Our cleaning solutions are biodegradable and get diluted before they ever touch your property, plants and grass near the work area get pre-wetted or covered as standard practice, and pets do best kept indoors for the couple hours we’re actually spraying. The bigger piece most homeowners don’t think to ask about is runoff: Lexington’s stormwater rules treat anything that leaves your property through a storm drain as a serious matter, and a responsible crew plans around that before the first drop of solution ever gets mixed.
What’s Actually in the Cleaning Solution
Most professional exterior cleaning runs on two main ingredients: sodium hypochlorite (the same active ingredient as household bleach, just at
a controlled concentration) and a surfactant that helps the solution cling to a surface long enough to actually work its way into the buildup. Together they break down algae, mold, and mildew at the root, which is the real reason the visible layer lifts away.
Full-strength bleach is corrosive and can absolutely scorch a lawn or kill a flower bed. That’s not the concern here. Professional-grade solution gets mixed down to a fraction of that strength, similar to what’s in a swimming pool, and it’s applied in controlled amounts, not poured out freely. The risk with landscaping isn’t the chemical itself so much as what happens if nobody bothers to protect the plants sitting directly under the spray zone.
How We Protect Your Grass and Plants
Any plant, shrub, or grass within a few feet of a house wash or driveway job gets a soak with plain water before we ever apply solution. A wet plant absorbs a lot less of the cleaning mix than a dry one, and it gives us a buffer while we work. Anything especially delicate, like a flower bed right under a downspout or a row of hostas hugging the foundation, gets a tarp or plastic sheeting over it for the duration of the job.
After the wash, we rinse the area again with plain water to dilute anything that made contact. Most homeowners never see so much as a yellow patch. The exceptions tend to be older, already-stressed plants or grass that was struggling before we ever showed up, which is worth mentioning if you’ve got a spot you’re particularly attached to.
Why This Ties to Lexington’s Stormwater Rules Specifically
Every storm drain on your street connects straight to a creek, not a treatment plant. That’s the basis for the EPA’s MS4 stormwater program, which requires cities like Lexington to control what washes off private property into the storm system, oil, soap, fertilizer, and cleaning chemicals included.
Lexington treats anything entering that system incorrectly as a form of illicit discharge. We cover the full details on our local rules and regulations page, but the short version for a homeowner is this: a contractor who’s careless with runoff puts your landscaping at risk, and puts the property itself at risk of a violation.
That’s part of why dilution and controlled application matter beyond just protecting a hydrangea. Keeping wash water and cleaning solution contained to the work area, directing rinse water away from storm drains where possible, and never dumping excess mixture on the ground are standard practice for us, not an upsell.
Keeping Pets Safe During a Wash
Dogs and cats react to a pressure washing job in two ways: the noise, and the wet, chemically-treated surfaces afterward.
The noise is the bigger issue for most animals. A pressure washer running steadily for an hour or two is loud enough to stress a dog that’s fine with a vacuum, and cats in particular tend to bolt or hide the second it starts. Keeping pets indoors, away from windows facing the work area, handles most of this on its own.
The chemical side is a smaller risk but still worth managing. A pet walking through a freshly-treated driveway or rubbing against damp siding could pick up trace solution on paws or fur, and licking it off afterward is the actual concern, not brief skin contact. We rinse thoroughly as a final step on every job specifically so surfaces aren’t left wet with active solution once we’re done. Giving everything a couple hours to fully dry before pets go back outside is the simplest way to avoid any issue at all.
What We Actually Do Before Every Job
Every job starts with a walk of the property to flag anything close to the work area: flower beds, vegetable gardens, a dog run, a pool. We pre-wet or cover vulnerable landscaping, mix solution at the concentration appropriate for the surface and the job, and keep runoff contained so nothing sheets toward a storm drain. If you’ve got pets, we’re happy to work around a schedule that keeps them comfortably out of the way, whether that’s a side of the house at a time or timing around when they’re usually out for a walk.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Curious how we handle a specific spot on your property, a garden bed, a pool deck, a dog run right next to the driveway? Our soft washing page covers the gentler side of what we do, and you’re always welcome to reach out and tell us what you’re working around before we ever schedule anything.