Dunning Pressure Washing

Contact: PO Box 265, Sequim

Phone: 477-9714

Online: www.facebook.com/pages/Dunning-Pressure-Washing

Hours: 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

It’s spring cleaning time and one often overlooked site that will add vitality to your home is its exterior.

Removing mildew, mold, moss and grime off your siding provides instant gratification, said Michael Dunning of Dunning Pressure Washing in Sequim, who opened his business in January. He is licensed and insured and serves Sequim and Port Angeles.

“I think it makes such a difference right off the bat when the customer sees it,” the 23-year-old Dunning said. “More and more people are catching on that it’s a way to make a huge difference in selling their home, too. I believe that will become a big part of my business.”

Dunning is no stranger to pressure washing — as a teen he went door to door, passing out fliers, and pressure washing the homes of friends and family. With seven or eight years of experience under his belt, he decided it was the right time to go professional.

“I can pressure wash concrete of all sorts, asphalt, wood or vinyl siding, gutters, wood or vinyl fences and decks,” Dunning said, to remove stains and brightening them.

If your home’s exterior has cracking and flaking paint — and you consider hand-scraping a job from Hades, Dunning can pressure wash it well enough for the surface to be ready for primer and paint after drying thoroughly. Tools of his trade are a portable DeWalt 3,800 psi commercial pressure washer with an array of hoses and sprayers, scrubbers, brushes and hand tools.

Customers have the option of having their homes washed with or without detergent. Dunning said he’s always careful about protecting nearby plants, no matter what solution he’s using.

“First I do a free estimate and then I schedule a time that’s not too early for the neighbors,” Dunning said. “With detergent, I spray from bottom to top so there are no streak marks. With pressure washing alone, I spray from top to bottom. It probably takes two or three hours. I take pride in my cleanup — I rake up all the debris and leave it better than it was before.”

Dunning recommends pressure washing siding and concrete yearly for optimal maintenance, but forgoing that, then every two years.

Challenges are removing some long-set stains, working around plants next to a house, odd angles — and his age.

“I’ve found across the board, it’s overcoming my age, especially with the (senior) community we have. Sometimes they discount the ability of someone younger but I’ve been doing it for about eight years,” Dunning said. “It can be a messy job — sometimes I leave the job with my face covered with grime — and doing it while it’s cold or rainy is the worst.”

The best, Dunning said, “is just the reaction from the customers. It’s one of those gradual things and they don’t realize how dirty their home has gotten until it’s clean. I rely a lot on referral business and I give a $20 discount to customers who refer me because I like to give back to the customer. My prices are reasonable and are not as much as people might imagine.”

For a free estimate, contact Dunning at 477-9714 and see before and after photos on his Facebook page by searching for Dunning Pressure Washing.