House washing in St. Petersburg
Stucco and siding cleaned with soap and low pressure, top down, rinsed clean.
Sound familiar?
Is this your house?
Green or black on the north wall
Mildew and algae where the sun never dries it. Soap kills it; pressure only moves it.
Red dust splashed up the stucco
Soil and mulch thrown up by rain along the bottom of the wall.
Streaks after the last wash
Soap left to dry in the sun, or a rinse from the bottom up.
On the job
What a house wash looks like
A wide spray at low pressure, working down the wall. The soap does the cleaning; the water only carries it off.
- Soap on, from the bottom up
- Rinsed from the top down
- Nothing aimed up under the siding
How we do it
A house wash, in order
Walk round first
Loose siding, cracked stucco and failing seals are photographed before anything is switched on.
Beds, fixtures and vents
Plants wet down, lights and outlets avoided, windows shut.
Soap on, low pressure
Applied bottom up so it doesn’t streak, and given time to work.
Rinsed top down
So nothing dries with soap in it. The card lists the pressure used.
What it costs
What decides the price of a house wash
Every job is priced on a written estimate after somebody has looked at the surfaces. These are the things that move the number.
The size of the house
Square footage, and whether it’s one story or two.
What the walls are
Stucco, vinyl, Hardie or painted wood each take a different mix.
How much growth
A light film washes off. Heavy mildew on the north side takes a second pass.
The details
For the people who want every step
Under the lap, into the wall
Vinyl siding laps downwards for a reason. A wand aimed upward at 2,000 psi pushes water up under the lap and into the sheathing, where it does nothing visible for two years and then does something expensive.
Chalky siding is a different job
Older vinyl and painted surfaces oxidize into a chalky film. Washing it makes it look better wet and streaky dry. It needs a different chemistry and, sometimes, the honest answer that it needs painting rather than washing.
Windows, screens and light fittings
Screens come off or get covered, fittings and vents are avoided, and the whole elevation is rinsed top-down so nothing dries with soap in it. Spotting on the glass afterwards is not the weather; it is somebody who rinsed in the sun.
At a glance
PressureUnder 500 psiRinseTop downBehind the lapKept dryQuestions
What people ask us about this
Can pressure washing damage stucco?
Yes. High pressure can etch it and push water into hairline cracks. That’s why we soft wash stucco with soap under 500 psi.
Do you clean the windows too?
The glass gets rinsed with the walls so it doesn’t spot, but it isn’t a window-cleaning service. We’ll say so up front.
How often should a house be washed here?
Once a year keeps most Florida homes looking right. Shady lots and homes near the water may want it every nine months.
Get a straight answer about your house.
Tell us which surfaces and what they look like. We’ll tell you the method and the pressure before anyone quotes you a price.
Other work