The Green On Your Siding Is Alive. We Kill It.
Soft washing for Troy houses — low pressure, the right detergent, and a wall that stays clean for a year and a half instead of a season. No force anywhere near your paint, brick or shingles.
Chemistry, Not Force
Pressure washing cleans by hitting a surface hard enough to knock things off it. That works on concrete. On the side of a house it is the wrong tool, and in Troy it is the wrong tool on a lot of expensive houses.
Soft washing runs at about the pressure of a strong garden hose — roughly 100 to 500 PSI at the wall, against 1,500 to 4,000 for pressure washing. The cleaning is done by a biodegradable detergent that is left to dwell, then rinsed. The water is only there to carry the solution on and wash it back off.
The difference shows up months later. What you see growing on siding is a living organism, and its root structure sits down in the pores of the surface. Blast the top off and the wall looks clean on the day and green again by the following spring. Kill it and the wall stays clean until something new lands on it.
Why Troy Grows It Faster Than Most
Troy sits in the Great Miami river valley, and that shapes what happens to the outside of a house here more than most people expect.
The river holds humidity against the whole west side of town
The Great Miami runs along the north edge of downtown, with the levee and the trail beside it. Air over the valley floor stays damp longer than air a few miles inland, and the streets running down toward the water hold that moisture well into the morning. Two identical houses, one two blocks off the levee and one out on the east side, do not weather at the same rate. The river-side one goes first, every time.
Inside the 1807 boundary, force is the enemy
Troy's historic district traces the town limits from 1807, when the state made it the county seat: the river to the north, Clay Street east, Canal Street south, Oxford Street west. Inside that square you have American Foursquares, Dutch Colonials, Victorians and bungalows, most with painted wood somewhere in the mix and original trim worth keeping.
A pressure wand on painted clapboard forces water up behind the boards, where it has no way to dry. It comes back out through the paint as blistering the following summer, and the homeowner blames the paint. On a Foursquare with wide overhangs and deep porch detail there are a dozen places for water to get in and nowhere for it to leave. Everything inside that boundary gets soft washed, no exceptions.
The canopy is the other half of the problem
The established streets around the square and out along the river trail have mature trees over them, which is a large part of why people want to live there. It also means north and east walls sit in shade all day. Shade plus a damp valley is exactly the condition algae wants. When we walk a Troy house the north elevation is usually a full shade darker than the south, and that is where the work is.
What Gets Soft Washed
If force would damage it, it gets chemistry instead.
Vinyl and aluminum siding
The most common call in the post-war parts of town. Older aluminum chalks as it oxidises, and pressure grinds that chalk into streaks you cannot get back out. It needs a soak and a rinse.
Painted wood and clapboard
Foursquares, Victorians and bungalows near the square. Low pressure only, and we keep the solution off bare wood and away from window glazing putty.
Soft brick and lime mortar
Anything pre-war downtown. The mortar was made soft deliberately so the brick could move. Pressure scours it out of the joints and you do not get it back.
Asphalt shingle roofs
Black streaking is cyanobacteria, not dirt. Same low-pressure chemistry, no machine ever touching the shingle, no granule loss. Roof cleaning details →
Stucco, EIFS and dryvit
Turns up on the newer builds east of town. Pressure cracks the finish coat and water gets into the substrate behind it, which is an expensive mistake.
Decks, fences and pergolas
Cleaned without fuzzing the grain. If you are staining afterwards, the prep matters more than the stain. Read the deck guide →
What a Troy House Wash Costs
Published ranges, not a number invented on your driveway.
A full house exterior soft wash runs $300–$600 for most Troy homes, driven by square footage, how many stories and how much of the wall is actually reachable. A two-story Foursquare with a wrap-around porch takes longer than a ranch of the same square footage, and the price reflects that.
If you are having the driveway or walks done at the same time, that is $150–$300 on its own, and bundling the two is cheaper than booking them separately because we are already on site with the water hooked up.
You can get a real number in under a minute with the estimator, or call and I will talk it through.
Before & After
Shot the day we did them. Our jobs, not stock photography.
"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 Troy
Driveways, walks and patios — the surfaces that do want force.
Pressure washing in Troy →Window Cleaning in Troy
Purified-water rinse so the hard water here doesn't spot the glass.
Window cleaning in Troy →Everything We Do in Troy
One page, every service, and how far out we book.
Troy service area →Soft Wash vs. Pressure Wash
Which one your siding, roof or driveway actually needs.
Read the guide →Soft Washing in Troy — FAQ
Straight answers. If yours isn't here, call or text (937) 939-2936.
Get a Troy Price Without Waiting on a Callback
Four taps and a photo gives you an itemized ballpark. Or call and talk to the person who does the work.
A Team Contracting · Tipp City, OH · serving Troy and Miami County · Mon–Sat 7am–7pm