Calgary siding cleaning for vinyl, fibre cement, aluminum and painted wood
When the siding is the only part of the envelope that looks dirty, this is the right service. Soft-wash chemistry at 100-300 PSI lifts algae, oxidation and chalking from the wall surface without warping vinyl or stripping paint. Pair with gutters or roof when you want the full envelope. Most Calgary siding-only jobs land between $200 and $600 depending on the elevations and the substrate.
Vinyl, fibre cement, aluminum and painted wood — same method, different dwell
Calgary siding comes in four common substrates and each one wants the chemistry dialled to its own dwell time. Vinyl is the most forgiving — standard 1-2% sodium hypochlorite mix with a five-minute dwell. Fibre cement (Hardie board) prefers the same mix at a slightly longer dwell because the textured face holds the mix in place. Aluminum needs the gentlest approach plus a brightener to deal with chalking oxidation. Painted wood (cedar, redwood, painted plywood) takes the longest dwell and the most careful rinse, the substrate is the most absorbent and the paint is the most variable.
This is the service to book when the siding is the priority and the gutters, roof and flatwork can wait. Pair with house washing if you also want the trim, eaves and porch ceilings done at the same visit, or with window cleaning since the glass at every elevation needs a rinse after the siding wash anyway.
Recent work
How a Calgary siding clean runs
Four steps from substrate check to dry wall
Substrate check and prep
Walk the perimeter, confirm vinyl / fibre cement / aluminum / painted wood, note any cracks in stucco transitions, downspouts traced, beds covered, hose bib and outlet confirmed.
Soft-wash application
Downstream injector applies the substrate-matched mix bottom-up so it does not streak. Dwell time five to ten minutes per elevation, longer on the north and east walls where algae has set in.
Brightener pass on aluminum
On aluminum siding with chalking, an additional milder brightener softens the oxide layer. Skip this step on vinyl and fibre cement — they do not have the same oxidation issue.
Rinse, walkaround, invoice
Top-down low-pressure rinse, beds re-rinsed, walkaround with you to confirm the colour came back uniform across all elevations. Invoice matches the quote, no add-ons.
Calgary siding realities
Prairie UV, north-side algae and the chalking aluminum problem
Calgary siding takes a beating from three weather patterns. Prairie UV breaks down the colour binders on aluminum siding faster than in coastal cities, the chalking shows up at 15-20 years on south-facing walls. North-facing walls grow green and black algae through July and August because the wall stays cool and damp. Stucco and painted wood pick up chinook freeze-thaw cracks that drive moisture into hairline gaps if the surface is dirty.
Siding cleaning is the targeted answer when you only want the wall done. Pair with the gutter clean and brighten at the same visit if the trough and the front face of the gutters are also showing oxidation streaks — most Calgary homes need both. Or pair with brick cleaning if the property is mixed brick and siding and you want one crew, one prep, one rinse for the whole envelope.
Written quotesPricing
Annual + as-neededCadence
Hartford siding cleaningFinish
Pair siding cleaning with
Other envelope services on the same visit
When the crew is already prepping the wall surface, gutters, roof and brick on the same property cost only the labour above the equipment set-up. Combine for the cleanest envelope.
Five questions that come up on most siding-only quotes.
Siding cleaning covers just the wall surface, the vertical envelope from gutter line to grade, without including the trim work, soffits, eaves and porch ceilings that a house wash usually folds in. It is the right service when the siding is the only part that looks dirty or when you are pricing a single elevation against a full-property wash. The chemistry is identical, the scope is narrower.
No, with our method. Warping comes from high-pressure tips held too close to the panel surface, not from the soft-wash chemistry. We rinse at 100-300 PSI at the wall and keep the wand moving so heat does not build on any one spot. Fading from the chemistry alone is not something that happens at the dilutions we use, you can wash the same wall every year for ten years and the colour stays the same.
Yes, this is the substrate the soft-wash method was built around. Hardie board has a factory paint finish that does not like high pressure, but the soft-wash chemistry sits on top of the paint long enough to lift dirt and algae without any mechanical abrasion. We rinse downward so the mix does not work behind the laps. Hardie warranty allows soft-wash, not high-pressure.
Five to seven days for vinyl and fibre cement, longer for cedar or painted wood that absorbs moisture. The substrate needs to be fully dry, not just surface-dry, so the primer or stain bonds properly. We will tell you on the walkaround whether the wood is ready for re-paint. A pre-paint wash is the right starting point for any exterior paint job — it doubles the paint life because the new coat bonds to clean substrate.
Yes, the chalking is oxidation on the painted surface — the colour binders break down under prairie UV and a fine powder rubs off when you touch the panel. The right approach is a milder soft-wash mix plus a chemical brightener that re-emulsifies the oxide layer, then a low-pressure rinse. The colour comes back. Heavy chalking on 30-year-old aluminum is sometimes a sign the paint film has failed entirely and a repaint is the better call.
Calgary siding cleaning reviews
What homeowners say after the siding wash
★★★★★4.9· 75 reviews on Google
★★★★★
Fibre cement siding on our Citadel infill had picked up algae on the north wall. Hartford did the soft-wash, no paint lifted at the lap joints, no streaks. The crew explained the Hardie warranty point before they started so I knew the method was the right one.
K. F.
Calgary · Citadel
★★★★★
30-year-old aluminum siding on the back of our Hillhurst bungalow had gone chalky. They warned me upfront that aluminum at this age sometimes needs a repaint instead. The brightener pass brought back enough colour that we are getting another five years before we paint.
T. M.
Calgary · Hillhurst
★★★★★
Booked siding only because the rest of the envelope had just been done. Quoted price was the invoiced price, crew was in and out in three hours, no upsell on services we did not need.
A. B.
Calgary · Killarney
★★★★★
Vinyl siding had warps where the previous owner had pressure-washed at 4000 PSI. Hartford could not fix the warps but they did the soft-wash properly on the rest and showed me what a correct wash looks like. Next time I know who to call.
R. D.
Calgary · Tuscany
From the blog
Siding cleaning notes and substrate guides
Free written estimate
Get your Calgary siding cleaning quote in writing
Tell us the substrate, the elevations and whether you are pairing the siding with gutter cleaning, roof or windows. A Hartford estimator follows up within one business day. Most siding-only jobs land in the $200 to $600 range.
