You can tell whether your home needs soft washing with a slow walk around it and a phone camera. This guide gives you a route with eight stops, a way to sort what you find into act now, book this season or keep watching, and a list of look-alikes that a wash will not fix.
In This Article
Before you start: light, tools and timing
Inspect in low, slanting light, early in the morning or an hour before sunset. It shows texture, film and colour that midday glare hides. Carry a phone for photos, a pair of binoculars for the roof and a damp white cloth for rubbing small spots. Do it once dry weather has returned after rain, since wet walls look darker and mask what is there. Keep both feet on the ground: binoculars are for the roof, ladders are not part of this job.
Take each photo from the same spot each time, with a fixed reference such as a window in the frame, so next year's picture compares cleanly.
The eight-stop walk-around
- The shadiest wall, at eye level and below. Look for a green tint, a slimy sheen or dark patches. Compare it with the sunniest wall.
- Under the eaves and on the soffits. Dark speckling here is often mould, because rain never rinses these surfaces.
- Window sills, frames and caulk lines. Growth collects where water sits and dust settles.
- The base of the walls and the garage door. Splashback leaves green film and grey grime near the ground.
- The roof, through binoculars. Vertical dark streaks, tufts of moss or flat crusty rosettes of lichen all show up from a distance.
- Eavestrough faces and downspout outlets. Dark stripes on the trough and a fan of staining at splash height reveal where roof runoff lands.
- Steps, decks and fence rails. Slick green patches are a slip risk as well as an eyesore.
- The back of the house. It is the wall you see least and often the one that has gone furthest.
Walk the route in the same order every time so your photo log lines up. Note which stops surprised you. The soffits and the back wall are the places people tend to look at least, so they are also where growth gets a head start.
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Sort what you found by urgency
Act soon
- Lichen or moss on the roof or masonry, since both hold moisture and are harder to clear the longer they stay.
- Growth working into caulk lines, or dark patches on painted wood beside soft or flaking areas.
- Slick growth on steps or walkways.
Book this season
- A green film across most of a wall.
- Dark speckles spreading over soffits and trim.
- Streaks on the roof that are getting longer each year.
Keep watching
- A faint tint on one shaded wall.
- A few dark specks on trim.
Photograph each finding with the date, and look again in a couple of months, using the same angle.
How urgent is "right now"?
For most homes, nothing fails this week. Algae on vinyl is mainly a looks issue, and waiting a month costs little. Urgency rises in three situations. Growth on surfaces people walk on is a slip hazard. Growth on porous or painted materials keeps them damp, which can affect the finish over time. And lichen and moss get harder to remove the longer they stay.
If none of those apply, you can choose your timing and pick a stretch of mild, dry weather that suits the job.
Look-alikes a wash will not fix
- White, powdery patches on brick: mineral salts, not growth.
- Chalky vinyl or faded paint: sun-aged surface.
- Orange or brown trails from nails and metal: rust.
- Peeling paint over dark, soft wood: moisture damage that needs repair first.
The damp cloth helps. Growth smears, dirt wipes off and powder rubs away. If you need help telling them apart, read what is causing algae and black streaks on Kitchener homes.
What to do with your findings
- Send your photos with a description of the materials to a contractor for a written quote.
- Keep the photos. They help a contractor scope the job and give you a baseline for next year.
- Fix any moisture source you spotted, such as an overflowing eavestrough or a sprinkler hitting a wall.
- Decide whether to treat now or after leaf drop, using our note on soft washing frequency and siding material.
If you would rather have a crew look, D&D offers a free written quote for soft washing, from $350 for typical Kitchener-Waterloo homes.
Key Takeaways
- Inspect in low, slanting light and carry a phone, binoculars and a damp white cloth to sort growth from dirt and powder.
- Walk eight stops: shady wall, soffits, sills and caulk, base of walls, roof, eavestrough faces, steps and decks, and the back of the house.
- Lichen, moss, growth in caulk lines and slick walkways need attention soon, while a faint tint on one wall can simply be watched.
- White salts, chalky vinyl, rust and rotting paint look like growth but need different fixes.
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