Exterior cleaning answers, one question at a time

Every page in this collection opens on one question and a short answer. The short answer is written to stand on its own: its first sentence answers the question, a yes or a no comes first when the question asks for one, and the qualifier that matters sits right beside the rule it qualifies.

The sections underneath carry the reasoning. They say which document says what, in its own words where the wording matters, and where that document stops. When a question touches an argument the site already makes at length, the answer states the conclusion in a sentence or two and links to the page that owns it. The long arguments live on the service pages and the method pages, such as how soft washing works, so an answer can stay short.

The index below groups the questions by what they are about: roofs, pavers, windows, and the Naples rules and paperwork that touch all three, a group that also holds the questions about Naples weather and about selling a home. A question that starts with a surface sometimes sits in the rules group, because its answer turns on a statute, an ordinance or a declaration rather than on the roof or the driveway itself. Words that carry a precise meaning are linked to the exterior cleaning glossary, where each one is defined on a page of its own, and each answer lists the terms it uses.

An answer rests on documents a reader can open, and most of them come from a short list of publishers. For a roof, that means the roofing makers and their associations: the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) for shingle, the Tile Roofing Industry Alliance for tile, the Metal Roofing Alliance for metal, and the makers' own bulletins. For pavers, it means the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute and the sealer makers' technical documents. For glass, it means the National Glass Association and the window makers. Weather comes from NOAA and the National Weather Service, and the rules come from the Florida Statutes, the county and city governments, and the South Florida Water Management District.

Each source row on an answer names the publisher, the document, and the revision or date that was read, and a quotation on the page is held to that document word for word. A number stays in the same sentence as the surface and the publisher that printed it, so one maker's figure for one material never becomes a general rule.

Some questions reach past cleaning, and the answers say where, and whose question the rest is. The site draws the general line in what an exterior cleaner is not; an answer adds the document that draws it for its own subject.

For roof work, that document is Florida Statutes 489.105(3)(e), which defines roofing contractor work to cover roofing, waterproofing and coating, with an exception the roof answers quote in the statute's own words. For an insurer's question about an older roof, it is 627.7011(5)(a), which lists the kinds of authorized inspector and requires every one of them to be approved by the insurer; whether a given person qualifies is the insurer's call.

Glass has its own edge. The National Glass Association separates routine cleaning from the “more aggressive cleaning and restoration techniques” it describes for glass that was improperly stored or left unprotected during construction, and a window answer that reaches that point stops there.

An association is the other common edge. For a homeowners association, Florida Statutes 720.3035(1)(a) permits the association to enforce standards for the external appearance of a structure or improvement on a parcel only to the extent they are “specifically stated or reasonably inferred” in the declaration of covenants or the published guidelines and standards it authorizes. The sections of Chapters 720 and 718 read for these answers do not name roof cleaning, paver sealing or window cleaning, so an answer can quote the statute, and the community's own declaration and guidelines decide which work needs approval.

A rule is read three ways before an answer quotes it: for the place it covers, for the condition that switches it on, and for the edition that was read.

Place comes first. The Collier County Code's water pollution division applies in the unincorporated county, and in a city only where that city opts in: the code reaches municipalities “that agree by resolution of the governing body of the municipality” to have it apply. The City of Naples has a code of its own, and the City of Bonita Springs has its own water conservation ordinance. An answer names the jurisdiction beside the rule, because an address outside it reads a different text. Which rule reaches which of the four places is taken up in which water rules cover exterior cleaning.

Condition comes second. The South Florida Water Management District's water shortage plan, Chapter 40E-21, is written in phases, and the Phase I restrictions “shall apply when a Phase I water shortage is declared by the District”, with the same construction for the later phases. Before a declaration, the district may issue a warning calling for voluntary reductions in demand. An answer about water use therefore says what a phase would restrict and points to the district's water shortage page for what is in force, rather than saying a phase is on or off.

Edition comes third. Each source row names the edition or the date of the copy that was read. Rules get amended, so the office that publishes a rule holds its current text, and a question about a specific address goes to that office.