Removing Ivy From Vinyl Siding

I ve had ivy growing on stucco and steel siding.

Removing ivy from vinyl siding.

English ivy and boston ivy that favorite vegetative covering on ivy league schools are evergreen plants. Another favorite virginia creeper assumes an attractive red coloration in the fall. A power washer took off some from the steel siding and didn t hurt the siding but i used a knife to remove it. Extra care and a lot of elbow grease are needed to remove ivy from vinyl siding on a house.

We recently bought a house that was half covered in ivy. We had boston ivy growing on white vinyl siding and metal trim of garage the little black sucker marks were impossible to remove. Remove a chunk of the stem so there s a gap between the stem and stump of the vine. For wood siding use a paint scraper to remove the ivy shoots from the surface.

We cut the roots and let the ivy die but we noticed all these little suction cups that held the ivy to the brick and wood siding. I tried scraping them off and used a wire brush to remove them but didn t put a dent in the problem. Never use a pressure washing system to remove ivy suckers on vinyl siding. An ivy covered wall john from mississauga ontario writes.

They can creep between masonry and stone joints under vinyl siding and into the mortar between bricks. If you think pulling the vines off your structure will do more harm than good first kill them by cutting them to 4 to 6 inches above the ground. Let the ivy attached to the vinyl siding dry out completely. Unfortunately these vines are not harmless on a house with stucco or wood vinyl or fiber cement siding.

Sorry to say i found no easy way. Use a pair of pruning loppers or a pruning saw to cut through the larger vines. This heavy duty process can permanently damage the siding. What s the best way to remove them.

Ivy suckers are tough and anchor themselves even deeper into wood siding which is naturally more porous than vinyl or aluminum siding. Removing the suckers is painstaking and often frustrating work but it is possible with the right techniques. Decided to try magic eraser and while it takes elbow grease it completely removed the sucker marks. We didn t like it and we were told to cut the roots and let the ivy die and then just tear it down from the walls.

Follow each vine of the ivy down to the roots and cut it off with a pair of pruning shears.