at www.slipit.com
(For my part, I will post here if anything notable happens.)

What is the exterior siding of your house made from? Can we see a pic of the stain and vent termination?
 
Macrovertigo said:
Hi, I am dealing with the pellet stove smoke stains on the exterior wall where the stove vents. It didn't respond to the dishwashing detergent so I will try TSP (trisodium phosphate), especially because I want to paint with something easier to clean then the Ace Royal exterior paint that it has on it now. Has anyone used Cabot's "The Finish" housepaint with Teflon component? I found out about it while searching online for anything like teflon that I could add to housepaint, or to paint with at all. It sounds perfect. I am planning to wax it afterward with Slipit, if it will take at all - I suspect that the teflon-based paint will resist the Slipit gel.
If you have had any experience using either of these products to make your exit wall easy to clean in the Spring, please let me know how it went for you.
I found the housepaint with teflon component at www.cabotstain.com (they call it "The Finish"), and the Slipit gel is at www.slipit.com
(For my part, I will post here if anything notable happens.)

Be careful you do not create one problem by trying to solve another. "The Finish" by Cabots is a high-build interlocking acrylic, similar to an elastomeric used for concrete block. Not an ideal finish for homes with moisture related issues, i.e. moisture peeling.

Just my 2 cents from 23 years in house painting.
 
Hi guys sorry not to notice all your replies 'til just now, but to answer:
1) it is wooden clapboards, some original some replaced over the years.
2) the configuration where the pellet stove vents outside the house is the inside of a corner, not the best place to move smoke from
3) I wound up using paint remover to remove the pellet soot by hand
4) I just finished the prime (Cabot "Problem Solver" primer) and one to two coats of the "The Finish" exterior paint with teflon additive, I have already watched the frustration of at least one Daddy Longlegs spider who could not go further than two clapboards in the twenty minutes that I watched him.

I have read all of your comments with great interest, especially the technical explanation of the paint properties from SMWilliamson, I will be watching for any bubbling, etc.

I will post pics of the area in question as soon as the rain passes, and in the Spring, I will post pictures of the soot accumulation and before and after pics to show the result of the Teflon Paint Experiment.

As for that paint, it is no longer produced, you may however find it as I did, on the shelves as old stock in a hardware or paint store, the label is the same on all Cabot paint products except for the red and white diamond that says Teflon.
 

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an update on the results of painting the exterior vent area with teflon paint - it works like a champ, the siding looks as clean as the day it finished drying, and if the old wood clapboard siding under the interlocking acrylic paint coating doesn't suffer I will be happy!
 
here are a couple of pics to show the problem area - we needed to use this space for the stove because of interior logistics, and we opted for the short vent pipe to avoid dealing with another blower on the outside that would have been needed to loft the vented gasses and soot past the peak. This wall pictured was a mottled grey by this time last year, and by Spring it was an even shade of dark nasty. It took three of us, taking turns on a ladder, experimenting with different cleaning products that did not work (forget Dawn, forget the new, milder formulation of TSP, forget environmentally paint removers) all that worked was old-fashioned, wicked solvent-based PAINT REMOVER to get the soot off the house, and we barely got the teflon paint done before cold weather - but it works. In previous posts in this thread there is a very cogent explanation/warning about teflon-based paint, so if you take this teflon approach, keep a close eye on the condition of your wood siding as the years go by.
 

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  • 1j another view of the sootless venting area of exterior wall, clean now that it is coated with tefl
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another shot, the area between the windows was flat-out black by Spring last year, this year it will be pristine. By the way, the Slipit product was useless for this, Skipit.
 

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  • 1j vent and clean exterior teflon painted wall taken in January 2011 after burning 2 tons of Okanaga
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I have almost the same issue with mine. I'll try the soap first but then may need to do the paint.
 
Hi quickrch - I went through all the recommended soap methods, nothing worked like paint remover though, it was awful to use but it worked. After that, we did the teflon paint. The thing I was told to beware of, which I stress here, is that the same characteristics which make the teflon-based paint effective also trap moisture and this can lead to problems with wood siding down the road.
 
thanks, my siding is vinyl so I was hoping some brushing with soap would do the trick. The area is only about 4'x7'...I'll try to clean first...
 
Lets fix the problem of the sooting first. A pellet stove should not soot the side of your house.

Eric
 
kinsman stoves said:
Lets fix the problem of the sooting first. A pellet stove should not soot the side of your house.

Eric

My kozi sure sooted the side of my house. Macrovertigo, have you tried some of those Mr. clean magic erasers? Those tooks some of mine off.
 
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