Two Tone - Certified SoftWash Roof Cleaning

James King · Freshmen Member

Two Tone

James King · Freshmen Member

Tim Teed · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

At this point you are moving from cleaning to restoration and the price and expertise increases. We choose not to stain or restore wood fences or decks because I believe you are either a wood expert or you aren't. It takes a lot of time and it is hard to schedule around the weather. It will weather and grey and blend or the other option is to stain, but there will still be a noticeable difference. Its really on her sprinkler guy because the head wasn't adjusted properly. I have a deck person I refer to.

James King · Freshmen Member

So there is really nothing I can do to even it up.

Steve Mazzuca · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

James, I think what Tim is trying to convey is you should think long and hard about doing more than cleaning it. Who's to say that what you think looks great, the customer may not agree and you may end up being married to that fence. Also, different fence sections on the same property may need different stains/sealers etc because they have different exposure to the sun and have weathered differently.

I would 'sell it' by assuring the customer that when you're finished softwashing it, they may love the way it looks. If not, it will be 100% ready for whatever application their painter recommends and its not money wasted because it's already prepped for the painter.

Troy Layman · Lead Tech

James, You can master the business of Soft Washing, or you can try to be a Jack of all trades, and starting out in business for yourself it is very tempting to try to accomplish every job that a customer throws at you just to keep busy and get some money in your pocket. I agree with Tim and Steve - there isn't much you can do to match the two colors of the wood short of painting the fence. If this fence hasn't been treated already Soft Washing may even the two tones out to some degree as the darker section would likely lighten up more than the lighter section, but there would still be a visible demarcation. Myself, I'd set customer expectations going into the job by letting them know that Soft Washing will treat the wood, kill the wood destroying organisms, and get it prepped for whatever the customer wants the next step to be, but the two tones are existing damage or wear on the fence. Soft Washing will not 'repair' the existing damage, just lighten the wood while killing the algae, moss, mold, mildew and other fungus on the wood. One thing to keep in mind for any job you bid on is that you may uncover existing damage beneath the stains or growth, but that doesn't mean you caused the damage, you just uncovered it. Setting customer expectations before the work is started will save you a ton of issues after the job is complete. If you tell them up front they are mentally prepared, almost expecting whatever possible negative result you explained, where if you tell them after the fact it may come across to the customer that you are trying to cover your butt for some failure.

Plus if they don't adjust the sprinkler, the discoloration will just continue to progress over time.