The Problem
Awnings weather easily.  Within 6-8 months, a new awning can accumulate blackish streaks from dirt, debris and acid rain.  For southern areas like Raleigh, pollen also presents a terrible looking problem.  Once these pollutants get embedded into your awning, it may be difficult or impossible to remove.

The Solution
ARC Powerwashing has been washing awnings around Raleigh for over 5 years.  We have been seen from Cameron Village to Southgate Mall scrubbing awnings of all types.  Our arduous hand-scrubbing technique and awning specific detergent has been providing quality results around the Triangle.

How To Make It Last
In order to maintain the professional appearance of your awning, as well as protect it’s life-expectancy, we recommend having your commercial awnings cleaned twice a year.  Spring and Fall are great seasons to have your awnings cleaned, right after the seasonal pollen has washed thru.

• Protect Your Home! 
  Glass is a porous surface.   Over time, certain contaminents can permeate the surface and begin degrading your window surface.  We recommend exterior window cleaning twice a year to avoid glass degradation.
• Heating/Air Efficiency
  When windows remain dirty, contaminents from around your home begin to corrode the surface.  Left unchecked, the harm done to the glass found in your windows can do some serious damage to your heating and air efficiency. 
• Curb Appeal
  Let’s face it, no one wants to buy a house (or visit!) when there is a wad of bird poop plastered on your window.  Get ‘em cleaned!
• The View
  Clean windows give you a portal to view the world without streaks and dirt!

ARC Powerwashing offers a convenient, professional window washing service that will save you time and money!

This week only, get your home powerwashed for only $99!  To qualify for this special, you must:

• Call us this week to book your powerwashing appointment.
• Appointments must be made for a July 2011 date.
• Your home must also be within Wake County limits.
• Your home must be under 2500 square feet.

Don’t meet the criteria above?  No worries!  We have the following specials this week only:

Homes up to 3000 square feet are ONLY $150 – THIS WEEK ONLY!

Homes outside of Wake County can participate in the special for an added fuel surcharge.  Please call for details.

Take advantage of this special offer by giving us a call today or filling out our easy to use contact form.

• Experience
  Even though power washing is not rocket science, there is something to be said for experience.  An inexperienced pressure washer can cause untold amounts of damage to your home.  Make sure to ask how long the company has been in business, as well as how long they have been power washing homes.

• Insurance
  Don’t be afraid to ask if the company is insured.  Their insurance is what protects you in case something goes wrong at your home.  Whether they cause some damage by accident or negligence, you will likely be up the creek if they are not covered.  In addition, some states will hold you responsible for any injury that took place on your property.  If the power washing company does not have insurance, move on to the next one.

• You Get What You Pay For
  In this economy, many people shop around for the best price before choosing a service company.  However, you must adhere to the age old rule: “YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!”.  The cheapest price will most likely lead to the cheapest job. 

   

• References
  Companies who do a good job have no shortage of happy customers who will rave about them.  Ask for a few.  You don’t need to invest a whole day in interogating them, just ask if they were happy with the power washing service.  Word of caution: Don’t always rely on online reviews.  Happy customers show loyalty by repeating and referring.  Unhappy customers go online and blast.  Just because a company has some negative complaints does not mean that they provide bad service.  Remember, you can’t please everyone.

Your home is your largest investment.  Don’t risk damage!  Follow the guidelines above when choosing a pressure washing company and your experience is sure to be great!

If you insist on pressure washing your home yourself, we do have a few tips for you. 

1. Don’t Use High Pressure
   High pressure is more likely to damage your home, not clean it.  When a pressure wash is done correctly, high pressure is just not necessary.
2. Watch That Bleach!
   Yes, bleach kills mold.  It also kills flowers, bushes, trees and anything else your wife may have planted around your home.  A professional grade detergent with a mild bleach solution is best.
3. Love Your Plants
   If your wife loves gardening, or at the very least loves the greenery around your home, take precautions.  We recommend that you saturate the ground around your plants with water.  This will keep them from absorbing too much chemical.  We also recommend covering tender plants and flowers with a tarp before power washing.

In the event that things don’t turn out quite like you had anticipated (or the wife isn’t happy with the power washing job you did!), give ARC Powerwashing a call.  We’ll get everything fixed up for a reasonable price that will even make your better half happy.

1. Trying to remove the powdery coating called oxidation on aluminum siding. Removing this coating can cause discoloration and in some cases cause the siding to look like a completely different color.
2. Using too much pressure can also force water up behind the siding where it will cause mildew behind the siding or in some cases, blow the siding off the house!
3. Washing the house from the top down or letting chemicals dry on the house, which may leave streaks on the siding.
4. Using a ladder to clean the upper areas of a house can result in serious injuries and death from slipping off the ladder.

These are the types of mishaps that many people have when attempting to do a quick power washing of their home.

I CAN STILL DO IT BY MY SELF!!!!!

If you decide to use a power washer on your home, here are some general guidelines to use. Make sure the machine you’re using puts out a minimum of 4 gallons of water per minute and less than 1000 PSI. Most homeowners will buy a machine from a hardware store that puts out 1,000 PSI but only uses 2 gallons per minute of water. While this machine may work, it will triple the amount of time to do the job properly.

Be careful if you’re making your own house washing chemicals. For example, mixing bleach and ammonia can create a poisonous gas. We suggest that home owners buy a siding wash that’s available in most hardware stores and follow the manufacturers guidelines for the product. Leave the stronger agents to the pro’s or you may end up removing the paint along with the dirt!

The best way to clean siding is by using a power washer that has a chemical injector built into the machine. Using a chemical injector will allow you to pull the soap from the container, mixing it in the machine with water and spray it onto the house using low pressure starting from the bottom up. Make sure when using a power washer that you don’t shoot water or chemicals up under the siding, this can cause significant mold problems behind your siding. Allow the chemical to dwell on the siding, then using low pressure, rinse the product from the siding. Make sure when you’re rinsing the product off the siding that you start at one end of the siding all the way to the end. Do not stop or vary your distance from the siding, or it will cause the surface to be cleaned un-evenly.

If your siding has small black dots that do not come off during cleaning but can be scraped off using your finger nail. You probably have artillery fungus on your siding. This can not be removed from the siding without causing damage.

If you decide this project is more than you want to handle on your own,  Just give us a call and we’ll be out there to handle your homes cleaning the right way.