Stucco homes and pressure washing
 

I know vinyl sided patio villas have to be pressure washing every six months or so. Do block and stucco homes have to be pressured washed every six months as well?

Short answer: yes. Not necessarily every six months but as needed. Beware of too much pressure. It can damaged the siding, stucco and vinyl, and can break the seal between double pane glazing. I have owned both and only used the house pressure straight from the sill cock.
High pressure is ok as long as the nozzle is kept well away from the surface.
Hope this helps.

why is the pressure washing of the outside of one's home so popular here?

I don't think I know of anybody who ever had it done up North.

I can speculate here about the climate and many other things but prefer not to do that.

I had ours done onece in the last 10 years and see little evidence of it needing to be done.

I do my own pressure washing of the pool decks, bird cage and walls facing the pool once and sometimes twice per year.

I do acknowledge there is more dirt and dust in the air here and on the outdoor furniture than any place we have evr lived.

Just curious.

Its not so much the stucco you are cleaning but the gutters and the aluminum braces holding the bird cage. Dirt and mildew can easily accumulate in these locations. The stucco is barely washed down....but when completed is definintely does look better.

Thank you. It is definitely wetter here than anywhere else we have lived including the beach. Maybe that's the reason.

I have mine done every year which isn't really often enough because I get a build-up of green algie. It seems like it only appears on the north side of my house and my neighbors.

I've wondered the same thing. When we were looking for homes down here, I got hold of a copy of the deed restrictions for Spruce Creek South & Spruce Creek Golf Club and they actually REQUIRE you to have it done once every 2 years and provide proof of the work being done to their HOA!

I've rinsed down some spots on our home with the hose, but I see no reason to have the place pressure washed on a regular basis.

Because the north facing sides do not get enough direct sun / UV to keep the green mold under control.

I'm new down here but this is what I've been told. My son lives in Houston, they have to pressure wash once-twice a year as well. High heat + High humidity, mostly northern exposed areas that don't get enough sunlight to dry off. Trees and stubs planted close to walls or homes also block the sunlight and add to the problem.

Try a product called "Spray and Forget" look it up on the web. prevents the green algie for up to two years, also prevents the dark spots on roofs a common problem up north.

We do our stucco once a year, and they get the rain stains off of the gutters and other white aluminum surfaces up by the roof (don't know what that stuff is called). It's so inexpensive I would rather have someone do it than my husband and a hose or having to rent a pressure washer.

There are spots where bushes are close to or touching the stucco that get black spots (mold?) that comes off when they wash. They use a mild bleach solution that doesn't damage the plants.

We've been told to do stucco once a year.

it is called .... fascia (face-sha)

Thanks. I get that and soffit mixed up.

From Websters:

a horizontal piece (as a board) covering the joint between the top of a wall and the projecting eaves —called also fascia board

sof•fit
noun \ˈsä-fət\
: the underside of a part or member of a building (as of an overhang or staircase)


Sounds like the fascia is only a board at the wall intersection and the soffit is the entire underside of the overhang.

Easy to be confused.

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"Wet and Forget" is the brand. Looks like blue Windex window cleaner - you dilute it with water and spray it on the surface and let it dry. No bleach - it has benzalkonium chloride to disinfect the surface and keep mold and algae from growing. Won't harm plants or bushes. If you already have mold or algae, it will take a few rainstorms to wash it off over a period of a few weeks. It will not work "instantly" like bleach.

I had to power wash the vinyl siding on my house in New Jersey at least once a year to get the green algae off of one side.

I do it twice a year here. I usually walk around the house when the time is near to see if there is any stuff starting to grow. There is always something starting to grow so I call the pressure washing guy.

Z

Wonder why vinyl siding is every 6 months and stucco every 12 months?

(never power washed or painted our stucco houses in Northern CA either - original stucco installations had three coats of stucco, third coat was a color coat that usually looked good around 25 years or more)

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When we move to TV we want as low maintenance as possible, so what is lower maintenance stucco or siding, and pros and cons of both. TY in advance for your responses.

I have my own pressure cleaner but have it done because I can't reach up high and don't have the power that they have. The price is very reasonable and after they are done it's amazing how better it looks.
I'm always suprised that some move over a thousand miles away and can't understand why things are not the same as where they came from.

We have never had a stucco home. What other types of maintenance are needed? I would guess there is periodic painting? How often would painting or recoating be needed in FL.

Steve
Indianapolis, IN

Depends on how much you want to spend on each gallon of paint.

Many say that Sherwin Williams is the best but there are many types of Sherwin Williams exterior paint - as with other manufacturers.

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Vinyl siding will only need pressure washing. Period. Stucco will require re painting every 5-10 yrs. Stucco also can crack from settling and may need repair whereas vinyl is more flexible and forgiving.
Vinyl is less expensive to build. There are pros and cons to each. It boils done to personal preference. But the stucco will have more maintainence over the lifetime of the home.

If you use your grille too close to vinyl, it will warp it. Don't ask how I know. We have a stucco house here.

Stucco homes or CBS (cement block stucco) is all I've ever known in Florida since moving here in 1953 until moving 4 years ago to The Villages. I now have a frame vinyl siding home. Maintance is easier since it doesn't need painting, only pressure cleaning once a year. Stucco needs sealing and painting about every 5 to 10 years which can be quite expensive. The only plus side I can see is the CBS home is much stronger, as in hurricanes, than frame homes.

Our experience with vinyl siding, although many years ago, is that it stained and faded. And you couldn't paint it, which in my view was a minus.

Our neighbor has something that looks like shingles. I don't know what they're made of and if they can be painted, but it feels harder than siding. She has it pressure washed twice a year.

I don't think having to paint a house every 5 to 10 years is unreasonable. We've painted many houses down through the years.

Thanks all for your responses to vinyl vs stucco. Whatever we decide it will be nice to no longer have to deal with the 2-3 times a year of washing of 24 six over six paned windows which is what I will be doing this week during my vacation :(

Oh ,yuck. I feel your pain. I used to have to help my mother do that when I was in high school. We were both always in rotten moods and ended up carping at each other (she always won). My brother would spill a bucket of water or something, make her mad,and she'd tell him to get out of the house. Where's the justice in that!