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Building Washing in Seattle

Building Washing in Seattle, WA

In the city this is a logistics problem before it is a cleaning problem. Buildings sit a few feet from their neighbors, landscaping is pressed against the wall, and there is often solar or a run of skylights overhead. All of that gets scoped at the walk, before anyone picks a chemistry.

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Two WindowWorks technicians washing the front of a closed CVS pharmacy at night, the pressure rig running and traffic cones set out across the wet lot, on the Eastside of Seattle

Old neighborhoods grew trees that are now giants, and the shade off them keeps walls in West Seattle, Wedgwood and Laurelhurst damp for most of the year. Growth is what most city walls are actually carrying, and low pressure is what removes it. Where a wall has more than that on it, we say so instead of quoting the easy job.

Access sets both the crew and the cost. On a tight block there is nowhere to stand a lift, so the alley, the setback and the roof edge all matter. The planting against the wall and the drain at the corner get protected before anything runs down them.

Areas we serve in Seattle

  • West Seattle
  • Magnolia
  • Ballard
  • Wedgwood
  • View Ridge
  • Laurelhurst

Seattle questions

There is nowhere to put a lift on our block. Then what?
Then we work with what the site allows and price it that way. Poles and ladders reach plenty of city buildings. If yours is not one of them, you hear that from us before the day.
We have solar panels and skylights up there. Does that matter?
It changes the plan, so mention them early. Anything sitting below or around the work gets protected, and panels and glass are the first things we account for.

What we cover

The materials we clean.

Metal panel, EIFS, stucco, brick, precast, composite, painted wood, fiber cement and vinyl. Each one takes a different approach, and we confirm what your building is made of on site and put it in writing.

  • Metal panel
  • EIFS
  • Stucco
  • Brick
  • Precast concrete
  • Composite panel
  • Painted wood
  • Fiber cement
  • Vinyl

See maintenance plans

Before and after

The difference, on real jobs.

  • Before and after WindowWorks washing rust and algae streaking off a curved blue metal facade on the Eastside
    Streaking off a signage band, back to the real colour.
  • Before and after WindowWorks washing the interior concrete wall of a parking structure on the Eastside, the untouched panel beside the washed one
    One wall, both states, either side of the column.
  • Before and after WindowWorks soft washing the stained upper elevation of a multi-story building on the Eastside
    A whole elevation, staining and all.
  • Before and after WindowWorks washing a moss-stained rooftop terrace back to clean concrete on the Eastside
    A rooftop terrace residents had stopped using.
  • Before and after WindowWorks cleaning a grimy shared walkway back to clean concrete on the Eastside
    A shared walkway residents use every day.

See it up close

Real jobs, up close.

  • A boom lift raised to the top floor of a five-storey apartment block on a clear day, the WindowWorks truck and traffic cones set out along the closed lane below

    A five-storey block, one closed lane, done between the morning and evening rush.

  • A WindowWorks technician in a hard hat and safety harness washing the upper siding of a building from a boom lift basket, the street and rooftops of Seattle far below

    Harnessed in, washing down the wall from above.

  • A WindowWorks technician working a wand across the brown-stained stone and glass of a building facade, the clean line following the spray

    Stained stone, and the line the wash leaves behind it.

Why it matters

The problem this solves.

Everyone who comes to the property reads the outside first. A tenant weighing a renewal, a client arriving for a meeting, your CEO in town for the day, a board that wants to see the asset being looked after. What they take from it lands on you. The usual answer is a contractor who shows up, blocks the entrance, wakes the tenants, leaves hoses across the walkway and hands you the complaints afterwards. Now the building is clean and you have spent a week apologising for it.

How we do it

Our approach.

Washing a building people are using is going to be an inconvenience. Our job is to make it a known one. Before anything is scheduled we agree what the work involves, where the crew will be, what gets closed off and for how long, and who tells the tenants. Nobody finds out on the day. If a walkway has to be shut for an afternoon, you know that in advance and so do they. Our technicians are licensed, insured and trained for the work they are doing, and we provide the insurance certificate and any wording your site requires. What your board, your CEO and your clients see is a building that has been looked after, and a job that ran the way it was described.

  • The scope, the timing and the disruption agreed before anything is booked
  • Who tells the tenants, and when, settled up front
  • Landscaping, entries and drains protected or contained
  • Licensed and insured crews, with the certificate and any wording your site needs
  • A quote built from a walk of the property rather than a phone call
A WindowWorks technician in a high-visibility vest working from a boom lift basket, washing the stone and glass facade of a downtown Seattle office building with Lumen Field behind him

Add-ons

Add it while we're there.

The crew and equipment are already on site, so these attach to your visit.

Why WindowWorks

Who shows up matters.

Your tenants and customers see our crew before they see the results. Both will look professional.

Anyone can rent a pressure washer. After 20+ years on Eastside exteriors, and a 4.9 rating across 300+ reviews, we can tell you the real difference is the person holding the wand: what they know, how they were trained, and whether the company behind them takes care of them. We take care of our techs, so they take care of your property.

A WindowWorks technician training on the mock roof at our facility

  • Background-checked

    Every technician is background-checked before they ever step onto a customer's property.

  • Certified, skill by skill

    Our crews earn certification across 369 individual skills in 10 categories, each one signed off by an evaluator, never just by clocking time.

  • Paid like professionals

    A living wage, healthcare, and dental. People who are treated well do careful work, and they stay, so you see the same faces.

  • Licensed, bonded, and insured

    With OSHA-aligned safety training for the at-height work. If someone is on your roof, they are trained and covered for exactly that.

  • Method matched to the surface

    Soft wash where pressure would damage, hot water where cold cannot lift, the right chemistry for the stain. The method follows the surface, not the other way around.

  • Documented before and after

    Every job is photographed before and after, so you can see exactly what changed and keep it on file.

See how we train and certify our crews

Common questions

Good to know.

What do you need from us to produce a quote?

A walk of the property, and whatever you already know about it: how we can reach the elevations, what the building is clad in, your work window, water and power on site, where the runoff goes, your insurance and site requirements, and who tells the tenants. Bring those and you get a number in one exchange instead of three. If you do not know one of them, say so and we will settle it on site rather than guess.

Is a wash safe on EIFS, stucco and panel systems?

Yes, at the right pressure. High pressure drives water behind panels and through window assemblies, and EIFS and painted assemblies take damage from pressure concrete shrugs off. That is why the substrate is confirmed on site and written on the quote, so there is a record of what the method was chosen against.

Can you work while the building is occupied?

Usually, and it depends on the building. Tenant-facing and public areas often move to after hours or a weekend, which carries a labor differential. Where the work has to happen during operating hours we say so, agree what gets closed off and for how long, and settle who tells the tenants and how much notice they get.

How tall can you go?

We reach it from the ground with poles, from ladders, or from a lift, so what matters is whether a lift can get to the elevation and what the site can take. Send us the address and we will tell you straight whether it is a fit, including when it is not.

Will an old chalked wall come back to looking new?

Sometimes, and not always. On an old chalked or oxidised wall we test a section first and show you what it gives back before you commit to the whole building. If the coating has failed, that is a repaint, and we will tell you that instead of selling you a wash that cannot fix it.

Can this go on a recurring agreement?

Yes, and most managed property does. No single interval fits an envelope, because shaded elevations grow back and street-facing elevations collect film at different rates, so the cadence gets set at the walk. One schedule, the same crew, and a documented maintenance record for the board file or the capital plan.

Serving Seattle and the whole Eastside

Building Washing near you.

See our full service area

Building Washing in Seattle

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