A lot of St. Paul homes sit on limestone foundations laid with soft lime mortar. We clean old stone and brick at low pressure so the mortar stays put, and we save real pressure for your concrete.
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Walk down Summit Avenue or through Crocus Hill and look at the bottom of the houses. A lot of them sit on gray limestone quarried right here in St. Paul, laid with lime mortar.
Lime mortar is softer than the stone around it on purpose. It lets an old wall shift a little without cracking. It also means high pressure can wash it straight out of the joints.
Limestone soaks things up. It holds dirt, green growth and water stains deeper than concrete does. We clean it at low pressure and give the cleaning solution time to work.
Old brick needs the same care. The brick is usually fine. The mortar between the bricks is the part that goes, and once it washes out you’re paying a mason to put it back.
Retaining walls are the greenest stone on the lot. They sit in shade and stay wet. We kill the growth first, then rinse gently.
Anything old and porous.
Concrete that can take it.
On a newer house, pressure washing is mostly about concrete. On an older St. Paul house, it’s mostly about knowing what not to hit hard.
We look at every surface before we quote. Stone, brick and painted wood get a soft wash, which means low pressure and a cleaning solution. Your concrete gets the pressure.
On St. Paul homes we spend more time on limestone, brick and painted porches than on anything else, and none of them want real pressure. We soft wash those and let the solution do the work. The pressure goes on the concrete steps, walks and alley slabs.
Some stains in old stone are there for good. Limestone has been soaking things up for a century or more, so we tell you what we expect to lift before we start.
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Low pressure for stone and paint.
On limestone and brick we let a sodium hypochlorite solution sit and work. Painted porch floors and trim get a detergent made for painted wood, at low pressure.
Real force, on concrete only.
Front steps, walks and alley slabs are treated with a chemical before and after we run the surface cleaner over them. Oil is degreased before any water goes on, and paint drips get targeted pressure.
We don’t post prices, because two houses on the same block can be very different jobs. One might be mostly siding with a short walk. The next might have a stone foundation, a brick porch and a long run of steps.
The more of your house that needs low pressure and careful work, the longer it takes and the more it costs. We come out, look at everything, and give you a free quote with a firm price.
Plenty of St. Paul lots are narrow, and your neighbor’s wall can be a few steps from yours. There’s no room to stand back and spray from a distance.
So we work close, at low pressure, and we plan the property line before we start. If your neighbor has a car or open windows on that side, tell us and we’ll work around them.
We soak your beds and grass with plain water before any solution goes on, then soak them again at the end so anything that drifted onto them gets rinsed off.
Most St. Paul jobs run off a single outdoor spigot. You don’t need to be home, as long as we can reach the water and the outside of the house.
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A gray, dirty flagstone patio washed until the color in the stone came through again.
A gray, weathered deck washed back to the warm color of the wood.
We washed the grime off a blacktop pad and the paver border that runs along the retaining wall.
72 hours. No hassle. No charge.
Once we’re packed up, take a look at the stone, the brick and the concrete. If something isn’t right, call us and we’ll come back and fix it.
Wally's Home Services covers St. Paul and the surrounding Ramsey 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.
Just outside St. Paul? We also cover Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Edina.
Straight answers so you know what you are booking. If your question is not here, call and ask.
Two houses on the same block can be very different jobs. One is mostly siding with a short walk. The next has a limestone foundation, a brick porch and a long run of steps. The more low-pressure work your house needs, the longer it takes. We look at everything and quote a firm price for free.
Not with high pressure. Many St. Paul foundations are local limestone set in lime mortar, and that mortar is soft on purpose. A hard spray washes it out of the joints. We clean the stone at low pressure and give the solution time to work. Some century-old stains will not lift, and we tell you which ones up front.
Not really. People use both words for the same thing. On a St. Paul house the real split is stone and paint versus concrete. Your foundation, brick and painted porch get a gentle soft wash. Your steps, walks and alley slab get the pressure.
Not when we clean them. A hand wand held close etches concrete and leaves stripes. We pre-treat your steps and walks, run a surface cleaner over the flat areas and treat them again after. If a slab is cracked or crumbling, we leave it alone, because pressure loosens more of it.
Once the days stay above freezing. That usually means spring, when salt and sand are still sitting on your walks. Our solution and rinse water need warmth to work and to keep ice off the steps. We wash from spring through fall and stop when it freezes.
Longer than a plain rinse, because the solution kills the growth at the root. Shady spots still green up again in time. Your retaining wall is usually the first place it shows. Most St. Paul homes do well with a yearly wash.
No. We wet your beds and grass with plain water before the solution goes on, then soak them again at the end. On a tight lot we also plan the property line first. If your neighbor has a car or open windows on that side, tell us and we work around them.
Yes. We carry general liability insurance and a $10,000 bond. Our crews are trained on both soft washing and concrete work.
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.
We’ll look at the stone, brick and concrete on your house and give you a firm price before we start.
