"Power washing" gets used for everything, but there are really two different jobs, and choosing the wrong one is how siding gets cracked, wood gets gouged and water ends up inside walls.
Pressure washing uses a high-pressure stream — often with hot water — to physically blast dirt, oil, gum and grime off a surface. It's the right tool for hard, durable materials: concrete driveways and sidewalks, brick, stone, pavers, parking garage floors and dumpster pads. On those surfaces the pressure does the cleaning, and a surface cleaner keeps the result even with no stripes.
Soft washing uses low pressure — about what a garden hose puts out — with a cleaning solution that does the work instead. The solution breaks down dirt and kills mildew, algae and moss at the root, and then it's rinsed gently away. It's the right method for vinyl siding, stucco, painted wood, older brick with soft mortar, and anything where high pressure could crack, strip or force water where it shouldn't go.
Because a soft wash kills the growth rather than just knocking the surface layer off, the house usually stays clean longer, too. Blasting green algae off siding with pressure often leaves the roots behind, and it's back within a season.
Wood decks and fences sit in between. Wood is soft, and a narrow, high-pressure tip will fur the grain and leave lines you can see after it's stained. We wash wood at low pressure with a wood cleaner and brightener, which takes off the grey, weathered fibres without damaging what's underneath — the right prep for sealing.
On most properties we end up using both: a soft wash for the house, pressure for the driveway and walks, and a wood-safe wash for the deck. If you'd like us to look at yours, call (312) 869-4688 for a free estimate.