Exterior cleaning programs for metro Atlanta apartment communities, condominium associations and the management companies that run them
Thrare Contracting pressure washes apartment communities across metro Atlanta for property management companies, ownership groups and on site managers, covering garden style walk ups, mid rise buildings and wrap decks. Multifamily is the strongest fit because one mobilization covers many buildings on a schedule the property already budgets.
Rare Earth Ltd, doing business as Thrare Contracting, is based in Atlanta at 8735 Dunwoody Pl, Ste R, Atlanta, GA 30350, and has operated since January 19, 2020. Rare Earth Ltd holds DBE and ACDBE certification, holds MBE certification, qualifies as a small disadvantaged business, uses E-Verify, and is registered in SAM under UEI Z4WKS4UE8NJ6 and CAGE 9JAV8. Every one of those is verifiable at vendor setup without calling us.
Resident turnover is the budget line that exterior condition quietly moves. The National Apartment Association, citing its 2019 Survey of Operating Income and Expenses in Rental Housing Communities, states that "the turnover rate across apartment rentals averaged 46.8 percent last year", that "the average cost of a single move-out was conservatively calculated at $1,800", and that "for a 200-unit community, that totals more than $168,000 in annual turnover expenses" (National Apartment Association, Apartment Turnover, read 2026-09-02). The 46.8 percent figure is the 2019 survey result republished in NAA guidance dated March 2025, and is a 2019 number rather than a current one.
NAA also records the pace: "many companies in the industry use seven (7) working days as an average guideline to turn an apartment home", while "management groups frequently expect five working days (5) and at times, only three (3) working days". Five days leaves no room for a contractor who arrives late or leaves a breezeway wet at 5 p.m.
An apartment pressure washing scope covers every horizontal surface a resident walks on and every vertical surface a prospect looks at, named building by building.
Pressure washing on an occupied community runs building by building, so the only area out of service is the building being worked.
An apartment pressure washing quote is priced on six inputs: building count, stories, cladding type, square footage of walkway and parking surface, access, and visit frequency. The quote names all six so a manager can check the arithmetic against the next bid.
Thrare Contracting publishes no per unit price here. A price quoted without seeing the cladding, the water source and the drainage path is a guess dressed as a number.
For brickwork, the Brick Industry Association publishes a hard ceiling. Technical Notes on Brick Construction 20, "Cleaning Brickwork", August 2018, states: "Do not use water pressures higher than 400 psi (2800 kPa) as measured at the nozzle tip unless permitted by brick manufacturer" (Brick Industry Association, read 2026-09-02). The same document rules one class out entirely: "High pressure: Greater than 800 psi (5600 kPa). High-pressure water cleaning is not appropriate for brick and may damage the brickwork."
Technique is specified as tightly as pressure. The Brick Industry Association directs the operator to "use a 25 to 50 deg. fan-shaped stainless steel nozzle tip, and maintain a distance of 12 in. (305 mm) minimum between the nozzle tip and the brick surface", and to measure pressure at the tip rather than at the pump. For applying cleaning solution the limit is lower still: "No more than 50 psi (350 kPa) of pressure should be used, because higher pressure can force the cleaning solution deep into the masonry to become a source of future staining." Before production starts, the standard calls for a test: "Perform trial cleaning on a 20 sq ft (2 m2) sample area and allow wall to dry before evaluating results."
Much of metro Atlanta garden style multifamily stock is brick veneer over frame. Mortar removed by an overpowered tip is a water intrusion path into a wall assembly, and the repair costs multiples of the wash, so a manager comparing bids should ask each bidder what pressure they run at the tip on brick. Painted stucco, EIFS, vinyl and fiber cement each carry their own limits, and none tolerate what a contractor uses on a concrete drive lane.
Wash water from an apartment community stays on the property. A storm drain in a parking lot is not connected to a treatment plant, and the rule governing what may enter that system is federal. Under 40 CFR 122.26(b)(2), an illicit discharge is "any discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer that is not composed entirely of storm water except discharges pursuant to a NPDES permit (other than the NPDES permit for discharges from the municipal separate storm sewer) and discharges resulting from fire fighting activities" (40 CFR 122.26, via the Cornell Legal Information Institute, read 2026-08-31).
The United States Environmental Protection Agency states that "the NPDES stormwater program regulates some stormwater discharges from three potential sources: municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s), construction activities, and industrial activities" (EPA, NPDES Stormwater Program, page last updated May 4, 2026, read 2026-08-31). An apartment community's parking lot inlets discharge into one of those municipal systems.
Wash water off a breezeway or a dumpster pad carries sediment, food residue, oil and grease and applied cleaner, so it is not composed entirely of storm water, and no apartment community holds an NPDES permit for washing a walkway. The compliance path is containment: mat the inlets, direct runoff to a vegetated area where soil does the filtering, and vacuum recover the rest. In Georgia the NPDES stormwater program is administered by the Environmental Protection Division's Watershed Protection Branch (Georgia EPD, Stormwater, read 2026-08-31).
For a HUD assisted apartment community, exterior cleanliness is scored against published deficiency criteria with measurements attached.
HUD's NSPIRE Litter standard, version 3.0, published 06/20/23, defines the outside deficiency as "10 or more small items of litter (e.g., food wrappers, pieces of food, newspapers) are present within a 10-foot by 10-foot area not designated for garbage", Outside, HUD classes that deficiency as Low with a 60 day correction timeframe (HUD, NSPIRE Standard, Litter, read 2026-09-02).
HUD's NSPIRE Trip Hazard standard, version 3.0, published 08/11/23, cites "an unintended 3/4-inch or greater vertical difference" or "an unintended 2-inch or greater horizontal separation that is perpendicular to the path of travel" classed as Moderate with a 30 day correction timeframe (HUD, NSPIRE Standard, Trip Hazard, read 2026-09-02). A washed walkway is where a crew finds one, which is why the closeout report lists them.
The Mold-Like Substance standard, version 3.0, published 08/11/23, carries the distinction most exterior cleaning marketing gets wrong: "Note that algae are not mold-like substances (algae are grass-green)." HUD lists the Outside location for that standard as None, so green growth on a north facing Atlanta breezeway wall is not a mold citation under NSPIRE (HUD, NSPIRE Standard, Mold-Like Substance, read 2026-09-02). Removing it is a curb appeal and slip resistance decision, not mold remediation.
Stated plainly: NSPIRE governs HUD assisted and HUD insured housing, not conventional market rate apartments, and a conventional community has no NSPIRE score. A market rate asset manager can adopt the same thresholds as a house standard without any obligation to.
Two full property cleanings a year is the base cycle for a metro Atlanta apartment community, with dumpster pads and breezeways on a shorter interval than the buildings.
Atlanta's calendar sets the timing. Tree pollen coats every horizontal surface from late February through April, so a February wash is undone by March and a late April wash holds. Hardwood leaf drop runs through November and stains concrete where leaves sit wet.
Rainfall is the other input. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration puts the twelve 1991 to 2020 monthly precipitation normals for Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport at a summed 50.43 inches, against the separately published annual normal of 49.71 inches for the same station (NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Monthly Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00013874, read 2026-08-31). Shaded damp concrete turns a walkway green between visits, so buildings tight to a wooded buffer earn a shorter interval.
Exterior cleaning is cheapest when it shares a mobilization with work the community was already scheduling.
Thrare Contracting sets pressure by cladding. The Brick Industry Association, in Technical Notes on Brick Construction 20 dated August 2018, states "Do not use water pressures higher than 400 psi (2800 kPa) as measured at the nozzle tip unless permitted by brick manufacturer", and classes anything above 800 psi as not appropriate for brick. Cleaning solution is applied at no more than 50 psi, after a trial clean on a 20 square foot sample area.
An apartment community is washed building by building, so the only area out of service at any moment is the drop zone beside the building being worked. Thrare Contracting cones that zone, works it, clears it and moves on, which keeps the parking count intact. Structured decks and large lots are cleaned in sections overnight.
Wash water stays on the property. Under 40 CFR 122.26(b)(2) an illicit discharge is any discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer not composed entirely of storm water, absent an NPDES permit, and no apartment community holds a permit for washing a walkway. Thrare Contracting mats the inlets, directs runoff to a vegetated area where soil does the filtering, and vacuum recovers the rest.
Two full property cleanings a year is the base cycle, one in late April after tree pollen ends and ahead of peak leasing, and one in late November after hardwood leaf drop. Dumpster pads, compactor slabs and breezeways run on a shorter interval, as do buildings under a wooded buffer.
Each visit closes with a per building report: timestamped before and after photographs organized by building, a scope summary, and a punch list of anything found outside the cleaning scope, such as a failed sealant joint or a walkway trip hazard. Certificates of insurance naming the required additional insureds are issued at vendor setup.
Rare Earth Ltd, doing business as Thrare Contracting, holds DBE and ACDBE certification, holds MBE certification, qualifies as a small disadvantaged business, uses E-Verify, and is registered in SAM under UEI Z4WKS4UE8NJ6 and CAGE 9JAV8. Rare Earth Ltd does not hold HUBZone, 8(a) or SOC 2 status and does not represent otherwise.
Send the building count, the unit count and the cladding type, or the site plan. Serving metro Atlanta from Atlanta, GA 30350.