An older Halifax peninsula home being soft washed, algae stained wood siding under mature trees
Pressure washing · Halifax

Pressure washing in Halifax

We have been washing houses and buildings on this side of the harbour since 1997. Halifax has the oldest and most varied housing stock in the province, and it does not all want the same treatment.

Old wood, new vinyl, and everything between

Halifax is not one kind of house. The peninsula has century homes in wood clapboard and shingle, where the wrong pressure will tear into soft old boards and drive water into places it will sit for weeks. Out through the newer subdivisions it is mostly vinyl, which handles a wash easily but shows every streak if it is done badly.

That is why we read the surface before we pick the pressure. A soft wash on old wood and a proper wash on vinyl are two different jobs, and the person doing them should know which one they are on.

Fog, trees and the north wall

Halifax sits in damp coastal air with a lot of overcast, and the mature tree cover through the older neighbourhoods means large parts of a house may never get direct sun. Those two things together are exactly what algae wants.

So the green almost always starts on the north wall and under the trees, and it usually gets a long way along before anyone standing at the front door notices. If you want to know whether your house is due, go look at the shaded side.

Older buildings need a lighter hand

A lot of Halifax housing predates the material most companies are used to working on. Old wood is softer and more absorbent than vinyl, lime mortar is softer than modern mortar, and painted surfaces on a century home are often several coats deep with the oldest ones letting go underneath.

None of that responds well to somebody arriving and opening the trigger. The right answer is lower pressure, the right product and enough dwell time for the growth to release on its own. It takes longer and it is the only version of this job that does not cost you a repaint.

On the books

What we get called for on the peninsula

Every part of the HRM sends us a slightly different job. This is what the phone actually rings about in Halifax.

  • Painted wood clapboard and cedar shingle that has gone grey and green on the shaded side
  • Dormers, bays and third storey walls that nobody can reach from a ladder safely
  • Brick and stone on older properties, where the mortar matters as much as the face
  • Rear walls in tight lanes with a neighbour's building a metre away
  • Whole exteriors booked ahead of a paint job, because paint will not hold otherwise
In Halifax

What we do at houses here

Residential work is HRM only, and Halifax is well inside it.

Commercial work is a bigger map

Everything above is residential. Our fleet washing, heavy equipment and building work is not limited to the HRM at all, that runs across the whole province. If you have a yard, a fleet or a building in Halifax or anywhere else in Nova Scotia, see commercial pressure washing.

Other places we work

Straight answers

Questions about Halifax

Do you do house washing in Halifax?
Yes. Halifax is inside the HRM and our residential work covers the whole municipality, so house washing, siding, decks and fences are all things we do here.
Can you wash an older wood sided home?
Yes, and it needs a softer approach than vinyl. Old wood is soft and absorbent, so the answer is lower pressure and the right cleaning product rather than force.
Do you take commercial work in Halifax?
Yes. Commercial and industrial washing is province wide for us, so buildings, fleets and equipment in Halifax are all in range, along with anywhere else in Nova Scotia.
Can you reach a third storey wall?
Usually yes, and how we do it depends on the building and the access. Tell us the height and what the sides look like and we will tell you honestly what we can and cannot do from the ground.
Do you wash brick and stone?
Yes, and older masonry needs more care than people expect. Mortar on a century building is softer than modern mortar and too much pressure will take it out of the joints.

Something in Halifax needs washing?

Tell us what it is and where it is. We will get you a straight number, no runaround.