Thursday, November 12, and the back of the house is still dark after the shower. The cedar boards hold a green film. The concrete patio beside them shines. The walk from the slider to the yard skates under a shoe that was fine on the lawn. Holiday guests start using this path this week, often after the porch light is the only light left.
Early fall was the window to clear moss before the rains. Mid-November is the film those rains have kept wet. Nanaimo receives over 1,100mm of rain a year, and a deck under Douglas fir or western red cedar does not dry between systems. Algae on wood, on composite, and on concrete is the same slick coat on three different floors.
This post stays on those floors: the deck, the patio beside it, and the walkway that joins them. The front stair is the front steps guide. The sidewalk and the door are the front entry guide. Wood decks and outdoor stairs before wet season are the October deck guide. Driveways and patio stones before the rains are the driveway and patio guide. The leaf by the bins is the side-gate guide. Cleaning is not deck repair, and it is not a new slab.
Why the backyard floors stay slick once mid-November evenings go dark
A September afternoon still puts light on a south deck. After the clocks changed on Sunday, November 1, that floor is in shade by mid-afternoon, and a north deck under western red cedar may not see the sun at all. Guests step out after dark. They do not know which board holds last night's rain.
A path that crosses three materials
The slider lands on a small landing, the landing meets a cedar or composite deck, and a step drops to a concrete patio or a paver pad. A narrow walk runs along the fence to the gate. A film that looks like dirt at noon is grease under a shoe after dark. Needles and cedar scales in the gaps keep the next board wet after the lawn has lightened.
North Nanaimo and Lantzville often have Douglas fir or western red cedar over the deck. Parksville and Qualicum Beach add Oceanside damp. Ladysmith and homes in Cedar see the same dark joints. Remembrance Day was Wednesday, November 11, and early holiday visits start this same week. The front stair can be clear while this floor is still filmed. Frost on algae is slicker than frost on bare wood. Leave it.
Algae on wood, on composite, and on concrete
The green is often algae, a thin coat, not a moss cushion you can pinch off. Moss still sits in a gap, a paver joint, or the shadow under a bench. The slip is usually the film on the flat, where a sole meets it.
Cedar and other wood
A deck board is a shelf. Rain sits in the gap. Bare cedar takes the film into the grain, and stain hides it under a coat that goes greasy when wet. A board that gives under a light step is soft. A wash will not put strength back into it. The October deck guide is the pre-rain pass. This page is that floor after the rains, plus the patio and the walk.
Composite that still films
Composite is not a plant, and it still holds algae. The cap can look clean from the door and skate once it is wet. A close jet can scar it or drive water into a cut end. Say if the boards are capped.
Concrete, pavers, and the walk between them
Broom-finished concrete holds a black film in the texture until a shoe skates. Pavers keep moss in the joint. A band only under a spilling gutter means the trough is feeding that square. Gutter cleaning with a full downspout flush belongs with that patio. The September driveway guide is the hardscape before the long rains. This post is the deck-side patio and the yard walk after those rains. A heaved paver is a mason. Cleaning will not level it.
What a shoe tells you after the shower
Walk it once while it is still wet, in the shoes guests will wear. A dry noon hides the film.
- The landing at the slider. Twist one foot. If the sole skates, that board is filmed, even when the middle of the deck looks ordinary.
- The gaps and the grooves. Cedar scales and Douglas fir needles packed in a joint keep the next board wet. Lift a mat. It hides the edge and holds water on it.
- The step down to the patio. The nosing is where a heel catches. Wood, composite, and concrete can meet in one stride.
- The walk along the house. A dark strip only under the eave is often overflow, not a dirty broom. Follow it to the downspout.
- What gives. A soft board, a spongy rim, or a rail that moves is a repair under the film. Do not ask a rinse to hide it.
Glass beside the slider is the windows guide. A storefront walk is the commercial walks guide. The stain on the wall is the foundation splash guide.
Wood, composite, and concrete are not the same wash
A close jet that suits a sound patio raises the grain on cedar and can scar a composite cap. The biology is treated first. The rinse follows the material.
| What you see underfoot | What it usually means | Sensible next step |
|---|---|---|
| Green film on sound cedar or other wood | Algae on a shelf that stays wet | Soft wash, then a gentle rinse. Keep a close jet off the grain |
| A greasy coat on capped composite | Algae on a cap that does not grow, and still slips | Treat the film. Do not scar the cap or the cut ends |
| Black film in broom concrete or on pavers | Algae in the texture, moss in the joints | Treat, then pressure washing where the slab is sound |
| A dark band only under a spilling gutter | The trough is feeding that square | Flush the downspout, then wash the floor it was soaking |
| A soft board, a rocking paver, or a rail that moves | A repair, with film on top of it | A carpenter or a mason before a wash will hold |
Soft washing puts an eco-friendly biodegradable solution on the growth at low pressure and leaves time for it to work. That is the start on cedar, on composite, and on the film across a patio. Pressure washing belongs on sound concrete after that treatment. On wood it raises the grain. On a composite cap it can leave a stripe. House washing on the wall beside the deck finishes before that floor is the clean surface. See soft washing versus pressure washing.
What a careful clean looks like
Mid-November still has mild gaps between systems. Rain mid-visit rinses a treatment before it has worked. Book the gap, and leave any dawn ice alone. The point is to lift the film, not to promise a dry floor.
- The water path first. If a gutter dumps onto the landing or the patio, flush that downspout before the floor is the finished surface.
- Roof growth next, if it sheds onto the boards. On a sound roof, moss removal and roof cleaning come first. The site FAQ says most Nanaimo roofs stay moss-free for 3-5 years with soft wash and ridge zinc strips. That claim is about the shingles, not this floor. Stay off a wet slope.
- Siding beside the deck, where a green film would rinse onto the boards. Name a bed, a pond, or a rain barrel under the eave before that rinse.
- Wood and composite with a soft wash. Dwell time, then a controlled rinse. Skip any board that gives.
- Concrete and pavers after the treatment. Pressure where the slab is sound. Ease off at a wood edge and the siding.
Move mats and the grill before wash day. A second-storey deck is a ladder on wet ground. Leave that to the crew. If this week is solid rain, book the next opening. A hose moves the needles and leaves the coat.
What a wash will not fix
A cleaner floor is easier to trust on a short evening. It is not a rebuilt deck. A soft board, a spongy rim, a rail that shifts, or a paver that rocks is contractor work. A crew can treat film on sound wood, sound composite, and sound concrete. They cannot replace a rotten board, reset a heaved patio, or turn November rain into a dry surface.
A wash removes the loose mat and the living film. Fir and cedar keep dropping. The floor will still be wet when it rains. What changes is the coat that made a wet board feel like ice. If a gutter still spills, that coat returns on the square it feeds. A stain on the ceiling under the deck means skip the heavy rinse on that bay. Cleaning is not a non-slip coating, and it is not a repair.
Questions from the back door
The deck was washed in September. Why is it green in November? September still had dry afternoons. November has shade, needle litter, and rain that does not let a north board dry. The October guide was the pass before wet season. This is the film after the rains have sat on it.
Can one wand do the wood and the concrete? The treatment can be one visit. The pressure cannot be one setting. Sound concrete can take a controlled rinse after the growth is treated. Cedar and composite take the low-pressure pass. A close jet is how a weekend job raises the grain.
Will a clean floor keep guests from slipping? It removes the film that makes a wet surface worse. Rain still wets the boards. A soft board is still a trip. Fix the structure before you trust it.
Book the floors before the guests step out
After the next shower, walk the deck, the patio, and the path to the gate in the shoes company will wear. A sole that skates, a green gap, or a dark band under the eave is the November problem on those floors. Book the sound surfaces while a mild gap still exists. A soft board, a rail that moves, or a heaved paver goes to a contractor first. Cleaning is not that repair.
On the quote form you can choose House Washing / Soft Washing, Pressure Washing, Roof Cleaning & Moss Removal, Gutter Cleaning, Window Washing, Commercial Services, Multiple Services, or Not Sure — Just Need a Quote. Ground-level photos of the deck, the landing, the patio, the walkway, and any downspout aimed at them help us size the job before we arrive. Note whether the boards are cedar, another wood, stained, painted, or composite, and whether the patio is concrete or pavers. Say if a board feels soft, if a plant bed, a pond, or a rain barrel sits under the eave, and whether the side gate is locked. We serve Nanaimo, Parksville, Lantzville, Ladysmith, Cedar, Qualicum Beach and surrounding central Vancouver Island communities, fully insured, with eco-friendly biodegradable soft-wash solutions where the growth needs treatment before a rinse. House jobs start from residential services.