Integrity Pro Washers Team
Professional pressure washing and soft washing specialists serving San Diego County.
Last updated: 2026-05-11
Why Mission Hills stucco needs a different approach
Mission Hills stucco homes built before 1950 use original wood lath behind the stucco. We soft wash these at roughly 100 PSI with a sodium hypochlorite mix at 0.5 to 1% strength. Anything above 1,500 PSI risks driving water behind the lath and rotting the framing. Most jobs take us two to four hours and run $385 to $625.
Last updated: May 2026
We covered nine houses in Mission Hills in April. Three of them were on Sunset Boulevard and Fort Stockton Drive. The other six were scattered between Allen Terrace and the streets backing up to Presidio Park. Every job looked different by the time we pulled off the truck.
The lath problem nobody warns new owners about
Most of these homes are 80 to 110 years old. The original stucco was hand-troweled over wood lath nailed to the framing. The lath is soft, the nails are corroded, and the stucco has hairline cracks you cannot see from the curb.
If you hit that with a pressure washer at 2,500 PSI, water finds the crack. Water sits on the lath. The lath rots. You do not see the damage for 18 months. Then a section of stucco falls off in a winter storm.
We stopped pressure washing pre-war stucco in 2021. Every Mission Hills wash since then has been a true soft wash.
What soft washing actually means on a Mission Hills job
Pressure under 150 PSI. Most of the work is chemistry, not water force. The mix is sodium hypochlorite plus a surfactant that lets the bleach cling to the wall instead of running off in 10 seconds. We let it dwell, then rinse with low pressure.
Algae and mildew die at the cellular level. The stucco does not get blasted. The lath stays dry behind the wall.
What we charged in April
The nine houses ranged from a small single-story on Trias Street at $385 to a 2,800 square foot Spanish revival near Pine Street at $625. The middle of the pack landed around $475 to $525.
Coastal salt drift from the bay matters here. Mission Hills sits high enough that salt fog rolls up the slope on overcast mornings. The salt mixes with airborne dust and bakes into the stucco surface under summer sun. By spring the south-facing walls are noticeably grayer than the north-facing ones. We see the same pattern in Bankers Hill but it is worse in Mission Hills because the elevation pulls more marine layer.
HOA and historic district rules
Parts of Mission Hills are inside the Mission Hills Historic District. The historic designation does not block exterior cleaning, but it does limit what you can do if you find damaged stucco mid-wash. If we open up a soft section, we stop work, document it, and the owner has to involve a licensed stucco contractor before any patch goes on. We have had that conversation twice in the last year. Both owners were grateful we caught it before painting over the damage.
Comparison: pressure washing versus soft washing on Mission Hills stucco
| Factor | Pressure washing | Soft washing |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure at the wand | 2,000 to 3,500 PSI | Under 150 PSI |
| Risk of driving water behind lath | High on pre-1950 homes | Very low |
| Kill rate on algae and mildew | Surface only | Root level |
| Typical time on a 2,000 sq ft home | 2 to 3 hours | 2 to 4 hours |
| How long results last | 6 to 9 months | 18 to 24 months |
What to do before booking
Walk the perimeter. Look for hairline cracks at the base of windows and where the stucco meets the foundation. Note any soft spots where the stucco gives slightly under thumb pressure. That is the lath telling you it is already compromised.
Tell whoever quotes the job about those spots before they start spraying. A real Mission Hills pressure washing crew will adjust the method or refuse the work, not power through it.
We cover Mission Hills on the same route days as Hillcrest, Bankers Hill, and our main Mission Hills service area page. If you had us out for a wash on Sunset or Fort Stockton recently, we would love to hear about it on our Google profile, and mentioning Mission Hills in the review helps neighbors find us.