Soft washingin Boca Raton, FL.

Old Floresta dates to Addison Mizner's 1920s boom and is a historic district on the National Register, known for its mature oaks. Under that canopy, walls stay shaded and damp for most of the day, and the textured stucco and cast details hold algae in every recess.

Older stucco has usually been patched and repainted over the decades, and the patches take water differently from the wall around them. The soft wash cleans it all at low pressure without opening up the patches or knocking the peaks off the texture. Every side is walked first, and loose patches, cracks or chalking paint are pointed out before any solution goes on. The beds under the oaks are soaked with plain water before and rinsed after.

Mediterranean Revival homes, from Mizner's era through the club communities of the 1980s and 1990s, lean on cast stone: columns, balustrades, window surrounds and keystones. Cast stone is porous and chips under a pressure washer, and the recesses in the carving hold black mildew that a hose never reaches.

Cast pieces get a lighter mix and a longer dwell so the solution does the work instead of force, and they are rinsed gently from above. Loggia ceilings and deep eaves, where the black shows first from the drive, are washed from below at low pressure. Nothing is scrubbed with a stiff brush, which scratches the finish on painted cast stone. The result is a clean house with every edge still where it was.

Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club was begun in 1959 by Arthur Vining Davis, on about 450 acres with 749 original home sites, most of them fronting the water or the golf course. On the Intracoastal side, salt settles on stucco, screens, railings and light fixtures, and it holds the dirt against them.

The soft wash lifts the salt film and any algae together, and on aluminum screen frames and railings the salt is worth washing off for its own sake, since salt left on metal is what starts the pitting. The rinse is steered onto the lawn and away from the water and the dock. It is a gated community, so Michael needs to be on your guest list, and any vendor insurance paperwork is best sorted with the quote.