Cedar shake washing, brightening and sealing in Barnegat Light

How it normally gets spotted

• Green growth in the shadow line under each course on the bay-facing wall
• Shakes that have gone black or blotchy rather than the even silver you were expecting
• A finish applied a few seasons ago that is now flaking and holding dirt

Why this comes up in Barnegat Light

Nothing on the island takes more raw salt than this end of it. The inlet keeps wind moving across the borough almost constantly, and the spray it carries reaches inland streets that on the rest of the island would be sheltered. Glass here goes hazy within days and the northern and eastern elevations of a house carry a visible chloride film for most of the year.

Barnegat Light is the borough at the very northern tip of the island, wrapped around Barnegat Inlet and a working fishing harbour, and that shapes what turns up on these walls.

Getting the work done in Barnegat Light

Streets are short and run inlet to bay, so a rig can usually be set up close to the work. Parking near the Viking Village docks is the exception, and in scallop season the commercial traffic on Bayview Avenue decides what time of day a crew can be there at all.

Any permit for this runs through Barnegat Light. State registration has to be current before one is issued.

How this gets handled

Cedar is the island's signature and it is also the least forgiving material out here. The wash has to be gentle enough not to raise the grain and thorough enough to take out the growth living inside it, usually followed by a brightener that resets the colour after cleaning. Whether it then gets sealed is a real decision, not a default: a bare shake wall silvers evenly and asks nothing of you, and a sealed one looks better for three to five years and then has to be done again. A crew that will not talk you through both is selling you the second one.