I have a customer wanting something like this cleaned. There are dirt daubers and wasps nest under it and on the beams. The ceiling is finished wood. My concern is water getting in behind the wood panels and warping or the house wash mix affecting the stain or coloring of the wood. Any ideas? There’s four of them and it’s a muti-million dollar home.
I did one that flashed black. No idea why. Bead board ceiling with poly on it
Wow. My guess is this some expensive wood with stain based on the fact the massive deck under it is IPE wood. I am wary of messing it up.
Do I have to say it?
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Say it!!!
No, I am already leaning that way.
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Just spray it without bleach, use soap and warm water…or walk away and loose money.
This is a no brainer
New Trex deck underneath it. Easy to do. Drape walls with thin mil painters plastic, use the same plastic on all decking etc. They use canvas tarps (DON’T use blue plastic tarps) to pick up any dripping or over spray. Use one of the new low pressure spray tips on the Graco. Easy Day!
You only need water and a brush to clean dirt dauber nest, no SH required. Really no soap either, just water
I don’t have hot water machines and I have found cold water alone ineffective to remove spider webs which I didn’t mention but goes without saying. Another issue with brushes is the fact that one of the overhangs is 30 feet high which puts brushes out of reach without ladders.
That looks great but I’m not refinishing anything, only asked to clean it.
Haven’t got a WFP?
At any rate, I’d probably lean with everyone else: walk away. But it’s still a frustrating feeling, sometimes 
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I have a 30’ pole but I have found that using it at an almost vertical angle means no real force being applied at the head, and working it off a ladder is even more difficult.
I understand but it’s the same process to protect the IPE decking from any cleaning chemicals you might decide to use.
Woukd I have to cover the IPE wood?
That’s tough to walk away from, if you don’t want to lose the customer you could cobweb dust it all, then get on an A frame ladder and wipe it down with a damp rag. Pricing accordingly.
IPE is very hard and tight grained so it is not as susceptible to chems as other many other types of wood but it is also very expensive so I would make sure I had everything covered if your using anything but soap. I’m paranoid about stuff like that so I always err on the side of caution.
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