Mercer County

Historic masonry: the pressure question

Older brick and stone in Mercer County is usually laid in lime mortar, which is deliberately softer than the masonry around it — that is what lets a wall move without cracking. It is also why a pressure washer can strip a joint back an inch in seconds and leave you with a repointing bill that dwarfs the cleaning.

On any building older than the mid-century, we identify the mortar first, test an inconspicuous area, and work with chemistry and dwell time instead of force. Sometimes the honest answer is that a surface should be cleaned only partially, or left alone. We would rather tell you that than hand you a repair.

Stucco

Mercer has a lot of stucco, both genuine old lime stucco and modern synthetic EIFS, and they behave nothing alike. Older stucco is porous and erodes. EIFS is a foam-backed system where water forced past a crack has nowhere to drain and can sit against sheathing for years. Both get soft washed, low pressure, with a good look at the condition of any existing cracking before we start.

Tree canopy

Princeton, Hopewell and Lawrence have magnificent old trees and the exterior maintenance load that comes with them: heavy leaf tannin staining on walkways and patios, moss on north-facing roofs and stone, and gutters that need clearing twice each fall rather than once. Tannin staining in particular does not come out with pressure — it needs the right treatment, and it lifts easily once you use it.

The newer side of the county

Out through Robbinsville, the Windsors and Hamilton the housing is newer, mostly vinyl and cultured stone, with paver driveways and patios that need re-sanding as often as they need cleaning. Straightforward work, and a good candidate for combining a house wash, driveway and patio into one visit.