How Often Should You Wash Your House in Nova Scotia?

If you've noticed green creeping up the shady side of your house, you're not imagining it. Nova Scotia's damp, coastal climate is about as good as it gets for growing algae and mildew on siding, and the Annapolis Valley, with all its tree cover and morning fog, is no exception.

So how often should you actually wash your house? For most Valley homes, once every one to two years keeps the siding clean and stops the growth before it sets in. A few things can change that, though.

Why houses get dirty so fast here

That green and black you see isn't really "dirt" in the usual sense. It's living algae and mildew feeding on the moisture in the air and on the surface of your siding. The more shade and humidity, the faster it grows. North-facing walls and sides tucked under trees go first, and they go fastest.

Signs it's time for a wash

• A green tinge or fuzzy film on the siding, especially low down or on shaded walls
• Black or grey streaks running down from the roofline
• The whole house just looking dull and tired compared to when it was new
• Soffits and eaves looking dingy

If you're seeing any of that, it's time. Left alone, algae holds moisture against your siding and can shorten its life, so a wash isn't only about looks.

The right way to clean siding

Here's the part a lot of people get wrong: you don't want to blast siding with high pressure. That can force water behind it and damage the surface. The right approach is soft washing, a low-pressure rinse with a cleaning solution that kills the algae at the root and lifts it away. It comes out evenly clean and stays clean longer, because the growth is actually treated, not just sprayed off.

If your place is due, we soft wash homes all across the Valley. Get a free quote and we'll take a look.