Roofing & Exterior
The Step Everybody Skips Is the One That Decides Everything
Soft-wash and pressure cleaning that removes mildew, moss, chalk, and dirt — as its own job before any stain or paint, because a coating is only as good as the surface under it.
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Signs to watch
Is this you?
Green and black film on shaded walls
North sides and tree-shaded walls grow mildew and algae in this climate. It's biological and it's alive — painting or staining over it just seals live growth under the coat, where it bleeds back through.
Chalky residue that rubs off on your hand
Old exterior paint breaks down into a chalky powder. A fresh coat won't bond to it — it bonds to the chalk, which then lets go. That surface has to be washed clean before anything new goes on.
Moss and debris on decks, walks, and roofs
Moss holds water against wood and shingles and makes walking surfaces slick. Getting it off is both a maintenance and a safety issue — but how you get it off matters as much as that you do.
About to paint or stain and want it to last
The single most-skipped step before a coating is a real wash. If someone's ready to spray paint over dirty, mildewed siding to save a day, they're setting the coat up to fail — and you're paying for it twice.
Your options
Soft-wash where it belongs, pressure where it's safe
Not every surface wants the same pressure. Siding, stucco, and roofs get soft-washed — low pressure plus cleaning solution that kills mildew, moss, and algae at the root instead of blasting the surface apart. Concrete, pavers, and some hardscape can take real pressure and come back looking new. High pressure on siding, cedar, or shingles does damage that shows up later: driven-in water, torn wood fiber, stripped granules. We match the method to the material, and we treat the wash as its own service — the prep that decides whether the next coat holds.
The method
How we do it
- 01
Read the surface
We look at what's on there — mildew, moss, chalk, dirt — and what it's made of, then pick soft-wash or pressure so we clean it without harming it.
- 02
Treat, wash, and rinse
Apply the cleaning solution, let it kill the biological growth rather than just spraying it wet, then wash and rinse so the surface comes out clean and sound, not just briefly wet.
- 03
Let it dry before anything else touches it
If a coating follows, the surface has to dry to the right moisture first. We build that drying time into the schedule instead of pretending a PNW wall is ready the same afternoon.
Straight numbers
What a proper wash comes down to
Cost tracks the size of the surface, how heavy the growth and chalk are, access and height, and the mix of soft-wash versus pressurable surfaces. A light maintenance wash is a small number; a house that's been growing mildew for years and feeds a paint job takes more solution and more time. When a wash is prep for a coating we're already doing, the mobilization is shared — it doesn't get billed twice.
Where we do this work
Pressure Washing & Surface Prep: straight answers
Isn't pressure washing just pressure washing?
No — and treating it that way wrecks surfaces. Siding, cedar, stucco, and roofs need soft-wash: low pressure and a cleaning solution that kills mildew and moss chemically. High pressure on those drives water behind the surface and tears up the material. Concrete and hardscape can take real pressure. Matching the method to the surface is the whole skill.
Why can't you just paint over the dirt to save time?
Because paint bonds to what it touches — and if that's dirt, chalk, or live mildew, it bonds to those and lets go with them. A wash is the most-skipped step before painting and the most common reason a coat fails early. We won't put good product on a surface we didn't clean first.
Will the mildew and moss just come back?
A proper soft-wash kills the growth at the root instead of just rinsing it off, so it comes back slower than a quick spray-down. In our climate nothing keeps a north wall clean forever, but a real treatment buys real time — and where it makes sense we'll talk about prevention rather than just repeating the wash.
Do I need to wait before painting after a wash?
Yes. The surface has to dry to a coatable moisture level, and in the PNW that can take longer than people expect after a damp stretch. Coating a wall that's still holding water is how paint blisters its first season. We build the drying time into the plan rather than rushing the topcoat to hit a date.
Get the pressure washing & surface prep conversation started.
Free 20-minute inspection. Photo report you keep either way. Zero pressure.