The photographer is booked for Thursday morning. It's Monday afternoon. You walked the property with your agent over the weekend and finally saw what the camera is going to see — green tint on the north siding, a black streak running down the gutter, a driveway that hasn't been cleaned since you bought the house. Photos go live Friday. You've got three days. Maybe.

You pull into the driveway one evening and the late sun is hitting the north slope at the right angle. There it is — a dark streak running down toward the gutter, three or four shingle courses wide. Wasn't there last fall. Or it was, and you didn't notice. Either way, it's there now.

If you've noticed dark black streaks running down your roof, you're seeing one of the most common roof staining problems — and it's not dirt or simple weathering. Those streaks are a living growth, and they spread and worsen if left alone. Understanding what causes the black streaks and how to safely remove them, helps you restore your roof's appearance and protect it. Here's what's behind those streaks.

If your siding has developed green, black, or dark patches and streaks, you're likely looking at algae and mold growth — a common problem, especially in humid climates and shaded areas. It's not just unsightly; it indicates conditions on your siding that favor growth, and it spreads if left alone. Understanding why algae and mold grow on siding, and how to safely remove and prevent them, helps you keep your home's exterior clean. Here's what's going on.

You walk the property on the first Monday of the quarter, clipboard in hand. The east-facing brick on Building A is mottled green where the gutters drip. The aluminum awning has a halo of black streaks the marketing team mentioned twice last month. Building B — across the lot, same age, same finish, same exposure — looks like a different property. White concrete. Clean panels. No streaks above the door.

A roof streaked or patched with green or black isn't just weathered — those stains are living organic growth, and the color often hints at what's growing. Algae, mold, and moss all stain roofs, thrive in similar damp conditions, and can affect the roof over time. Understanding what causes the green and black stains, and how to safely clean them, helps you restore and protect your roof. Here's what those colors mean and what to do.

You walk out on the deck the first warm Saturday of the year, coffee in hand. The boards are dull and gray. There's a soft spot near the rail where the screwhead has sunk a quarter inch into the wood. The corner board cups upward like a potato chip. A splinter the size of a toothpick lifts under your bare foot.

Cleaning your home's exterior can be done in more than one way — and choosing the right one matters not just for results but for protecting your surfaces. The two main approaches, pressure washing and soft washing, work very differently and suit different surfaces. Using the wrong one can damage your home. Understanding the difference helps you know which surfaces you need. Here's the comparison.

Keeping your home's exterior clean does more than boost curb appeal — it protects the surfaces from the buildup that can degrade them. But how often should you actually wash it? There's a general guideline, but the right frequency depends on your home's environment and conditions. Understanding what affects it helps you keep your home clean and protected on the right schedule. Here's what to know.

It's a Tuesday night. Three printed quotes are spread across the kitchen table — one for the house wash, one for the driveway, one for the gutters. The house wash is more than you thought. The driveway quote feels fair. The gutter line has a minimum charge that looks steep for forty minutes of work. Total: $885.

You have got three roof cleaning quotes spread out on the kitchen table. One says $375 flat. One says $620 with a paragraph of fine print. The third is $890 and includes a breakdown that runs to half a page. Same roof. Three companies. A $515 spread.

The crew is packing up the hoses. Your driveway is dark with water and a shade lighter than it's looked in years. The owner stands at the edge of the slab and asks a question you weren't ready for: do you want to seal it before we leave? It's another six hundred dollars. He says today is the day to do it, not next month. The truck is running. You're staring at concrete you barely recognize. And you have about three minutes to decide.

You walk up to your front door at six in the morning, keys in hand. The sidewalk under the awning has gum stains from last weekend's foot traffic. The lower three feet of the glass has fingerprints from kids and a coffee splash someone never wiped. The awning has black streaks along the top edge. And the lights under the canopy show greasy halos around each bulb.

You are pulling out of the driveway when you look up. The roof has streaks. Long dark trails running off the ridge on the north side, fanning down the asphalt like rain that dried wrong. The south face still looks clean. You hadn't noticed because the angle from the porch hides it. From the street it's the first thing you see.

You walk the perimeter of the house with the quote on your phone. The vinyl on the north side has a green cast you can see from the street. There is a black drip line running below the gutter on the east elevation. The dormer above the front porch is too high to reach with a step ladder, and the back of the house faces a treeline that drops debris on the roof every fall. Three different companies have given you three different numbers. One came in at $279. One at $650. One at $1,150.

You are standing on the porch with two quotes in your hand. One company wants to pressure wash the house, the roof, the patio, and the deck for one price. The other company wants to soft wash the house and the roof, pressure wash the patio, and won't touch the deck without a separate plan. Same property. Different numbers. Different methods.

It's the third week of February. The HOA treasurer is staring at a draft budget with a line that reads "Exterior cleaning — TBD." The entrance monument has green streaks down the brick from last summer. The pool deck closed in October with a slick film starting on the north end. The kiosks show black drip lines. Two homeowners have already emailed about the sidewalks.

An inch of black silt in the bottom of a guarded gutter. That's what we pull out by the bucketful three years after the installation, on the homes where the salesman said, "never clean your gutters again." The top of the guard looks fine from the ladder — a little leaf debris, easy to brush off. Pop a section loose and the trough underneath is wet, packed, and not going anywhere on its own.

A property manager calls. Her four-story office building had its facade cleaned three months ago, and the contractor used a 4,000-PSI rig. The brick on the lower floors looks fine. The EIFS panels above the parapet line look like someone took an ice cream scoop to them — dimples, pock marks, soft edges along every joint. She wants to know what happened.

You walk out the back of the warehouse on a Tuesday morning. The forklift driver wheels a pallet of cardboard past you, dumps it into the compactor, and rolls back inside. You glance down at the concrete pad. There's a dark ring radiating maybe four feet out from the base of the dumpster. The middle is almost black. The edge fades into a gray tide-mark on the pad. You had this concrete pressure-washed three months ago. The halo is back, bigger than before.