4 The Love of ColorPainting · Lakewood Ranch, FLPressure washing
Most of what people call pressure washing should barely use pressure at all. Mildew and algae are living growth, and the way to remove them is a cleaning solution and time to work, not force. Force is what damages the wall.
That distinction matters more here than almost anywhere. Stucco, painted surfaces and screened enclosures are all easy to wreck with a wand held too close, and the damage often does not show until the next time it rains.
What's covered
How it's done
Green is usually algae, black streaking is usually mildew, and chalky white is broken-down paint. They do not come off the same way, and treating them as one problem is why a house is streaked again within months.
The cleaning solution does the work. It needs time on the surface to kill the growth at the root. Skipping the dwell and blasting instead removes what you can see and leaves what brings it back.
Plants get wet down before and rinsed after. Light fixtures, outlets and open vents get covered. Windows and doors get checked shut, because water finds a gap you did not notice.
A driveway takes pressure that would destroy stucco. Painted walls, soffits and screens get low pressure and volume instead. This is the whole job, and it is the part that separates a clean house from an expensive repair.
Working downward and rinsing thoroughly stops the dirty runoff drying into streaks on what you just cleaned.
Common problems
The growth was blasted off rather than treated. What is left regrows from the surface it is still rooted in.
Etching from too much pressure held too long in one place. Concrete records the path of the wand permanently.
Pressure driven under siding, into a failed caulk joint or past a window seal. It is the most expensive mistake in this work and it is entirely avoidable.
Sometimes the pressure. Often the paint was already failing and the wash simply found it, which is worth knowing before you repaint rather than after.
What to expect
Most houses are a single day. Driveways and pavers can usually be done in the same visit. Washing that is prep for a repaint needs drying time built in afterwards before any coating goes on.
You barely notice it beyond the noise. Windows shut on the side we are working, sprinklers off, pets and cars away from the working elevation. You can carry on as normal otherwise.
FAQ
At the right pressure, yes. At the wrong pressure it opens hairline cracks and drives water into the wall. Stucco should be soft washed with a cleaning solution rather than blasted.
Washing is part of an exterior repaint, not an add-on to it. Paint will not bond to a dirty or chalky wall, and skipping it is the single most common reason a repaint fails early.
It depends on shade, tree cover and how close you are to water. North-facing walls and anything under heavy canopy grow back fastest, because they stay damp longest.
Yes, at low pressure. Screens tear easily and the frame does not need force, just the right solution and a proper rinse.
Our promises
You get a clear written quote after the walkthrough, and that is the number you pay. Scope changes only ever happen with your say-so, in writing.
Floors and furniture protected, drips caught, site tidied before we leave — not just on the last day, but every day we're in your home.
We walk the finished job together and fix anything you point out before you settle up. The job isn't done until you say it is.
Sun, humidity, and salt air decide how long a finish lasts here. We specify weather-rated, low-VOC products chosen for the Gulf Coast, not whatever's cheapest.
If the house looks tired rather than genuinely worn, a proper wash sometimes buys you a couple more years before a repaint. We will tell you which of the two you are looking at.
Worth a read before you decide:
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