A Town Built From Two Towns
Soft washing for Fairborn homes — the moved houses, the base-boom streets and everything since. No pressure on siding, paint or shingle.
Fairborn Has Older Houses Than It Looks Like It Should
This is the only town we work where a chunk of the housing stock is older than the ground it stands on.
When the Huffman Dam went in after the 1913 flood, it put the village of Osborn inside the new flood pool. So from 1920 the village moved — not the people, the buildings. Around two hundred houses and as many outbuildings were jacked off their foundations, hauled across to Fairfield by mule and tractor, and set down again. The two villages merged in 1950 and took half a name each: Fair-born.
What that means for an exterior is simple. Scattered through the older parts of town are genuinely pre-1920 buildings sitting on 1920s foundations, with original wood, original trim details and occasionally a visible line where later work met older work. Those houses do not want a pressure washer anywhere near them, and a crew that assumes "Fairborn, so 1950s" will treat them wrong.
Then the base arrived and the town grew sixfold
Between 1950 and 1970 Fairborn grew to about six times its former size on the back of Wright-Patterson. Whole neighborhoods went up inside those twenty years, which means street after street of the same era, the same materials and the same problems: painted wood trim, early aluminum siding that chalks as it oxidizes, and on the oldest of them asbestos-cement board that should not be disturbed at all.
Aluminum from that period is the one people get wrong most often. Run a hand down it and you get white powder. Point a pressure washer at that and you grind the oxidation into streaks that never come out. It needs a soak, a dwell and a rinse.
Chemistry, Not Force
Soft washing runs at roughly the pressure of a garden hose — about 100 to 500 PSI at the wall, against 1,500 to 4,000 for pressure washing. A biodegradable detergent does the cleaning, dwells, and gets rinsed off. The water is only there to carry the solution on and take it away again.
The difference shows months later. What grows on siding is a living organism with a root structure down in the pores of the surface. Take the top off and the wall is clean that afternoon and green again by spring. Kill it and the clock starts over properly.
What Gets Soft Washed
If force would damage it, it gets chemistry instead.
Early aluminum siding
The signature Fairborn surface. Chalks as it oxidizes; pressure grinds that chalk into permanent streaking.
Painted wood and original trim
On the moved houses especially. Force drives water behind the boards and it comes back out through the paint next summer.
Asphalt shingle roofs
Black streaking is bacteria, not dirt. Low pressure only, no granule loss. Roof cleaning details →
Vinyl on the later builds
Everything from the 1980s on. Same rules as any vinyl — soak and rinse, never a wand under the lap.
Brick and mortar joints
The brick is fine; the joints are porous and hold the green. No pressure near old mortar.
Decks and fences
Cleaned without fuzzing the grain. If you are staining after, the prep decides the finish. Deck guide →
What a Fairborn House Wash Costs
A full house exterior runs $300–$600 for most Fairborn homes, driven by size, story count and how much of the wall is genuinely reachable. Driveway and walks are $150–$300 separately, and bundling takes 12% off because we are already on site with water hooked up.
We are based in Tipp City, so Fairborn is a real drive rather than a hop — we would rather say that plainly than pretend otherwise. It costs you nothing extra, though. There is enough work down here to keep us in Greene County most weeks, so there is no travel charge and nothing added for the distance. You get the whole number before anyone starts, and it does not move on the day.
Before & After
Shot the day we did them. Our jobs, not stock photos.
"Anthony washed my entire house exterior. The mold that was forming on my siding is gone. I am happy to support local entrepreneurs and families like Anthony with the A Team. They provide a broad range of services and I've asked for a quote to refinish my deck."
The Rest of the Outside
Pressure Washing in Fairborn
Driveways, walks and patios — the surfaces that do want force.
Pressure washing in Fairborn →Window Cleaning in Fairborn
Purified-water rinse, storm windows, and the original sash on the moved houses.
Window cleaning in Fairborn →Everything We Do in Fairborn
One page, every service, and how the scheduling works this far out.
Fairborn service area →Soft Wash vs. Pressure Wash
Which one your siding, roof or driveway actually needs.
Read the guide →Soft Washing in Fairborn — FAQ
Straight answers. If yours isn't here, call or text (937) 939-2936.
Get a Fairborn Price Without Waiting on a Callback
Four taps and a photo gives you an itemized ballpark.
A Team Contracting · Tipp City, OH · serving Fairborn and Greene County · Mon–Sat 7am–7pm