Pressure washing and surface prep · St. Lucie County
Pressure washing and surface prep in St. Lucie County
Prep decides how long a repaint lasts, and in St. Lucie County it is also where a job most easily breaks the rules. Water off a painted wall carries chips, chalk and cleaner, and County Ordinance 07-005 bars it from the storm system.
The ordinance names paints among pollutants and mentions non-commercial vehicle washing in its exemptions, not commercial cleaning. When a prohibited discharge comes from a commercial site, the owner or operator must keep a written record of it for at least three years. Port St. Lucie's code prohibits any unlisted substance in its stormwater system as well.
Romco captures wash water at the base of the wall, blocks or covers nearby inlets, and takes the water off site. The county points to its estuaries for a reason: drainage ends in the North Fork of the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon.
After washing comes the rest of prep: scraping loose paint, repairing stucco, replacing failed sealant, and spot-priming. The scope lists each step so you can see what the finish coat will sit on.
See the county and city rules on one page. Read the St. Lucie permit guide
Order of work
- Walk the site and map storm inlets, drains and slopes.
- Check building age and whether lead rules apply.
- Cover inlets and set up water capture.
- Wash at the pressure the surface can take.
- Scrape, repair, seal and spot-prime.
- Haul off collected water and debris, and record it.
What usually goes wrong
Where this job goes wrong in St. Lucie County
Wash water reaching an inlet
Paint-laden water sent to a storm inlet is a prohibited discharge under the county ordinance. Inlets are covered and water is collected before washing starts.
Old paint and lead
Washing can disturb old paint. On older buildings we check whether the lead rules apply before any pressure is used.
Water forced into walls
Too much pressure drives water into stucco and behind sealant. Pressure and tip are set for the surface, not for speed.
Outside scope
Lead abatement, mold remediation and roof cleaning are separate scopes. Romco coordinates licensed firms for them and does not discharge wash water to any storm system.
Questions
About pressure washing and surface prep
Can wash water go into the parking lot drain?
Not when it carries paint, chips or cleaner. The county ordinance treats that as a pollutant discharge. It is captured and hauled off.
Do you wash buildings without repainting them?
We quote washing as part of a painting scope. The scope says whether a wash alone or a full repaint suits the building.
What will painting my St. Lucie building cost?
We do not give a figure until we have walked the building, because the number turns on things a phone call cannot show: how much stucco needs repair, how the walls are reached, whether a Port St. Lucie color review or a Fort Pierce certificate comes first, and how the wash water is captured. After the walk you get a written quote, broken out by surface and by step, so you can compare it line by line.
Is there a job size Romco will not quote?
No. We quote one repainted tenant suite in a plaza on US 1 and we quote the full exterior of an oceanfront condominium on Hutchinson Island. Small jobs get the same written scope as large ones.
Is Romco licensed?
Yes. Romco Builders is a licensed Florida general contractor. It was founded in 2015, is based in Fort Lauderdale, and runs St. Lucie County painting jobs under that license.
How Romco runs it
The order of work
Walk the building, check the jurisdiction
We confirm whether the address falls under the county, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce or St. Lucie Village, and note any historic designation.
Write the scope
Surfaces, repairs, coatings, access equipment and working hours go into one written scope, so the quote compares line by line.
Clear color approvals
Where Port St. Lucie's chart or a Fort Pierce certificate applies, the color is approved before any paint is ordered.
Prepare and contain
Cleaning, repairs and masking come first, with wash water captured instead of sent to a storm inlet.
Apply the coatings
Coats go on to the maker's written instructions for temperature, humidity and recoat time, not to a calendar.
Walk it and close out
We walk the finished surfaces with you, write a punch list, finish it and hand over the color and product records.
Pressure washing and surface prep across St. Lucie, including Port St. Lucie, Tradition, St. Lucie West, Fort Pierce, Lincoln Park, St. Lucie Village, Hutchinson Island South, Unincorporated St. Lucie County, and every other St. Lucie city.
Other painting work
More commercial painting we quote
- Interior commercial paintingOffices, clinics, corridors and suites repainted while the building stays open.Interior commercial painting in St. Lucie →
- Exterior commercial paintingStucco and block exteriors repainted to the color rule that covers the address.Exterior commercial painting in St. Lucie →
- High-rise and condo exterior repaintsOceanfront and lagoon-side condo towers repainted from swing stage, rope or lift.High-rise and condo exterior repaints in St. Lucie →
- Warehouse and industrial paintingMetal-sided warehouses, tilt-wall and steel framing, painted around live operations.Warehouse and industrial painting in St. Lucie →
- Parking garage coatings and stripingGarage decks sealed, columns and walls repainted, stalls re-striped one deck at a time.Parking garage coatings and striping in St. Lucie →
- Airport and transportation facility paintingHangars, terminal and port buildings, painted under the operator's access rules.Airport and transportation facility painting in St. Lucie →
- Office, retail and tenant improvement paintingTenant suites, storefronts and plazas painted on the lease schedule.Office, retail and tenant improvement painting in St. Lucie →
- HOA and multifamily repaintsCondo associations and apartment communities repainted building by building.HOA and multifamily repaints in St. Lucie →
- Hotel and hospitality paintingGuest rooms, pool decks and facades painted floor by floor around guests.Hotel and hospitality painting in St. Lucie →
- Hospital, clinic and school building paintingHospitals, clinics and schools painted around patients, students and staff.Hospital, clinic and school building painting in St. Lucie →
- Elastomeric and waterproofing coatingsElastomeric wall coatings and waterproofing over repaired stucco and block.Elastomeric and waterproofing coatings in St. Lucie →
- Something else?Prefer to talk it through? Call during office hours, Monday to Friday, 10 to 6, or email info@romcobuilders.com with photos.Call (772) 310-3298 →
Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce and the island
Send the address and we will tell you which rules your repaint falls under
Romco Builders is a licensed Florida general contractor, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. Then we quote the scope, the order of work and the approvals it needs.