Soft Washing in St. Augustine, FL

What soft washing is

Soft wash cleaning is a method more than a single service. Instead of using pressure to knock growth off a surface, it uses a cleaning solution to kill the algae, mildew and mold, gives the solution time to work, then rinses everything away at low pressure.

Pressure washing still has its place. Concrete and pavers can take it, and a surface cleaner gets them even. Paint, stucco, screens and roofs can't, and that's where soft washing comes in.

What gets soft washed

Anything painted, porous or easy to tear gets a soft wash instead of pressure:

• Stucco walls, which are porous and etch under high pressure
• Vinyl and fiber cement siding, and the trim around it
• Soffits and fascia, where mildew collects under the overhangs
• Painted brick and block walls
• Roofs, where high pressure strips the granules off shingles
• Screen enclosures and pool cages, where pressure tears the mesh
• Vinyl fences and privacy walls

What high pressure does to a house

Too much pressure doesn't only clean a surface, it wears it down. On stucco it etches the finish and leaves wand marks. On paint it lifts the edges. On siding it can push water up behind the panels, and on screens it tears mesh that costs more to replace than the cleaning did.

It also tends to leave the roots of the growth behind, so the green comes back faster. A soft wash kills the growth where it lives, which is why a soft-washed surface stays clean longer than one that was only blasted.

Why Northeast Florida homes need it

Heat, humidity, afternoon storms and morning sprinklers keep the shaded side of almost every house damp, and damp is all algae and mildew need. North-facing walls, the soffits over a lanai and anything under a big oak go first.

Growth here also changes color as it settles in, from a green tint to orange and then black, and black usually means mold that takes a stronger mix. The house washing page covers what each color means for the walls of your home.

Soffits, eaves and the hard-to-reach spots

Mildew loves the undersides of overhangs because the sun never reaches them. Soffits, fascia and second-story eaves get the same low-pressure treatment as the walls, so the whole house matches when it's done instead of clean walls under a dingy roofline.

Stephanie Marquardt said the hard to reach and trouble spots came out looking great. If the gutters need it too, gutter cleaning can be done on the same visit.

Roofs and screen enclosures

The two places soft washing matters most are the ones that cost the most to fix. On a roof, a pressure washer strips the granules that protect the shingles. John Beyer had his roof and two sides of his home soft washed, and the roof cleaning page covers how roofs are done.

On a pool cage, pressure tears the screen. Angela Chapman had the outside of her home and her pool cage cleaned together, and the pool deck cleaning page covers enclosures and the deck under them.

What affects your price

Soft washing a home starts at $300 for one story and $400 for two. Every job has a $225 minimum.

Every soft wash is quoted on its own because no two properties are the same. These are the things that move the number:

The fastest way to a quote: text a photo of each area you want cleaned to (904) 412-8080.

• What's being washed: walls, roof, soffits, screens or fencing
• Size of the home and number of stories
• How heavy the growth is, and whether it has turned black
• Rust or other stains that need spot treatment
• Access: landscaping, pool enclosures and tight side yards
• Other work on the same visit, like the driveway or gutters