Can you pressure wash a stucco house?

Yes, at low pressure. High pressure up close can chip the finish, open hairline cracks and drive water into the wall behind it. The safer way is a wide spray at low pressure with a cleaning solution doing the work, then a gentle rinse.

Low pressure, a cleaning solution and a wide spray:

• Wet the plants around the house first.
• Apply the cleaning solution at low pressure and let it sit a few minutes, without letting it dry on the wall.
• Rinse from the top down with a wide fan tip, held well back from the wall.
• Keep the spray off windows, vents, light fixtures and any cracks.
• Rinse the plants again when you finish.

The solution kills the mildew and algae, and the water just carries it away. That is the difference between a wash that lasts a year or two and one that looks streaky again in a month.

Close enough that most people use the two words for the same job. Strictly, power washing uses heated water and pressure washing uses cold. On stucco neither one should mean high pressure: a house wash is a soft wash either way.

Soft washing is cleaning with low pressure and a cleaning solution instead of high pressure alone. The solution kills the mildew and algae, so they come off with a rinse rather than being blasted, and they take longer to come back. It is the usual way to wash stucco, painted walls and screens.

Every one to two years for most homes. North facing walls, walls behind shrubs, homes under trees and homes near lakes and canals stay damp longer and need it sooner. If the streaks are back, it is time.

Mostly mildew, mold and algae, which grow wherever the wall stays damp and shady. A few streaks have other causes:

• Orange or rust colored stains low on the wall are iron from irrigation water. Washing will not remove those; see how to remove irrigation rust stains.
• Streaks under the roof edge are often gutters overflowing. See how often to clean gutters.

Cleaning solutions can burn plants if they soak them. The usual care is to wet the plants down first, keep the solution off them, and rinse them again afterward. Washing on a cooler, overcast day helps too, because the solution does not dry on the wall or the leaves.

Yes. Paint does not stick to mildew and dirt. Wash it, then let the stucco dry completely before painting, which in Florida humidity can take a day or two.

Only at low pressure. A pressure washer tears screen mesh and pushes the spline out of the frame, and it can break window seals. See how to clean a screen enclosure. House exteriors, screen enclosures and driveways are all part of our pressure cleaning.