Bon Air is the oldest neighborhood we work in on the Chesterfield side of the river, and it needs a different approach from the subdivisions around it. Late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century houses, original masonry, painted wood, and a tree canopy that has had a very long time to fill in.
📞 Call or Text (804) 571-7226 Get a Free Quote Most quotes go out the same day.
Why Bon Air is handled differently
Most of Chesterfield is post-war and forgiving. Bon Air is not. Houses here have genuinely old brick with soft lime mortar, original wood siding and trim carrying multiple generations of paint, and porch structures that were not built with pressure washers in mind.
What that means on site: every masonry job starts with a mortar test and a test panel, paint adhesion gets checked before anything is wetted, and pressure stays off the building entirely. This is the same approach we use in the Fan and Church Hill, applied on the other side of the river.
Shade, damp, and old wood
The tree cover in Bon Air is the oldest and densest in the county, and it keeps north elevations damp for most of the year. On modern vinyl that means an annual green film and little else. On hundred-year-old painted wood it matters more, because persistent moisture is what lifts paint and what lets mildew get into the grain.
Catching it on a regular cycle is genuinely cheaper here than anywhere else we work, because the alternative is not a dirtier house — it is a repaint.
Services we run in Bon Air
- House washing — low-pressure soft wash for vinyl, Hardie, brick veneer and painted wood.
- Roof cleaning — chemical treatment for the black streaking and moss that shaded roofs grow here.
- Driveway and concrete — surface-cleaned driveways, walkways, patios and pool decks.
- Deck and fence — wood-safe cleaning and stain prep.
- Brick and masonry — veneer and historic, at pressures that do not touch the mortar.
- Commercial — storefronts, offices and community common areas.
Published prices for all of it are on the Richmond pricing page, and the same numbers apply in Bon Air. We do not charge more because of the zip code.
Where Bon Air is, and what counts as Bon Air
Bon Air is an unincorporated community in Chesterfield County, sitting just south-west of the Richmond city line either side of Buford Road. It began life as a Victorian resort town, which is why the housing is older than almost anything else in Chesterfield and why the streets do not follow the subdivision grid you find further out.
In practice we treat Bon Air as everything around Buford, McRae, Rockaway and Polk, the 23235 and 23225 stretch, and the streets that run down toward Stratford Hills and Westover Hills on the city side. If you are unsure which side of a boundary you are on, give the street name rather than the ZIP — that settles it immediately. The name is also frequently typed as “Bel Air”, which is the same place.
Pressure washing, power washing, soft washing on older houses
Power washing means heated water and pressure cleaning is another name for the same job, but on Bon Air housing the term that matters is soft washing — garden-hose pressure with a cleaning solution doing the work instead of force.
Old painted wood is the reason. High pressure on hundred-year-old siding lifts paint, opens joints and drives water into end grain that will not dry out again before spring. Aluminium dents. Older brick and its mortar are softer than modern equivalents and can be eroded outright. So on most of this housing the answer is soft wash on everything vertical, chemistry rather than pressure on the roof, and pressure reserved for concrete and hardscape through a surface cleaner. There is a fuller explanation on the soft washing vs pressure washing page, and the masonry side on the brick and historic masonry page.
Choosing a company for an older Bon Air house
The questions worth asking here are slightly different from the ones you would ask in a 2005 subdivision, because the ways to do damage are different.
Ask what pressure goes on painted wood — the right answer is very little, and a contractor who shrugs at the question is the one to avoid. Ask whether the mortar has been looked at before anything touches the brick. Ask how the plant beds are protected, because mature planting close to the house is the norm on these lots. Ask whether the roof is treated with chemistry rather than pressure. And ask for the quote in writing with each surface priced, so nothing gets “discovered” mid-job. Published prices are on the pressure washing cost page.
Common questions about pressure washing in Bon Air
Is my Bon Air house too old to pressure wash?
Very likely too old to pressure wash, yes — and that is fine, because we would not do that anyway. Old painted wood and soft masonry get low-pressure soft washing with chemistry doing the work.
How do I know if my mortar is lime?
Age is the first clue and most of Bon Air’s original masonry qualifies. The reliable check is a test in a hidden spot, which we do before planning anything.
Will washing damage my old paint?
Not if paint adhesion is checked first. If paint is already lifting, washing accelerates it — so we look, we show you where, and we stop rather than making it worse.
Can you clean an old porch and its columns?
Yes, carefully. Porch woodwork is usually the most weathered part of a Bon Air house and the most rewarding to clean, but it is detail work rather than a quick pass.
Do you work on the historic homes near the old resort area?
Yes. Older Bon Air properties get the same approach we use in Richmond’s historic districts — test panel, chemistry, no high pressure at any point.
How often should an older Bon Air home be washed?
Annually is reasonable under that tree cover, and it is cheaper than the repaint that persistent damp eventually causes.
Is Bon Air in Chesterfield County or Richmond?
Chesterfield County, right against the Richmond city line either side of Buford Road — which is why searches return a mix of both. Either way it is inside the normal service area, along with Stratford Hills and Westover Hills. It is often mis-typed “Bel Air”; same place.
My house is old painted wood. Is pressure washing safe?
Not at pressure, no. Old painted wood gets soft washed at garden-hose pressure with a cleaning solution; high pressure lifts paint and drives water into end grain. Pressure is reserved for concrete and hardscape.
📞 Call or Text (804) 571-7226 Get a Free Quote Most quotes go out the same day.