Salt plus shade is worse than either alone
Salt aerosol is hygroscopic — it draws moisture out of the air and holds it against whatever it has settled on. Shade prevents the sun from ever burning that moisture off. Put the two together, as Selva Marina and Old Atlantic Beach do, and you get walls that are effectively damp year-round.
That is why a house four streets back from the ocean in Atlantic Beach often looks worse than a front-row house in Jacksonville Beach. The front-row house gets sun and wind. The shaded one gets neither, and it still gets the salt.
Practically, it means we plan on a 12-month cycle here as standard, and we spend more time on north and east elevations than most crews budget for.
Cedar shake and painted wood need a lighter touch
Old Atlantic Beach has a lot of original beach-cottage stock — cedar shake, board-and-batten, painted clapboard. It is the character of the place and it is the most delicate exterior we work on in the Beaches.
Cedar shake weathers to grey, holds moisture in the grain, and will fur immediately under pressure. Painted clapboard on a 1950s cottage is usually many layers deep and often chalking. Neither takes the mix or the pressure that a modern stucco home shrugs off.
| Surface | Where | Solution | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar shake | Old Atlantic Beach cottages | Wood-safe cleaner + brightener | 500 – 800 PSI |
| Painted clapboard | Older beach homes | 1% mix | Under 300 PSI |
| Stucco / block | Newer builds, ABCC | 1 – 2% mix | Under 300 PSI |
| Hardie board | Renovated cottages | 1 – 2% mix | Under 500 PSI |
| Composite decking | Almost universal | Cold clean | Under 1,000 PSI |
| Metal railings & fixings | Everywhere coastal | Rust treatment | Low-pressure rinse |
Corrosion staining is the giveaway of a coastal home
Every coastal home eventually shows rust runs beneath fixings, light fittings, shutter hinges and railing posts. In Atlantic Beach we see it earlier than most because the shade keeps salt in contact with the metal for longer.
The stain itself is treatable with an oxalic-acid rust remover. The cause is not — once a fixing is corroding it will keep staining until it is replaced with stainless or marine-grade hardware. We will point out which fixings are the source so you can deal with it once rather than repeatedly cleaning the same streak.
Services we run in Atlantic Beach
All six of our services are available here. These are the three Atlantic Beach customers book most often, in order:
From $249House Washing
Kill the algae at the root, not just the colour on the surface.
Prices & method
From $0.20 /sq ftDeck & Fence Cleaning
Grey timber brought back without furring the grain.
Prices & method
From $399Roof Cleaning
The no-pressure method that won't void your shingle warranty.
Prices & methodSee the full list on our services page, or read the Jacksonville price guide for the per-square-foot rates.
Neighbourhoods we cover in Atlantic Beach
We work throughout Atlantic Beach and the surrounding Duval County area, including:
- Selva Marina
- Old Atlantic Beach
- Ocean Grove
- Royal Palms
- Saltair
- Seminole Beach
- Atlantic Beach Country Club
- Donner
Landmarks nearby: Selva Marina Country Club, Atlantic Beach Town Center, Dutton Island Preserve, Hanna Park. If your street isn't listed, send us the address — we almost certainly cover it.