By the EverGlow Exteriors Team

Yes — EverGlow Exteriors is a registered LLC and fully insured, and we’ll email you our certificate of insurance before we ever unroll a hose on your property. Just ask.

We lead with that because most homeowners never ask, and it’s the single most important question in this industry. Pressure washing has almost no barrier to entry: a $400 machine from a box store and a Facebook post, and anyone is “in business.” Some of those operators do fine work. But when something goes wrong at your house — and this work involves ladders, high-pressure equipment, and cleaning solutions — the difference between an insured company and an uninsured one lands entirely on you.

What can actually go wrong?

Real scenarios from this industry, not hypotheticals:

• High pressure cracks a vinyl panel or blows water behind siding — invisible until Iowa’s freeze-thaw cycle turns it into warped panels and moldy sheathing in spring
• An etched “wand mark” pattern permanently carved into a driveway or deck
• Overspray of cleaning solution killing a landscaped bed or staining a neighbor’s fence
• A cracked window from debris kicked up at 3,000 PSI
• A worker falling off a ladder on your property

With an insured company, those are claims. With an uninsured operator, they’re your problem — either you eat the cost, or you file on your own homeowner’s policy and eat the premium hike. And if someone is injured on your property while working uninsured, it can get much worse than a siding repair.

What insurance should an exterior cleaning company carry?

General liability

This is the core policy. General liability covers damage the company causes to your property — the cracked panel, the dead shrubs, the broken window. Typical policies in this trade carry $1 million or more per occurrence. This is the coverage that makes a company safe to hire.

Why the LLC part matters too

A registered LLC means the business is a real legal entity: registered with the state, findable in public records, with a name that can be held accountable. It’s not proof of quality by itself, but “guy with a pressure washer and a Venmo handle” gives you nobody to pursue if things go sideways. EverGlow Exteriors is registered as an LLC, and you can look us up.

What is a certificate of insurance, and how do I ask for one?

A certificate of insurance (COI) is a one-page document issued by the company’s insurance carrier. It shows the policy holder’s name, the coverage types, the dollar limits, and the policy dates. Every insured business can get one from their agent in minutes, and any legitimate company will send it without hesitation.

How to ask: “Can you email me a certificate of insurance before the job?” That’s it. Then check three things:

1. The name matches the company you’re hiring — not a different business or a person’s name
2. The dates are current — policies lapse
3. General liability is listed with a real limit

If a company stalls, changes the subject, or says “trust me, we’re covered” — that’s your answer. Move on.

Why uninsured operators are cheaper — and why it’s not a deal

Insurance, registration, taxes, and real equipment cost real money. An operator skipping all of that can undercut a legitimate quote by 30-40%. That discount is not efficiency — it’s transferred risk. You’re being paid that discount to become the insurance policy.

Uninsured operators also skew toward the highest-damage practices, because untrained blasting is fast: pressure-washing siding instead of soft washing, and pressure-washing roofs — which the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association says should never be done at all. The cheapest quote and the most expensive outcome are often the same guy.

“Won’t my homeowner’s insurance just cover it?”

Maybe — and that’s the trap. If an uninsured operator cracks your siding, your homeowner’s policy might pay for the repair. But you’ll pay the deductible, the claim goes on your record, and your premium can rise for years. You’d be spending your own insurance history to cover someone else’s business risk. And some scenarios are worse: if an uninsured worker is injured on your property, liability questions can land on you as the property owner in ways no one enjoys sorting out. The certificate of insurance costs you one email to request. The alternative can cost a lot more than the price difference between quotes.

The full homeowner’s vetting checklist

• Certificate of insurance, emailed before the job
• Registered business entity you can find in state records
• Recent Google reviews with specifics — real jobs, real neighborhoods
• A written scope: which surfaces, which method (soft wash vs. pressure), what’s included
• Straight answers about method — “How would you clean my roof?” is a great filter question

Where we stand

EverGlow Exteriors is a registered LLC, fully insured with general liability coverage, and we work across the Des Moines metro — Waukee, Urbandale, West Des Moines, Ankeny, and the surrounding cities. Ask for our COI when you book any service — pressure washing, house washing, roof washing, any of it. We’d rather you ask us and everyone else you’re comparing.