84 photographs · 11 jobs

Our Work, Photographed on the Day

What you are looking at

Photographs from real exterior cleaning jobs across Whatcom and Skagit County — windows, gutters, roofs, siding, concrete and solar panels. Each set is one property on one day, with the before and after shots kept together so the surface can be judged rather than taken on trust.

Before and after, same position

  • Large waterfront window before cleaning, heavy streaking and salt residue clouding the viewBeforeThe same waterfront window after cleaning, clear glass and an unobstructed view to the waterAfter
    Waterfront window, Bow — Before. The streaking is mineral residue left behind as salt spray dries on the pane.
  • Bank of green-framed waterfront windows before cleaning, hazy with salt sprayBeforeBank of green-framed windows after cleaning, glass and frames clearAfter
    Window bank, Bow — Before. Salt haze does not rinse off in the rain — it has to be washed off, or it keeps dulling the view.
  • Green-framed glass door and sidelight before cleaning, webs and dirt along the framesBeforeGreen-framed glass door after cleaning, free of webs and debrisAfter
    Glass door and frames, Bow — Before. Webs and debris collect in the frame channels, not only on the glass, which is why frames and tracks are part of the job.
  • Asphalt roof and gutter line covered in needles, leaves and organic debrisBeforeRoof edge and gutter cleared of debris, with the shingle surface exposedAfter
    Roof edge and gutter, Sedro-Woolley — Before. A gutter in this state does not drip — it overflows at the back edge, behind the fascia.
  • Asphalt roof buried under thick moss, needles and forest debris before treatmentBeforeRoof ridge after the bulk moss and debris were removed, with the shingles visible againAfter
    Roof moss, Sedro-Woolley — Before, Sedro-Woolley. This is what a shaded roof does under forest cover here.
  • Two skylights almost buried under leaves, needles and moss before the roof was clearedBeforeThe same skylights after debris removal, fully exposed on a cleared roofAfter
    Buried skylights, Sedro-Woolley — Before. Both skylights are under there.
  • Side wall of a home before washing, with organic discoloration along the sidingBeforeThe same side wall after soft washing, the white siding clean and uniformAfter
    Side wall, Lynden — Before, the shaded side wall.
  • Close-up of lap siding before treatment, showing green organic growth across several boardsBeforeClose-up of lap siding after soft washing, clean and free of organic growthAfter
    Siding close-up, Lynden — Before, close enough to count the courses.
  • Long exterior wall of a home before washing, dulled by organic buildupBeforeThe same long exterior wall after washing, with bright, clean sidingAfter
    Long wall, Lynden — Before. From here it reads as "the paint has aged", which is usually growth rather than age.
  • Concrete before cleaning, showing the extent of dark organic contaminationBeforeFront entry and concrete after pressure washing, visibly brighter and more uniformAfter
    Front entry concrete, Mount Vernon — Before, the front entry. Black concrete is biological, and biological is what makes it slick underfoot.
  • Rows of solar panels coated in dirt, dust and water spotting before cleaningBeforeSolar panels after cleaning, with clear glass and no soap film or mineral residueAfter
    Commercial solar array — Before. Panels do not need to look filthy to be down on output.

Window cleaning — waterfront home, Bow

  • Two-storey waterfront home with large windows along a covered porch
    The property in Bow, Skagit County. Glass facing salt water is a different job from glass ten miles inland.
  • Green-framed glass door and sidelight before cleaning, webs and dirt along the frames
    Before. Webs and debris collect in the frame channels, not only on the glass, which is why frames and tracks are part of the job.
  • Bank of green-framed waterfront windows before cleaning, hazy with salt spray
    Before. Salt haze does not rinse off in the rain — it has to be washed off, or it keeps dulling the view.
  • Large waterfront window before cleaning, heavy streaking and salt residue clouding the view
    Before. The streaking is mineral residue left behind as salt spray dries on the pane.
  • Water-fed pole reaching upper gable windows to scrub and rinse them from the ground
    Upper gable glass reached from the ground. Purified water means nothing is left on the pane as it dries.
  • The same waterfront window after cleaning, clear glass and an unobstructed view to the water
    After, same pane.
  • Bank of green-framed windows after cleaning, glass and frames clear
    After, same bank of windows.
  • Green-framed glass door after cleaning, free of webs and debris
    After, same door. Frames and sill cleared as well as the glass.

Window cleaning — houses across the two counties

  • Long pole brush cleaning large multi-pane windows on a house with green trim
    Multi-pane glass takes longer than the pane count suggests — every bar is an edge to work around.
  • Technician using a long pole to reach upper windows of a two-storey house
    Second-storey glass without putting a ladder on soft ground or decking.
  • Technician on a ladder cleaning an arched second-storey window on a gray-sided house
    Where a pole cannot do it properly, the ladder comes out and gets footed correctly.
  • Technician using a long pole to clean large triangular windows of a house with green trim
    Gable triangles are the panes most often skipped by a cheaper quote.
  • Technician rinsing second-floor windows of a two-storey home from the ground
    Rinsing down from the top so nothing dries on the glass below.
  • Technician using a squeegee to clean a soapy window from inside, water view beyond
    Interiors are half the job on a view property, and the half people notice from the sofa.
  • Long pole with a squeegee reaching a high triangular window framed by timber beams
    A Ferndale home. Vaulted rooms put the dirtiest glass where nobody can reach it.

Gutter clearing — Bellingham

  • Gloved hand holding a large clump of wet organic debris pulled from a gutter
    A Bellingham home. Gutters here fill with fir needles rather than leaves, and needles pack into a mat water cannot pass.
  • Handful of wet leaves and fir needles lifted out of a gutter above a deck
    Cleared by hand and bagged rather than flushed down the downpipe — which is how a clear gutter ends up with a blocked drain.
  • Roof valley and gutter line after accumulated needles and debris were removed
    The valley matters as much as the gutter: debris held there keeps the shingles underneath permanently damp.
  • Cleared gutter channel running along a roofline with an open path for water
    After. Bellingham.
  • Gutter run clear of needles and debris with an open path toward the downspout
    The test is not that it looks clean — it is that water has an unbroken path to the downpipe.
  • Gutter packed solid with fir needles and wet leaves before cleaning
    Before. Packed to the lip, which is why the downspouts had stopped taking water at all.
  • Debris and a small seedling pulled from a gutter beside an open downspout outlet
    A seedling had rooted beside the outlet. Anything growing in a gutter means the debris has stayed wet long enough to hold a plant.
  • Ladder set against a roofline for gutter access during the cleaning
    Cleared by hand from a ladder rather than blown out from above, which is what keeps the debris out of the downspouts.
  • Service truck in a driveway beside a collection bin filled with debris removed from the gutters
    What came out of the gutters on this one property. It leaves with us.
  • Clean, unobstructed gutter above a back deck after debris removal and flushing
    After, above the back deck.

Gutters — what they look like when they are late

  • Gutter and roof edge filled with fallen autumn leaves
    What a gutter looks like when it is already past overflowing.
  • Gloved hand removing packed debris from a clogged gutter
    Ferndale. Leaves, moss and grit compact into a plug that water runs straight over.
  • Close-up of a gray asphalt shingle roof meeting the gutter line
    Sedro-Woolley. The roof edge and the gutter are one system, and they silt up together.
  • Gutter packed with fir needles and roof debris before the roof was cleared
    Before. Under forest cover the roof and the gutter fill together, so they are one job rather than two.
  • Asphalt roof and gutter line covered in needles, leaves and organic debris
    Before. A gutter in this state does not drip — it overflows at the back edge, behind the fascia.
  • Roof edge and gutter cleared of debris, with the shingle surface exposed
    After, same roof edge.

Roof moss removal — Sedro-Woolley

  • Asphalt roof buried under thick moss, needles and forest debris before treatment
    Before, Sedro-Woolley. This is what a shaded roof does under forest cover here.
  • Two skylights almost buried under leaves, needles and moss before the roof was cleared
    Before. Both skylights are under there.
  • Gloved hand holding a thick clump of moss and organic debris lifted off a roof
    Moss comes off by hand and at low pressure. A pressure washer takes the shingle granules with it.
  • Roof partway through moss removal, cleared shingles on one side and growth remaining on the other
    Halfway across, which is the clearest look at what was actually on the roof.
  • Roof ridge after the bulk moss and debris were removed, with the shingles visible again
    After. Same roof as the first photograph in this run.
  • The same skylights after debris removal, fully exposed on a cleared roof
    After, same skylights.
  • Applying a roof-safe treatment across cleared shingles after the bulk moss was removed
    Clearing the moss is half of it. The treatment is what slows it coming back.
  • Asphalt roof after a roof-safe powder moss treatment was applied along the ridge
    Powder along the ridge; rain carries it down the slope over the following weeks.
  • Asphalt shingles after debris removal, with previously hidden moss growth now visible
    The debris came off and the moss underneath was still there — which is the problem with clearing without treating.

Roof cleaning — shingle roofs

  • Steep gray metal shingle roof being rinsed with a low-pressure stream of water
    Rinsing down a steep pitch from the ridge, worked from a ladder rather than off the roof itself.
  • Metal shingle roof being rinsed at low pressure from a hose
    A metal roof pressed to look like asphalt shingle — easy to misread from the ground, and it changes what the roof can safely take. Low pressure either way: pressure strips coatings off metal.
  • High-angle view along a shingle roof ridge with a vent pipe, water beyond
    Composition shingle with the growth taken off it. The granules are the wearing surface and they do not grow back.
  • Long pole spraying water to remove moss from an asphalt shingle roof
    Worked from the ground where the pitch allows it.
  • Thick moss growth covering asphalt roof shingles
    Moss this established has already lifted the shingle edges it is growing under.
  • View from a roof over the shingles to a work truck in the driveway below
    The view from the job. Ladders, hoses and tanks travel with the crew.

Metal roof soft wash — stone home, Whatcom County

  • Standing-seam metal roof inspected and assessed before a low-pressure soft wash
    Assessed before anything is applied — coating condition decides what the roof can take.
  • Ladder set up beside a stone home for access to the metal roof
    Access set up off the roof itself. Walking a wet standing-seam panel is how people fall and how panels dent.
  • Technician protecting siding, windows and planting before soft washing a roof
    What goes on before the first drop: everything below the work gets covered or rinsed.
  • Soft wash solution applied at low pressure to a corrugated metal roof
    Low pressure and the right chemistry. Pressure strips coatings off metal, which is a repaint rather than a clean.
  • Standing-seam metal roof after a low-pressure soft wash, clean and reflective
    After. Nothing was recoated — that is the original finish with the growth taken off it.
  • A stone home's green standing-seam metal roof in Whatcom County
    Whatcom County. Standing seam takes a soft wash and nothing harder — the colour is a coating, and pressure takes it off.

House washing — Lynden

  • White lap siding before washing, with green organic growth across the lower courses
    Before, a Lynden home. Growth starts low and on the shaded side, where the wall stays damp longest.
  • Long exterior wall of a home before washing, dulled by organic buildup
    Before. From here it reads as "the paint has aged", which is usually growth rather than age.
  • Close-up of heavy green and dark organic staining embedded on white siding
    Close up, it is clearly biological — and it is in the surface, not on it.
  • Technician applying a siding-safe soft wash solution to an upper wall
    Applied from the ground. Water driven behind a lap board has to come out somewhere.
  • Technician soft washing the exterior wall of a home from the lawn at low pressure
    Siding gets washed, not blasted.
  • Side wall of a home before washing, with organic discoloration along the siding
    Before, the shaded side wall.
  • The same side wall after soft washing, the white siding clean and uniform
    After, same wall, same day.
  • Close-up of lap siding before treatment, showing green organic growth across several boards
    Before, close enough to count the courses.
  • Close-up of lap siding after soft washing, clean and free of organic growth
    After, same boards.
  • The same long exterior wall after washing, with bright, clean siding
    After. Same wall as the second photograph in this run.
  • Rinsing red board-and-batten siding on a two-storey home
    Board-and-batten on another Whatcom County property. The battens hold debris along every vertical seam.
  • Close-up of clean cream lap siding at a corner board after a house washing
    Corner boards and trim are where a rushed house wash shows.

Concrete, driveways and the truck — Mount Vernon

  • Large concrete area in front of a home, darkened almost black by organic growth
    Before, Mount Vernon. Concrete goes black here from organic growth, not dirt — which is why sweeping never touches it.
  • Concrete before cleaning, showing the extent of dark organic contamination
    Before, the front entry. Black concrete is biological, and biological is what makes it slick underfoot.
  • Technician running a surface cleaner across a driveway beside the branded company truck
    The truck carries its own water, tanks and power, so a job does not depend on the tap at the property.
  • Technician running a professional surface cleaner across concrete beside the company truck
    A surface cleaner rather than a wand, so there are no stripes left across the slab.
  • Concrete walkway showing the contrast between a cleaned section and darker untreated concrete
    Mid-job on the walkway. The line is the honest measure of what was on the surface.
  • The concrete walkway after cleaning, organic growth and dark staining removed
    After. A walkway that goes black also goes slippery, which is the part that matters in a wet winter.
  • Front entry and concrete after pressure washing, visibly brighter and more uniform
    After, the front entry.
  • Garage driveway after pressure washing, with an even, clean concrete surface
    After, the driveway.
  • Black work truck loaded with ladders, hose reels and cleaning equipment
    Parked up on a job. Everything needed for a day of work travels on the truck.

Solar panel cleaning — commercial array and homes

  • Wide view of a 128-panel commercial solar array on a flat rooftop
    A 128-panel commercial array. Output is measurable, so on a roof this size so is the cost of leaving it dirty.
  • Rows of solar panels coated in dirt, dust and water spotting before cleaning
    Before. Panels do not need to look filthy to be down on output.
  • Close-up of a solar panel showing heavy dirt, pollen and bird droppings on the glass
    Pollen, dust and droppings. Any of it shades cells, and shaded cells cost output.
  • Technician cleaning solar panels with a water-fed pole on a commercial rooftop
    Purified water and a panel-safe brush — no detergent left on the glass to attract the next layer.
  • Solar panels after cleaning, with clear glass and no soap film or mineral residue
    After, same rows. Dried without spotting.
  • Wide view of the full 128-panel array after a pure-water cleaning
    After, the whole array.
  • Technician standing on a rooftop cleaning solar panels with a long-handled brush
    Residential arrays get the same water and the same brush as the commercial ones.
  • Brush on a long pole cleaning wet solar panels, water streaking across the glass
    The brush agitates; the purified water carries it off and dries clear.
  • Technician cleaning a rooftop solar array with a water-fed pole beside a single-storey home
    Worked from the ground where the roof allows it — safer, and no foot traffic on the panels.

Commercial glass

  • Cleaned storefront windows under blue awnings at a business
    Storefront glass at a Whatcom County business. Commercial glass is judged from the pavement, in daylight.
  • Cleaned restaurant storefront windows and glass at a commercial location
    A restaurant frontage on the same round.

About these photographs

Every photograph here is our own work, taken on the job. Where a town is named it was recorded at the time; where it is not, the caption says the county and stops there. Nothing on this page is stock photography, and nothing has been staged for the camera.

Some surfaces we work on are not pictured yet — cedar shake and failed insulated glass units among them. They will appear here when we have photographed them properly rather than borrowed a picture of somebody else's.

Call (360) 303-6806