Pressure washing questions, answered

No, and nobody should. Pressure strips the granules off asphalt shingles, and the granules are what carry the UV protection. The black streaks are algae. They come off with a soft wash at about garden-hose pressure, and the roof keeps its life.

Usually two to four years here, depending on shade and trees. North faces come back first.

We wet the beds and turf before, keep them wet and rinse after. Keep pets inside while we work and until the surfaces have been rinsed.

It depends on the surface, which is the point. Concrete takes 3,000 psi or more through a surface cleaner. Wood wants 500 to 1,200, with the grain. Stucco and siding get soap under 500. A roof is soft washed. Your wash card says which was used where.

That’s oxidation, not dirt. It rinses off wet and reappears dry, which is why some houses look worse after a cheap wash. We do a test panel and you look at it dry before agreeing anything. Sometimes the honest answer is paint.

Once a year for most homes here. Shady lots and homes near the water may want it every nine months.

Because it was cleaned with a wand. A wand cleans a narrow fan at whatever distance somebody holds it, so the pass is only as even as their wrist. A surface cleaner holds two jets at a fixed height. Stripes can usually be evened out, and we’ll tell you honestly if they can’t.

That’s iron, usually from irrigation on well water, and it sits inside the concrete. Pressure removes concrete, not rust. It takes the right acid and some dwell time, and if a sprinkler head is throwing onto the drive it will be back in a month. We’ll point at the head.

Only if you want to, and only when they’re properly dry. Sealer over damp pavers goes cloudy. We put wet look and matte on a test patch so you can choose in daylight.

Not when it’s done properly. Beds and turf below the run-off are wet down before, kept wet during and rinsed after. Anyone who says no protection is needed is telling you something about their mix.

No. We need an outside tap, the cars off the drive and the windows shut. The photos and the wash card tell you everything.

Rain during a soft wash is fine. Rain before the solution has worked means we come back, and it isn’t billed twice.

It depends on the surfaces and their condition, so every job gets a free written estimate. Our first-visit offer is a house wash and driveway together for $189 on single-story homes up to about 2,000 square feet.

A photo helps us see what we’re dealing with, but the price comes after somebody has looked at the surfaces in person.

Yes, scheduled outside trading hours, with water reclaim where the site or the city requires it. Insurance certificates go on file before the first visit.