Irish Channel

Exterior cleaning in Irish Channel

The Irish Channel is dense rows of shotguns and doubles, so the work is long runs of painted siding with very narrow gaps between buildings. Those side walls are the problem elevations: they get almost no sun, almost no airflow, and they stay damp, so they grow algae far faster than the front of the same house.

What we focus on here

• Soft washing for painted siding
• Narrow side walls and shared alleys
• Porches, steps, and trim
• Gutter clearing and downspouts

The side walls nobody sees until they are bad

Reaching a wall with three feet of clearance takes different equipment and more time than an open elevation, and it is the part most often skipped. We treat it the same as the facade: solution applied low to high, dwell time, then rinsed downward at low pressure so nothing is driven behind the boards.

The three-foot gap

Rows of shotguns and doubles leave side walls with very little clearance, sometimes only enough to walk through sideways. Those walls get almost no direct sun and almost no moving air, so they stay damp far longer than the front or back of the same house and grow algae several times faster.

They are also awkward enough that they get skipped. Reaching them properly needs different equipment and more time, and a wash that does the street facade and leaves the side wall green is a job half done. We treat the side wall the same as the front: solution low to high, dwell time, then rinsed downward at low pressure.

Shared walls and party lines

Where buildings adjoin, the boundary is often a shared or near-shared wall, and work on one property affects the other. Overspray, runoff, and where a ladder can be footed all need agreeing rather than assuming. We would rather have that conversation at the estimate than on the day, and if access depends on a neighbour we will say so upfront.