House washing in Canfield, Boardman and the Mahoning Valley.

The green film creeping up the north side of your house is algae, and it feeds on the moisture that sits in shaded siding all year in northeast Ohio. Left alone it holds water against the wall, works into the seams, and quietly ages the siding years faster than it should. A house wash is the cheapest maintenance you can buy on a home.

We do not attack it with pressure. High pressure forces water up under lap siding and into window channels, and on older aluminum it will chalk the finish right off. Instead we apply a low pressure mix of sodium hypochlorite and a mild surfactant, let it dwell long enough to kill the organism at the root, then rinse from the top down. The wall comes clean and stays clean longer, because we killed it rather than blasted it.

Landscaping gets rinsed before we start and again when we finish. Windows, doors and light fixtures get worked around, not through. If we find a rotted board, a loose downspout or a failed seal while we are up close, you hear about it, whether or not it is something we can fix.

If your house has not been washed in several years, expect the first wash to take longer than the ones that follow. Heavy buildup needs a second application on the worst walls, and that is included rather than billed as an extra. Once a house is on an annual rhythm, the job gets faster and the result gets better every time.

How often, and what it costs

Most homes in the Valley are on a once a year rhythm. If your house sits under heavy tree cover or faces north into the shade, nine months is closer to right. A home in full sun on an open lot can often stretch to eighteen months.

Price follows square footage, how many stories we are reaching, and how much of the house is siding versus brick. We look at the house, give you one firm number, and that number is what you pay. No hourly meter, no add on at the end for the second story.