Brick cleaning in Columbia for the older homes around Five Points and Melrose Heights. A mortar-safe soft wash that clears the green off historic brick without blowing out the joints.
Free & in person · No obligation · We come to you, no trip fee
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Our Work
The right tool for the job
How an old brick wall gets damaged
What older brick actually needs
Free, in person · no trip fee · we come to you
No surprises, straight answers
It can, and on an older home that's the real risk, not the brick, the mortar. A hard tip cuts soft, aged mortar straight out of the joints and drives water behind the wall. That's exactly why we soft wash a historic wall: low pressure, with the cleaning solution doing the lifting, so the joints stay intact and nothing gets forced into the brick.
That's efflorescence, mineral salt pushed out of the masonry as moisture moves through, and it shows up a lot on older brick near the river. It's not growth, so the wash won't lift it. We can dry-brush and treat it to reduce how it shows, but it returns as long as water keeps moving salts out. No one erases it for good, and we'll say so up front.
That tint is iron from the Midlands clay, not algae, so it's a separate treatment from the green. Even then, deep clay staining may only lighten, and an old set-in stain can barely move; we won't promise it gone. We'll tell you up front what'll come up and what's likely there to stay before we touch it.
Yes. On an older home with mature landscaping we soak every bed and foundation planting before we start and rinse them all down after. The cleaning solution only causes trouble if it's left to dry on foliage, and we don't let that happen. Your plants stay wet the whole job.
Once it's rinsed and dried, yes. We rinse the brick and the ground around it thoroughly so nothing's left sitting on the surface. Just give it time to dry like you would after a good Midlands rain, and you're fine.
Yes. Bub's is veteran-owned, licensed, and fully insured, which counts for something when the work is happening on a historic wall with soft old mortar. You're covered before we set up, and the owner and his crew are the ones reading your joints and running the wash, not a stranger sent in their place.
The crew that covers Columbia
Veteran-owned and local. The same people who answer the phone are the ones who show up at your Columbia home.
Founder · Veteran
Veteran, business owner, and the one behind every job. Conner built Bub's on the idea that South Carolina homeowners deserve better.
Certified Technician
Trained and certified through our in-house program, Riley brings precision to every job. When Riley’s on-site, your property is in good hands.
Head of Marketing
The creative force behind the brand. Jayden drives the strategy that keeps Bub's growing and in front of the right customers.
Getting your quote, step by step
Lining up a brick quote is easy, and the price comes off a real read of your wall and joints. Here's how it goes from your first message to a number you can trust.
Call or fill out the form and tell us what you've got: the brick, the green on the shaded side, a white chalky bloom, a rusty stain near the downspout. That's all the booking team needs to get you started.
Someone reaches back fast, often the same day, and locks in a time that fits. A real person stays in touch about who's coming and when, so you're not stuck waiting on a callback.
Before any water runs, a tech walks the wall with you: how aged the mortar is, where the joints are worn, which faces grow the most, and whether the white bloom is efflorescence or the rust is red-clay iron. That's what sets the method and the honest expectations.
The tech sizes up your actual brick and gives you a straight price on the spot. Free, no obligation, no trip fee. Give the go-ahead and we get to work.
30 seconds · we come to you, no trip fee
Around Columbia
Get started in Columbia
Reach out for a free in-person estimate and we'll look at your brick up close before we give you a number.
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No trip fee in Columbia
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Free, no pressure, ever
30 seconds, and we come to you with no trip fee.
Questions, answered
Straight high pressure isn't, and that's the trap on an older Columbia home. The brick itself is tough, but the mortar is soft and worn, and a hard tip cuts it right out of the joints and forces water behind the wall. We soft wash instead. Low pressure, with the cleaning solution doing the work, so the growth comes off and the old joints stay put.
That's efflorescence, mineral salt working its way out of the masonry as moisture moves through the wall, and it's common on older brick near the river. It's not algae, so the wash won't lift it. We can dry-brush and treat it to reduce how much it shows, but it can come back as long as water keeps moving through the brick. It's honest to say nobody clears it for good.
Maybe, and I'll be straight before we start. That rusty tint is iron from the Midlands red clay, not growth, so the cleaning solution that handles the green won't touch it. It takes a separate treatment, and even then deep clay staining may only lighten. Sometimes it barely moves. We'll show you what to expect and we won't promise it gone.
On Columbia's older homes we almost always soft wash. Brick can take pressure on a newer wall, but around Five Points and Melrose Heights the mortar's aged and softer, and the cleaning solution does the real work anyway, so soft wash gets it clean without forcing water into the joints or behind the trim. We'll look at your wall and tell you straight.
Brick holds growth less than siding, but the river-valley humidity still greens the shaded faces over time. Most homes around here do fine on about a about every year-and-a-half to two years rhythm. Sooner if your place sits low near the Congaree or stays shaded most of the day under older trees.
We do. All over Columbia and the Midlands, from Five Points and Melrose Heights out toward the river and the older brick streets nearby. We come to you, no trip fee. If you're right on the edge of the area, reach out anyway and we'll let you know.
Columbia-area customers
Bub’s Pressure Washing/ Soft Washing of our subdivision brick walls was amazing! They are owned and operated by Veterans who are continuing to serve us by providing excellent and professional work for a reasonable price. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
Linda Byars
Google · 2 weeks ago
Professional crew and great work. Listened to concerns on care related to custom brick finishes and delivered a great clean. Will be using them again.
Edmund Booth
Google · a week ago
First time using a company to clean the exterior of our home, because I’m very particular. We could not be more pleased. The cleaning of paint trim, gutters and windows exceeded expectations. The two young men performing the work were exceptionally polite and hard working. We’ll schedule their service again.
Robert Long
Google · a week ago
The entire crew from Bub’s were professional and on time. They Completed the work in a timely manner and I was very satisfied with the end result. I recommend Bub’s for any of your pressure washing needs.
Marian Newman
Google · a month ago
I get my house cleaned every year and it’s never been cleaner.From the gutters to the windows and walls. Highly recommend Bub’s. I definitely will be using them for all my exterior cleaning for now on. Thanks
Ricci Borcky
Google · a month ago
Outstanding team of hard-working, trustworthy veterans - serving their communities with the same professionalism as they served their Country. Highly recommend Bub’s for all your pressure washing needs!
Doug Collier
Google · a month ago
Bub’s Pressure Washing/ Soft Washing of our subdivision brick walls was amazing! They are owned and operated by Veterans who are continuing to serve us by providing excellent and professional work for a reasonable price. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
Linda Byars
Google · 2 weeks ago
Professional crew and great work. Listened to concerns on care related to custom brick finishes and delivered a great clean. Will be using them again.
Edmund Booth
Google · a week ago
First time using a company to clean the exterior of our home, because I’m very particular. We could not be more pleased. The cleaning of paint trim, gutters and windows exceeded expectations. The two young men performing the work were exceptionally polite and hard working. We’ll schedule their service again.
Robert Long
Google · a week ago
The entire crew from Bub’s were professional and on time. They Completed the work in a timely manner and I was very satisfied with the end result. I recommend Bub’s for any of your pressure washing needs.
Marian Newman
Google · a month ago
I get my house cleaned every year and it’s never been cleaner.From the gutters to the windows and walls. Highly recommend Bub’s. I definitely will be using them for all my exterior cleaning for now on. Thanks
Ricci Borcky
Google · a month ago
Outstanding team of hard-working, trustworthy veterans - serving their communities with the same professionalism as they served their Country. Highly recommend Bub’s for all your pressure washing needs!
Doug Collier
Google · a month ago
Brick Cleaning in Columbia, Soda City
A lot of the brick around here has been standing a long time: the bungalows off Five Points, the established homes in Melrose Heights, the older streets nearby. River-valley humidity off the Saluda and Broad sits on the shaded brick faces and grows algae and mildew fast, and those hot Soda City summers only feed it. The wrong move on an older wall is a pressure washer cranked up high. It'll cut the soft old mortar straight out of the joints and drive water back behind the brick. So we soft wash instead: a cleaning solution kills the growth down in the face of the brick, we give it time to work, then rinse it even. Gentle on aged mortar, and the brick comes back one clean color without anything getting forced into the wall.
Columbia sits where the Saluda and Broad rivers meet to form the Congaree, and that river-valley humidity, paired with some of the hottest summers in South Carolina, is exactly why exteriors here grow algae so fast. From the older brick around Shandon and Five Points to the homes in Forest Acres and out toward Lake Murray, the Midlands' iron-rich red clay leaves a rusty tint on top of the green, and a garden hose won't touch either one.
In Childs, Riverview Terrace, and Gardendale, or anywhere else around Columbia, we come to you for brick cleaning, no trip fee.
While we're at your Columbia place, we can knock out your house washing, roof cleaning, and window cleaning too, all on the same trip with no second trip fee.
Veteran-owned, and we treat your home like it's ours.
Free, in-person estimate · we come to you, no trip fee
Our process, step by step
Here's the whole run on an established brick wall around Five Points or Melrose Heights. Gentle on aged mortar, even across the face, and we'll talk you through what we're doing at each joint.
Before any water runs, we look the brick and the joints over. On older Columbia homes the mortar is softer and the joints can be worn, so we check for loose or missing mortar and find the shaded north faces where the river humidity grows the most. We'd rather know what we're working with than find a crumbling joint halfway through.
Every bed, shrub, and foundation planting around the house gets a heavy drink and stays wet the whole time. Our cleaning solution is hard on foliage if it dries on it, so on an old home with mature landscaping this isn't optional. It's how your beds come through untouched.
The cleaning solution goes on at low pressure and gets real time to kill the algae and mildew down in the face of the brick, not just rinse the green off the top. Low pressure is the whole point here: a hard tip cuts soft old mortar out of the joints and pushes water behind the wall, and we won't do that to a historic home.
A gentle rinse pulls it to one uniform color, and we hit the eaves and the shaded sides where growth holds on. If there's white efflorescence bloom or rusty red-clay staining, we point it out. Those are mineral and iron, not growth, so they take their own treatment and we'll tell you straight what'll move and what won't.
