House washing that leaves the siding on the house

What a house wash covers

All the siding from the foundation to the soffits, the trim, the fascia and the outside of the gutters you can see from the ground. Front porch ceilings and columns are included when they're part of the same surface. Windows get rinsed, not detailed; if you want streak-free glass, that's a separate trade.

• Vinyl and aluminum siding
• Brick, painted brick and stone veneer
• Fiber cement (Hardie) and painted wood lap siding
• Stucco and EIFS, with extra care at the seams
• Soffits, fascia, shutters and porch ceilings

Why low pressure, every time

Vinyl laps overlap from the bottom up. Blast them from below and water goes behind the siding, into the sheathing, where nobody sees it until the paint peels inside. High pressure also scars painted wood and can crack the seals on double-pane windows. So siding gets a soft wash: a mixed cleaning solution, based on sodium hypochlorite and a surfactant to make it cling, put on at low pressure and allowed a few minutes to kill what's growing. Then a gentle rinse from the top down.

The order of the day

1. Walk around, note loose siding, open vents, outdoor outlets and anything fragile.
2. Wet the shrubs and flower beds; cover the ones that sit right against the wall.
3. Apply the solution one side at a time, never on a hot wall in full sun.
4. Rinse top to bottom, then rinse the plants again.
5. Walk every side with you, or send you photos if you're at work.

Selling soon? Book the wash a week or two before the listing photos. A clean north wall makes a bigger difference in pictures than people expect.

Want the numbers first? See what house washing costs and how often it's worth doing.