Brick and vinyl are different jobs
Tuscaloosa housing splits roughly in two. Brick ranches and two-stories from the 1950s through the 1980s fill the campus-area streets, Alberta, Forest Lake and the older parts of Northport. Vinyl and Hardie subdivisions went up later along Highway 69 South, in Cottondale and across north Northport. Brick is porous and tough. It will take more pressure than vinyl, but the mortar will not, and a wand held too close to an old joint will dig it out. Brick also holds a cleaning solution longer, so the dwell time is different.
Vinyl is the opposite. It is not porous, so the algae sits on the surface and comes off easily with a mild mix, but the panels overlap, and water driven upward at pressure goes behind them and sits against the sheathing. That is how a wash turns into a mold problem inside the wall. So vinyl gets low pressure, a downward rinse, and a lot of patience. Painted wood and Hardie fall in between: gentle on the paint, careful at the joints.
The north wall, the shade and the pollen
Walk around any house in town and the north wall is the one that has gone green. The sun never dries it, the river and lake humidity keep it damp overnight, and the algae gets a foothold in the dew. Anything under a tree canopy does the same thing. The south-facing front might look fine from the street while the back of the house looks like it has not been washed in a decade.
Pollen stacks on top of that. From March into May the yellow film lands on every horizontal and most verticals, and it does not rinse off in a rain. Spring is our busiest season for exactly that reason. By the time the pollen stops, the house is coated and the algae has had a damp, shaded, food-rich two months to spread.
How we wash a house
We start by wetting the plant beds and lawn along the walls, then we apply a cleaning solution at low pressure, bottom to top so it does not streak. It sits for several minutes while it kills the algae and loosens the mildew. Then we rinse top to bottom at the same low pressure. On brick we may go back over stubborn patches by hand with a brush. On vinyl we rinse downward only. We follow how the low-pressure method works on every wall, including the trim and soffits.
Windows get rinsed, not scrubbed, and they come out clean because the solution dissolves the film. Screens come clean too. Gutter faces and downspouts get the same treatment, and if the gutters are full we can clear them the same morning while the ladder is already up. When we finish we rinse the plants again, roll the hoses and walk the house with you.
What to move before we come
Pull cars out of the carport and off the driveway edge if the walls near them are being washed. Take down wind chimes, hanging baskets and the flag. Close the windows, especially the ones on the second floor that get left cracked in October. Put the grill cover on. If you have a window unit or a vent for a dryer, tell us and we will tape it. Pets stay inside until we rinse the plants.
You do not need to be home. Most of our customers in the subdivisions across the river in Northport and along Highway 69 South send the photo, approve the price and come home to a clean house. Leave the outside spigot on and the gate unlocked, and tell us about the dog.
One more thing worth doing ahead of time: walk the house yourself and look for anything already loose. A cracked pane, a soffit panel hanging by a corner, a piece of trim with rot behind the paint. Low pressure will not break a sound surface, but it will find a failed one, and it is better that you know about it before we do.
Related
Questions we get
Will the cleaner hurt my plants?
We wet them first, keep the solution off them as much as we can, and rinse them again when we are done. Azaleas, boxwoods and hydrangeas along a foundation come through a wash fine with that routine.
How often should a house in Tuscaloosa be washed?
Most houses here look right with a wash every year or two. A heavily shaded house on the north side of a lot, or one close to the river or Lake Tuscaloosa, tends to need it on the shorter end of that.
Do you wash windows?
Windows get rinsed as part of the wall, and the solution takes the film off the glass. We do not do interior glass or a squeegee window job.
Can you wash a house with peeling paint?
We can, at low pressure, but loose paint comes off in a wash whether we want it to or not. We will point that out in the walk-around so it is not a surprise.