Pressure Washing – Orinda, CA

Orinda homes span wood brown-shingle, older stucco, and some newer construction. We wash all wall and siding surfaces, wood decks and hillside terraces, concrete driveways and walkways, and stone or paver patios ahead of sealing. Shaded hillside properties often have extensive lichen growth on retaining walls and north-facing stucco — lichen takes longer than mildew to treat and needs full dwell time before rinsing. Fence panels going to stain get a proper wash-and-dry cycle built into the schedule.

All painted surfaces in Orinda — wood brown-shingle, wood siding, painted stucco — get soft-wash only. Sub-500 PSI with sodium hypochlorite and surfactant at a 1:4 dilution for mildew; for lichen we may apply straight or slightly concentrated and let it dwell longer. High pressure on brown-shingle or older wood siding will strip paint, raise grain, and potentially crack boards. Concrete driveways and any unpainted masonry retaining walls get pressure-wash at 1,500–3,000 PSI. Hillside terrace boards and wood decks stay on the soft-wash protocol regardless of how heavy the algae load is.

Property walk first: substrate identification, condition check on older wood joints and caulk, any areas with open penetrations that need to stay dry. Windows and exterior fixtures get masked. Ground-level plants and shrubs get a thorough water rinse before chemistry goes on. Top-down soft-wash on all wall surfaces — shaded north and east faces get extra dwell time and a second chemistry pass if lichen is present. Concrete gets rotary surface cleaner at appropriate PSI, hand-wanding for narrow hillside paths. Plants rinse again after chemical contact. Final walk on all elevations, including any terraced levels.

Late winter into spring (February through May) is the primary window — the wet season is ending, lichen and algae have peaked, and you want surfaces clean before summer. Fall (September through October) is the pre-paint window. Wood decks benefit from a fall wash before winter rain reactivates algae growth. For exterior painting, wash one to two days before the crew arrives. Orinda's shaded conditions mean north walls dry slower than south-facing surfaces — factor in an extra dry day if those walls need painting.

Substrate mix matters more here than in most cities — brown-shingle and older wood siding take longer to treat safely than stucco. Lichen versus mildew: lichen requires longer dwell time and often a second application. Hillside access — terrace levels, steep paths, hose routing across multiple grades. Total wood deck square footage and condition. North-wall exposure area with heavy algae or lichen loading. Whether stone or paver surfaces need sealer prep adds scope.

Washed an older brown-shingle hillside home above Orinda's downtown — soft-wash on all wood surfaces, lichen treatment on the north wall stucco base, and wood deck cleaning ahead of deck refinishing. Cleaned a stucco home off Moraga Way with significant algae on shaded east and north faces before exterior repaint.