Before You Hire Any Pressure Washing Company in Jacksonville NC, Ask These Three Questions

Whether you hire Fresh Start Surface Solutions or someone else, these three questions will save you a lot of trouble. Pressure washing looks simple from the outside, which is why a lot of part-time hustlers buy a $300 unit from a hardware store and call themselves a pressure washing company. The wrong person with the wrong equipment can crack your siding, force water behind your vinyl, void your shingle warranty, or kill the landscaping around your foundation in one afternoon. Here is how to tell the real companies from the rest, before you let anyone start spraying.

Are you actually insured, and how much coverage do you carry?

"Fully insured" is what every pressure washing company says on their website. Most cannot show you a certificate when you ask. Anything under one million dollars per occurrence in general liability is not enough if something goes wrong on a normal residential job.

What to ask for: a current certificate of insurance (COI) showing general liability coverage limits. A real company will email it to you within a few minutes of asking. Fresh Start Surfaces is fully insured with general liability and workers compensation coverage. We will email you a current Certificate of Insurance (COI) before you sign a quote if you ask.

If they cannot or will not produce a COI, that is your answer.

Do you soft wash, or do you just pressure wash everything?

This one separates the trained crews from the people who watched a YouTube video.

High pressure on vinyl siding and asphalt shingles is the wrong method. It can force water behind the siding and into your walls. It can lift granules off your shingles and shorten the life of your roof. Most siding manufacturer warranties are voided by high pressure washing of any kind.

The correct method for siding and roofs is soft wash, which uses low pressure (about the same as a garden hose) combined with a cleaning solution that kills algae and mildew at the root, not just at the surface. The result lasts 18 to 24 months instead of a few rainy weeks.

If a company says they "just pressure wash everything," that is a red flag for siding and roof work. Concrete and brick can take higher pressure. Vinyl, soft wood, and shingles cannot.

Do you stand behind your work in writing?

"Trust me" is not a guarantee. Get it in writing.

A real company will commit, on paper, to coming back if you are not happy with the result, and to fixing anything they damage during the job. If they fight you on putting that in writing, walk away.

Fresh Start writes our guarantee on every quote. If we leave and you are not happy, we come back and make it right. If we damage anything on your property, we fix it. That is the Fresh Start Guarantee, in plain language, with full insurance behind it.

A note on the $99 specials

You will see ads for $99 house washes in Onslow County. Sometimes $50, $75, "any size house for $99." These ads are almost always from individuals running a side hustle out of their pickup truck. No LLC, no insurance, no workers comp, no business address you can find if something goes wrong.

The math is brutal. A real pressure washing company has insurance premiums, fuel costs, commercial-grade equipment that costs $8,000 to $15,000, soft wash chemicals at $40 to $80 a gallon, and a payroll if they have employees. None of that adds up to $99 for a 2,000 square foot house. Either the person spraying your house is uninsured and you are eating the risk, or they are doing the job wrong (high pressure on siding, cheap chemicals, no rinsing, no protection for your landscaping).

If the price sounds too good to be true, it is. And the $300 you saved today turns into a $4,000 siding repair when something goes wrong, paid out of your pocket because they vanished.

How Fresh Start Surfaces stacks up against those three questions

Question 1, insurance: Fully insured with general liability and workers compensation. We will email the COI before you sign anything.

Question 2, soft wash: Yes, on every siding and every roof. We use traditional pressure washing where it is appropriate (concrete, hardscape, fleet vehicles), the soft wash method for vinyl siding and shingles, and hot water pressure washing for grease and oil on driveways and commercial pads. The method follows the surface, not a one-size-fits-all hose.

Question 3, guarantee: The Fresh Start Guarantee is on every quote in writing. If you are not happy when we leave, we come back. If we damage anything, we fix it.

If you have other questions before you decide, call or text Fresh Start Surfaces at 910-650-2608, or request a free quote at our contact page.