Firehouse SoftWash bundles your whole home exterior into a single low-pressure soft-wash appointment. Our EPA Safer Choice chemistry removes years of algae, mildew and grime at the root, so results typically last 6× longer than a pressure wash — and your landscaping, shingles, and window seals stay exactly where they should.
A typical full-home bundle — one crew, one visit, one quote.
A consumer-grade pressure washer delivers 2,500–4,000 PSI from a nozzle that close to your home. That force strips shingle granules, voids roof warranties, blows water behind siding seams, and chews up the lignin in deck boards. Soft-washing replaces force with chemistry: a low-pressure pump (under 500 PSI, often under 100 PSI at the tip) applies a biodegradable detergent that kills the organism causing the stain. The rinse is gentle. The result is what the eye sees — but the surface is untouched.
Most Carolinas homeowners book a full exterior wash — every soft-washable surface on the property in a single appointment. Here's what typically shows up in your photo-based quote.
The most common reason we get called. Soft-wash chemistry removes the black streaks, green mildew, and pollen staining without driving water behind the seams. Safe on every siding material we encounter in the Carolinas.
Why not pressure: even 1,500 PSI will loosen J-channel and void most siding warranties.We clean the outside face of the gutters, the downspouts, the fascia, and the soffit panels. Tiger striping — the orange/brown vertical lines — comes off without being scrubbed, and we rinse the drip edge so the first row of shingles looks clean against the gutter.
Why not pressure: pressure ladders + spray against fascia = water in the attic.Flat surface cleaner at low pressure lifts the black algae film and the rust without etching the cream layer off the slab. We can include the garage apron, the front walk, and the back patio in the same visit.
Surface cleaner (not a wand) keeps the pressure even — no zebra striping.Wood gets a sodium-percarbonate-based wash that pulls the gray out and brightens the grain without raising the fibers. Painted or stained surfaces get a gentler mix. We can brighten the wood in the same trip if it's part of the bundle.
Why not pressure: any PSI over ~500 etches softwood and fuzzes the grain.Roofs are usually quoted separately because they get a different chemistry mix and a 24-month no-regrowth warranty — see Roof Soft-Wash.
We hear the question on every quote call: "Is this going to hurt my dogs, my toddler, or my azaleas?" The honest answer is: the mix we put on your siding is EPA Safer Choice certified, and our field protocol is built around making sure nothing on the ground is exposed for a second longer than it needs to be.
Pet-safe once the surface is dry — typically 20–40 minutes after the final rinse. We'll text you when it's clear.
"We got three quotes. The other two wanted to pressure-wash the siding at 'really low pressure, we promise.' Captain Redding's crew came out, took photos of every elevation, and walked us through why soft-wash chemistry was the only thing that would actually kill the algae. They were here for five hours, pre-rinsed every boxwood, and the siding looked like new construction when they were done. The dogs were back in the yard the same afternoon."
