I was washing a house yesterday and talked to some of the family members that were there visiting from all over the U.S… The one lady told me that she has lived in Alabama for almost 40 years now and that she could have her house washed twice a year from all the algea that they get. Said it isn’t uncommon to see green houses. I’ve seen some people’s posts showing more algea on a house then I have ever seen, but I figured it was years and years of neglect.
Just curious, is this common or does she live in a misty and dark valley?
I pick up new clients that have just moved into the area here and that are thrilled my completed Wash for them. They then let me know that they’ll be calling me in about 6 months because they are used to washing their home about twice a year. I tell them that I’ll **GLADLY ** come and do it all over again in six months for them, but that it likely won’t need it for a year or two. I equate house washes to car washes - you have some folks who buy the unlimited car wash pass and then others who say that hard rain last night probably took care of it.
Around me, lots of people have their houses just pressure washed. Those houses get bad again the next year, sometime sooner. Pressure washing with straight water doesn’t kill the algae, and if anything forces water behind the vinyl and essentially is watering the algae spores hiding in the lips of the siding. I’ve seen and talked with many home owners that said the algae came back worse than before.
This is why we use SH and soft wash to kill it. I’ve never had a house need it again any sooner than 2-3 years.
It’s funny, I have seen the green monsters posted on here many times, but have never seen anything like it. This pic is probably a good example of what bad algea looks like where I live. It is almost always starting at the bottom of the siding (as you can see in the left side of the pic). I normally spray upwards on the bottom two pieces using a wide fan pattern to kind of mist it to make sure the chems get under the lips down low. Otherwise, the 90 degree spraying action doesn’t seem to get under it, and sometimes the chems sliding down the siding don’t get it. Normally I like to step way back and get it with a stream, but you can’t always step back to get it. In this pic if I would have taken 1 step I would have hit the 4’ high railroad tie retaining wall.
