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A homeowner in the Delbrook area of North Vancouver had cedar shake siding that had turned completely grey. The home sits under a canopy of Douglas firs — beautiful for shade, but the combination of constant moisture, limited sunlight, and organic debris had aged the cedar well beyond its years. The siding wasn't damaged, just coated in years of weathering, mildew, and tannin bleed. The homeowner was considering vinyl replacement before calling us — they didn't realize the original cedar could be recovered.
Cedar requires careful pressure washing — too much pressure splinters the grain, and the wrong chemicals can bleach or discolour the wood permanently. North Vancouver's north-facing slopes get less direct sun, which means moisture sits on surfaces longer and mildew penetrates deeper into the wood fibers. The home was two stories with cedar on all four sides, and several sections were close to landscaping beds we needed to protect from runoff and chemical spray.
We used a soft-wash approach for the entire exterior — low pressure (under 800 PSI) combined with a sodium percarbonate cleaning solution that breaks down mildew and tannin without stripping the wood. We applied the solution with a downstream injector, let it dwell for 15 minutes per section, then rinsed with a wide fan tip at safe distance. Landscaping was covered with tarps and pre-soaked with water before we started. The entire home was completed working top-down, section by section, to prevent streaking.
Timeline: 2 days
The cedar came back to its rich, warm natural tone — the homeowner couldn't believe it was the same house. They cancelled the vinyl siding estimate and instead booked a stain application for the following month. A $1,200 wash saved them $25,000+ in unnecessary re-siding. The wood underneath was perfectly sound.
