Power Washing in Harrison Township, Michigan

Where the Clinton River Meets the Lake

Harrison Township wraps the mouth of the Clinton River where it opens into Lake St. Clair, and the marina row along S River Rd, Boat Town Marina among them, sets the rhythm of the place. Boats go in during spring and come out in fall, and the driveways in between hold trailers as often as cars. Our crews have washed boats, trailers and docks here since the company's first season, and the drive from our Clinton Township shop on Hall Rd takes about 15 minutes, so a Harrison job is often the second stop of a morning.

The housing came in three waves. Lakeside has been a named community on the shore since about 1900, and the water's edge still carries its early cottages and lake homes. The postwar boom did most of the building: once I-94 made the commute easy, farmland west of Jefferson Ave turned into brick and aluminum-trimmed ranches through the 1950s and 1960s, while the canal plats took shape and Belle Maer Harbor and Lambrecht Marina opened in the same decades. The 1980s and 1990s added vinyl subdivisions and the brick-front condominium buildings along Jefferson and the river, with infill on the open lots since.

Water writes the maintenance calendar. Most homes sit within a block of open water, east winds carry lake spray onto the shore streets, and the still air over the canals holds humidity and morning fog long after an inland wall has dried. Growth needs wet hours, so canal-facing siding greens in about half the time it takes west of Jefferson, and the June fish-fly hatch leaves a residue that feeds the next round. Inland, the canopy planted with the 1950s subdivisions now shades north walls all morning, and the streets nearest I-94 pick up a gray salt film every winter.

From the Lake St. Clair Metropark entrance at Jefferson and Metro Parkway to Selfridge Air National Guard Base at the north end, every street here is in L'Anse Creuse Public Schools and every one is on our route. The eight pages below are written for this shoreline: mild chemistry for the 1950s brick, soft washing that kills algae at the root on the canal homes, wood-safe cleaning for docks and decks, and sealing for concrete that sits low and wet. Travel fees are zero, we carry $2 million in general liability plus workers' compensation, and a written line-item quote reaches you within 24 hours.

Canal Lots, Inland Ranches and the River Condos

Canal and river lots put the seawall, the dock and the boat well at the back of the house, and the house weathers in bands from the water up. The seawall cap and the lowest siding courses take wake splash and stay damp, the wall above lives in canal humidity, and the dock hardware bleeds rust down whatever sits beneath it. Each band gets its own chemistry: masonry care low, soft wash in the middle, oxidation treatment on the rust, and never enough pressure to open a mortar joint beside live water.

The inland streets west of Jefferson are the 1950s and 1960s brick ranches with aluminum trim, on standard subdivision lots where the second driveway holds a trailer. Their canopy is sixty years old now, so north walls stay shaded all morning and gutters fill every fall. Brick from that era takes a mild mix at garden-hose pressure so the original mortar stays where it is, the aluminum trim carries chalk that needs a pre-treatment, and the trailer pad is usually the dirtiest concrete on the lot.

The condominium buildings along Jefferson and the river are vinyl and brick-front, built in the 1980s and 1990s, and many of them work through an association, as do some of the newer canal plats. Association work runs on a rotation: buildings in order, shared walks and entries on the shortest cycle, notices to residents ahead of the truck, and dated photos for the board. Lake-facing glass on those buildings spots with minerals as spray dries, and that spotting comes off with the wash.