Soft Washing in Ira Township

On Long Island Court, homes back onto a seawalled canal with boat wells, and along the shore many platted lots leave only a few feet between houses. A wall that faces the house next door sees sun for part of the day at most, and dew on it can last into late morning. In the Swan Island plat, which touches Swan Creek, low ground near the water dries slowly after rain. Green algae shows first on walls like these, usually low and under the eaves, and black mildew follows in the corners that see the least sun. On a lake-side home, the street wall facing north-northeast is usually the next to turn.

Take the street wall of a home between Dixie Hwy and the bay. From fall into spring it gets little direct sun, so dew sits on it for hours, and algae settles into the grain and the lap seams under a coat of M-⁠29 road film. Algae has no roots to dig out. A wand peels the visible layer, the cells left in the grain grow back, and the green outline returns within a season or two. Soft washing instead uses a diluted bleach mix with a wetting agent, sprayed from a low-pressure line, left until the growth dies and rinsed at about garden-hose pressure. On that north-northeast wall it typically holds two to three years, and the bay wall, drying in afternoon sun, usually holds longer.

Inland homes see the same growth for other reasons. The township has a number of marshes along the lake and its creeks, and a house beside one of those wet spots has damp ground under its lowest courses. Shrubs planted tight to the foundation keep the lowest courses wet too. The strength is set to the growth on each wall rather than one mix for the house. Our article on why lake homes grow mildew faster explains the moisture side.

Why Blasted Algae Returns by Summer

The usual mistake is treating algae as dirt. A pressure washer blasts the green off the face of the siding, the cells left in the grain regrow it by the next summer, and the force drives water behind the laps and around window frames. The opposite mistake is a mix that is too strong with no plant soak, which browns shrubs and grass. On a lot under 50 feet wide, that strong mix can drift onto the neighbor's beds, and on a seawall lot it runs off into the canal.

When to Book Soft Washing in Ira Township

Soft washing works from late spring to mid-fall, while nights stay above freezing and the walls are dry enough for the solution to hold where it is applied. Shoreline homes do best after the June fish fly hatch, which lasts a couple of weeks, so the walls are not coated again within days. Inland homes near the woods can book any time in that window, and a wash before leaf drop clears the growth before a wet fall and winter.