Pressure Washing in Fort Worth
In the older Fort Worth neighbourhoods the problem is rarely that a surface is too dirty to clean. It is that the surface is softer than the stain, and pressure takes the house before it takes the mark.
Fairmount and Ryan Place are bungalows, foursquares and brick set behind deep front porches. The mortar in that old brick is lime based and soft. A pressure washer will chew the joints out before it lifts the staining, and the mortar does not come back. So anything touching that masonry is hand work at low pressure, and the cleaning comes from chemistry and dwell time rather than force.
The porches are the other Fort Worth signature. They are deep, the roof keeps the floor in shade most of the day, and a painted porch floor in that much shade goes dark long before the walls do. That darkness is growth, not wear, and it comes off without stripping the paint if the mix does the work.
The windows around it are single pane in wood sash and the glazing putty has gone hard and cracked. Water finds those gaps. That is a reason to keep pressure well away from the sash, and a reason to say so before starting rather than after.
Concrete on these lots is a different matter and takes the normal treatment: pre-treat, dwell, then a rotary surface cleaner with proper overlap, and the edges and expansion joints detailed by hand afterwards so the border matches the field.
What we do differently in Fort Worth
- ✦Hand work at low pressure on old brick, because soft lime mortar washes out before the stain does and does not come back
- ✦Painted porch floors cleaned with chemistry rather than force, so the paint stays on
- ✦Pressure kept well away from single-pane wood sash where the glazing putty has cracked
- ✦Concrete still gets the full treatment, pre-treated and surface cleaned with overlap, then edges detailed by hand
Questions
Will washing hurt the mortar on my old brick?
At pressure, yes, and that is not reversible. The lime mortar in this era of brick is softer than the staining on it, so a pressure washer chews the joints out first. Anything touching that masonry is hand work at low pressure with the chemistry doing the cleaning.
My porch floor is dark no matter how much I sweep it. Can you fix it?
Usually, and without taking the paint with it. A deep porch keeps the floor in shade most of the day, and shade plus humidity is growth rather than dirt. Growth comes off with the right mix and time. Sweeping never had a chance.