Most Minneapolis homes are stucco, painted wood or soft brick, and nearly all of them are a century old. We soft wash all of it at low pressure, so the north wall comes back bright without a patch blown out or water pushed into the wall.
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Turning high pressure on your walls is how water gets behind siding and paint starts to peel. House washing is normally done as a soft wash instead: low pressure plus a cleaning solution that kills algae and mildew at the root rather than knocking the surface layer off. Done that way the walls come back bright and stay clean noticeably longer. On the north and shaded sides of Minneapolis homes, where sun never really dries things out, that root-level cleaning is the part that matters.
If the north side looks grey-green while the south side still looks fine, that is not your imagination and it is not dirt. It is algae, and Minneapolis is close to ideal for it.
City lots run about forty feet wide, so houses sit eight to ten feet apart and shade one another for most of the day. Add the boulevard elms and silver maples that make Fulton, Tangletown, Armatage and Longfellow pleasant to walk through, and a north-facing wall here may not see direct sun between October and April. Damp shade is what algae and mildew need.
The surfaces make it worse. The stucco from the 1900 to 1930 build-out is porous. It holds moisture in a way modern siding does not and gives growth something to grip. The same is true of the soft common brick in Northeast and the painted lap siding on older Nokomis and Longfellow homes. Left alone that film holds moisture against a hundred-year-old wall assembly, which makes cleaning it maintenance rather than cosmetics.
ReviewsA soft wash leaves every wall one even color, so you can check our work from the yard. Here is what Minneapolis homeowners say. If a spot looks missed, call within 72 hours and we re-wash it free.
The same careful routine on every house.
We walk the house, note the shaded walls, failing caulk, light fixtures and delicate spots, and set the solution strength for your exterior.
Your foundation planting gets a heavy soak of plain water from us before the wash and a rinse after it.
We apply the cleaning solution at low pressure, top to bottom, covering every wall evenly.
The solution sits and does the work, killing algae and mildew at the root instead of rinsing the surface.
A gentle rinse leaves the exterior even, then we walk the property with you.
Price comes from the size of the house and the number of stories rather than the hour. A single-story costs less than a tall two-story with a lot of wall area, and a badly shaded or long-neglected house may need an extra treatment pass. We would rather tell you that before starting than after.
Request a free quote, confirmed by a person before anything begins.
Pairing the wash with windows, gutters or the driveway on one visit usually beats separate trips. Sequencing matters too: washing the house after the windows means the glass gets rinsed by overspray.
Photos from our own house washing jobs.
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We soft wash the whole house at low pressure, top to bottom.
Siding and trim around the garage washed without forcing water behind the boards.
We soak your shrubs and beds with plain water before any solution goes on.
72 hours. No hassle. No charge.
Walk the house once we pack up. If a wall did not come up the way you hoped, or we missed a stretch behind the shrubs, tell us and we come back and finish it at our cost.
Soft washing means low pressure, roughly 150 to 300 PSI or about a strong garden hose, paired with a cleaning solution that breaks algae and mildew down at the root. PSI stands for pounds per square inch, the standard measure of water pressure. Because the solution does the cleaning rather than force, the growth is killed rather than knocked loose and the wall stays clean months longer.
Pressure washing uses high concentrated force, often 1,500 to 3,000 PSI or more. On a driveway that is exactly what you want. On a house it is a genuine hazard. High pressure drives water up behind siding and into wall cavities, cracks older or brittle sections, chews through caulk and seals, and strips paint. It also only removes what sits on the surface, so the algae returns.
That is why nearly every home exterior should be soft washed rather than blasted. The right approach for a wall is low pressure, the right solution, and enough dwell time for it to work.
Low pressure plus a solution that kills algae and mildew at the root. Right for nearly every home exterior.
High force for hard surfaces that can take it. Wrong for a house.
Every material wants its own approach. Here is how we handle the most common exteriors around here. For the full breakdown, see our siding cleaning guide.
| Exterior | Method | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Stucco | Soft wash | Pressure pits the surface and blows out old patches. |
| Vinyl | Soft wash | Cleans thoroughly without forcing water behind panels or into weep holes. |
| Fiber cement (Hardie) | Soft wash | Protects the factory paint and the caulk joints. |
| Painted wood lap siding | Gentle soft wash | Lifts grime without stripping paint or raising the grain. |
| Brick and stone | Controlled pressure | Mortar joints erode under high pressure. |
Original Minneapolis stucco is not the modern product. It is a lime-rich mix applied over wood lath, it has almost certainly been patched at least once, and after a century of freeze-thaw it is softer than it looks.
Point a pressure washer at it and three things happen. The surface pits, the old patches let go, and water gets pushed through hairline cracks into the wall cavity where, in a house built without a vapor barrier, it has nowhere good to go. Every stucco wall in this city gets soft washed at low pressure with the solution doing the work. Ask to see the gauge before we start if you want to.
The tight lots shape the job as much as the walls do. With eight feet between houses there is nowhere to stand back, so we work close at low pressure and shield the property line rather than spraying across it. Foundation planting on a Minneapolis lot is usually right against the wall being cleaned, so it gets wet down and covered first and rinsed again at the end. And most of these homes have exactly one working outdoor spigot, which is fine. We bring hose runs and reach all four walls from wherever it happens to be.
Not the way it is done here, because the walls get soft washed at low pressure with the solution doing the work. The damage people worry about, cracked panels and water behind the wall, comes from high pressure. That is exactly what we are avoiding.
We soak your planting and lawn with water before any solution goes near it and rinse them again afterward, which does most of the work. Keep pets indoors while the crew is on site. If you have something particularly sensitive, mention it when you book so we plan around it.
More slowly than after a plain rinse, because soft washing kills the growth at the root rather than knocking it off. It will not stay gone forever. On a shaded Minnesota wall nothing does, which is why an annual wash is the usual rhythm.
You will hear about it before we start. A soft wash will not make sound paint fail, but it can lift paint that was already going. If we see that on the walkthrough we point it out and work around it rather than making it worse.
Wally's Home Services covers Minneapolis and the surrounding Hennepin County area. We are one local company, not a franchise or a dealer network, so the people who quote your job are the people who do it and the people you call afterward.
Straight answers so you know what you are booking. If your question is not here, call and ask.
We price by the size of your home and how many stories it has. A one-story house costs less than a tall two-story with a lot of wall. A heavily shaded wall may need a second treatment pass, and we tell you that up front. Our crew handles houses as tall as three stories. Your quote is free, and a person confirms it before we start.
It is how we clean the walls of your house. We spray a cleaning solution at low pressure, about like a strong garden hose. The solution sits and kills algae and mildew. Then we rinse gently from the top down. The water does not do the scrubbing, so nothing gets forced into the wall.
Yes. Most Minneapolis stucco went up between 1900 and 1930 over wood lath. It has almost always been patched, and a century of freeze and thaw has softened it. We keep the pressure low so the old patches stay on. You are welcome to watch the gauge while we work.
Yes. The common brick on many Northeast homes is soft, and the mortar between it is too. We clean brick and stone at controlled pressure and let the solution do the heavy lifting. Your mortar joints stay in place.
Plan on once a year for most homes here. Houses sit eight to ten feet apart, and boulevard elms and maples add more shade. A north wall may go all winter without direct sun. Walls like that grow back first, so we can wash only those sides in a lighter year.
Longer than a pressure rinse, because we kill the growth instead of knocking it loose. It will not stay gone for good on a shaded Minnesota wall. A damp north wall under big trees greens up before a sunny one does. Porous stucco and old brick hold moisture, so they tend to come back first.
Yes. City lots here leave about eight feet between houses, so we plan for a tight side yard. We stand close and keep the pressure low. If your neighbor has a car or open windows on that side, let us know before we start.
No. The glass gets wet as we rinse each wall, but that is not a window cleaning. If you want clear glass, book our window cleaning with the wash. Adding windows, gutters or the driveway to one visit usually costs less than separate trips.
No. We need to reach every wall and use one working outdoor spigot. Most older Minneapolis homes have just one, and that is fine. Our crew runs hose to all four sides from wherever it is. We use your water and send the invoice when we finish.
Then we make it right, free of charge. Walk the property after we are done, and if anything falls short, call us at (612) 216-7894 within 72 hours. We come back and fix it at no cost to you. No invoice, no argument, no fine print. That is the Wally's Worry-Free Guarantee.
Free Minneapolis house washing quote. Low pressure, stucco-safe, and backed by our 72-Hour Worry-Free Guarantee.
