Cedar, decks and docks

Cedar shake washing, brightening and sealing

Washing, brightening and — if you want it — sealing for cedar shake and shingle siding that has gone black, green or patchy.

Most owners come to this after watching something get worse for a season and deciding it is not going to stop.

What owners tend to describe

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

What the job looks like

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.

$3,500 – $12,000

typical range, not a quote for Long Beach Island and the mainland.

Not a quote, and not a judgement about your property. What a job actually costs comes down to height, access, what the surface is made of and how far it has been left — which is why it takes someone standing in front of it.

Not sure what it needs?

Give us the details once. We do the matching, and you decide whether to take any of it further.

Tell us what it needs →

Coverage

Which part of the area

Only the stretches where this comes up often enough to be worth listing.

North end

Barnegat Light down to Harvey Cedars: inlet exposure, large houses, and more cedar per street than anywhere else out here.

Central island

Surf City through the Crest: small lots, tight driveways, and a Saturday changeover calendar over the top of it.

South end

Spray Beach down to Holgate: porches, painted trim, pools, pavers, and the island's only historic district.

Mainland

Manahawkin, Beach Haven West, West Creek and Barnegat: driveways to park in, four reachable elevations, and gutters that actually fill.

House and roof washing

Roof soft washing

Low-pressure treatment for the black streaking and moss on asphalt shingle. The method shingle manufacturers actually allow.

$650 – $2,200 typical range, not a quote

House and roof washing

Spring open-up and fall close-down packages

House, glass, deck, shower and gutters handled as one job before the season and again after it, instead of five separate visits.

$900 – $2,800 typical range, not a quote

Windows and gutters

Gutter clearing, flushing and whitening

Clearing the run, flushing every downspout, and — separately — taking the black tiger-striping off the outside face.

$175 – $500 typical range, not a quote