Only as much pressure as the surface needs
Siding gets a low pressure soft wash with algaecide, and the solution does the work. Vulnerable siding does not get pressure washed at all — some jobs get turned down instead.
Home › Pressure Washing Damage
None of what follows is dirt. Dirt washes off. This is what is left behind when too much pressure meets a surface that could not take it — and some of it does not come back.
Most of what worries people is just organic growth. Algae, mildew and dirt streaking down from the roofline, heaviest on the north wall that never sees direct sun. It looks permanent. It is not.
Growth sits on the surface, and the right solution lifts it off at the root. Damage is in the surface. Telling the two apart before anyone starts is most of the job.
Examples from around our service area. We never say whose work it was or where it is.
That pattern in the brick came off a zero-degree tip — the red one. It concentrates everything the machine has into a spot about a quarter inch across. Held close, it cuts brick face and chews mortar out of the joint like a chisel. Joints can be repointed. The cut faces stay cut.
Composite feels indestructible, so it gets more pressure than anything else on a property. The color and the wood grain are a thin top layer over a plain core. Once that layer is cut through in arcs, there is nothing underneath to sand back to and no cleaner that fills it in. We have never been able to bring one of these back. The only real fix is replacing the boards.
Those pale patches are not dirt and they are not chalking — that is the paint film gone, taken off in sheets by pressure the coating could not hold up to. Painted lap siding is common around here and it is softer than people assume. No wash brings paint back. Once it is off, the wall needs repainting, and that is a much bigger bill than the wash was.
Vinyl builds up a chalky oxidized layer as it weathers. A red tip strips that layer off unevenly, and the darker material underneath shows through in exactly the path the wand traveled. A normal wash will not touch it, because it is not dirt — the streaks are where oxidation is missing. The fix is to take the remaining oxidation off the whole wall so the surface is uniform again. It is a separate treatment from a house wash, and it works.
Zebra striping happens when a wand is swung by hand instead of run under a surface cleaner. Every pass cleans a slightly different amount, and what you are left with is the pattern of somebody’s arm. A proper pass with a surface cleaner takes the whole slab down to the same level and the stripes go with it.
Property protection is the highest priority on every job, ahead of speed.
Siding gets a low pressure soft wash with algaecide, and the solution does the work. Vulnerable siding does not get pressure washed at all — some jobs get turned down instead.
Grass, bushes, flower beds and the surface itself are soaked before any solution is sprayed, and watered again once the wash is finished.
The person who quotes your job is the person holding the wand. Nothing gets handed to a crew who were not standing there when the surface was looked at.
It depends on the material and on what was used. Streaked vinyl is correctable — taking the remaining oxidation off the whole wall evens it back out. Other damage can often be blended so it stops catching your eye. Some cannot be touched at all: etched brick, cut composite and holes punched through siding are permanent, because the surface itself is gone.
Dirt sits on top and comes off with the right solution. Damage is in the surface. Growth is usually even and heaviest where water runs — under the roofline, on the north wall that never sees sun. Damage follows the path of a wand: stripes, arcs, sweeps, or dark streaks where the surface itself has been disturbed. The two can look alike from the driveway, which is why it is worth having someone tell you which one you have before they quote it.
Ask what pressure they plan to use and what tip goes on the wand. A zero-degree tip has no business anywhere near siding, brick or composite decking. Ask whether they water the landscaping before and after. If the answer is vague, keep calling.
Send a photo, or have Brad look at it in person. He will tell you whether it washes off or whether you are looking at damage — before he quotes it, not after.
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