Driveways, stairs, retaining walls, decks, patios and siding cleaned by an insured crew, from Capitol Hill down to the Big Bend, with the water stage checked before we book you in.
Burnaby is not one climate, it is a staircase. Under Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1981–2010 Canadian Climate Normals, the Simon Fraser University station on Burnaby Mountain, at 365.8 m elevation, records 2,009.9 mm of precipitation a year over 183.1 days with measurable precipitation. The Capitol Hill station, at 182.9 m, records 1,946.2 mm. Vancouver International Airport, at 4.3 m and about 21 km away, records 1,189.0 mm. The top of Burnaby takes roughly 69 per cent more precipitation a year than the airport figure most people quote.
That extra water lands on a lot of north-facing slope and a lot of second-growth conifer. Capitol Hill, Westridge, Burnaby Heights, Forest Grove, Government Road and the SFU side of the mountain combine shade, damp and constant needle litter, which is the recipe for moss on concrete and black algae film on siding. Down on the flat, around Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake and the Big Bend, the issue is less about slope and more about surfaces that simply never dry out.
The work splits along the same line. On the hill it is steep driveways, stone retaining walls, stairs and large cedar decks, and runoff has to be managed so it does not sheet into the yard below. Around Brentwood, Metrotown, Edmonds and Highgate a large share of the job list is strata and townhouse common property: shared walkways, entries, visitor parking and parkade ramps that go slick over the winter.
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Burnaby is supplied by the Greater Vancouver Water District, and outdoor water use here is governed by Metro Vancouver’s Drinking Water Conservation Plan. Stage 1 comes into effect automatically every year from 1 May to 15 October. From Stage 2 onward the plan restricts “washing impermeable surfaces”: driveways, walkways, decks, siding.
The detail worth knowing is the exemption. At Stage 2, washing impermeable surfaces is prohibited “except if for a health or safety reason, preparing a surface for painting or similar treatment, or aesthetic cleaning by a commercial cleaning operation.” A homeowner running their own pressure washer purely for appearance is offside at Stage 2; a commercial cleaning operation is not. At Stage 3 that aesthetic exemption disappears and only health-and-safety cleaning or surface preparation by a commercial operation is permitted. At Stage 4 it is prohibited except when ordered by a regulatory authority for a health or safety reason. The plan also notes its restrictions apply only to Greater Vancouver Water District drinking water, not to rain water, grey water or recycled water.
Metro Vancouver publishes the stage currently in force on its water restrictions page. As of August 2026, Stage 2 has applied region-wide since 16 July 2026. We check the stage before every Burnaby booking and tell you plainly which category your job falls into, rather than quietly washing something we should not.
Get a free estimateDifferent surfaces need genuinely different pressure. Mixing them up is how driveways get striped and roofs get ruined.
We look at surface type, slope, drainage, water access and anything fragile nearby before a single trigger is pulled, then confirm the current water stage with you.
Roofs, painted siding and cedar get low pressure and a cleaning solution instead of force. The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association is blunt about this: never use a pressure washer on an asphalt shingle roof, because it causes granule loss and likely premature failure of the roof system.
Concrete, aggregate, pavers and stone get a rotating surface cleaner rather than a hand wand, so you get an even finish with no zebra striping and no etched lines.
We flush runoff away from planting beds and away from the property below, rinse the surrounding area, put furniture back and walk the job with you before we leave.
We are based at 345 Kelvin Grove Way in Lions Bay and run Burnaby on the same schedule as the North Shore, hilltop to foreshore.
Yes. Burnaby is supplied by the Greater Vancouver Water District, so Metro Vancouver’s Drinking Water Conservation Plan sets the stage. At Stage 2 washing impermeable surfaces is prohibited “except if for a health or safety reason, preparing a surface for painting or similar treatment, or aesthetic cleaning by a commercial cleaning operation”, and we are a commercial cleaning operation. At Stage 3 that aesthetic exemption is gone. We confirm the stage in effect on your booking date.
Measurably, yes. The 1981–2010 climate normals put the Simon Fraser University station at 2,009.9 mm of precipitation a year and the Capitol Hill station at 1,946.2 mm, against 1,189.0 mm at Vancouver International Airport. If your property is on the slope, expect moss to come back faster than a friend down on the flats tells you it should.
Not the way we do it. Those surfaces get a low-pressure soft wash, not high pressure. The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association warns that a pressure washer on asphalt shingles causes granule loss and likely premature failure of the roof system, so we do not use one there. Cedar and painted surfaces get the same gentle treatment.
Yes. Shared walkways, entries, visitor parking, garbage enclosures and parkade ramps are a regular part of our Burnaby work. We can schedule around resident parking and quote the common property separately from any individual unit work so the strata has a clean line item.
Exterior cleaning in the Burnaby market is typically quoted by the work in front of it: square footage of hard surface, linear footage of siding, number of storeys, rather than by the hour. Steep hillside driveways, tight truck access and long hose runs generally push a quote up. We will not put a number on your job from a web page. Call 236-984-0598 or send the address and we will give you a real, no-obligation figure.
RipTide Exterior Cleaning is fully insured and our WorkSafeBC coverage is in good standing, and we hold an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Your property and our crew are covered on every job.
Tell us the address and what you would like cleaned, house or strata. We will confirm the current water stage, then send back a clear, no-obligation quote.
