Screened Patio, Lanai & Balcony Cleaning
Moorings Bay

Moorings Bay is a saltwater bay inside The Moorings, one block from the Gulf, with open water access to the Gulf through Doctors Pass. Its name also belongs to one building, Moorings Bay Apartments at 322 Harbour Drive, a three-story, 24-unit condo completed in 1967 and 1968. This page covers patios and balconies at that building and at its bay-front neighbors along Harbour Drive and the bay side of Gulf Shore Boulevard North.

Screened patios here face the bay or the grounds between buildings. Salt from the bay and the Gulf one block away settles on the screens and floor, pollen adds to it each spring, and the screens slowly go gray.

Salt comes from two directions here. The bay sits in front of these buildings and the Gulf a block behind, so on a breezy day spray and salt-laden air reach every side. Screens on a bay-facing patio can show a gray, crusty film within a few months, and the bottom rails and screen door tracks collect salt crystals that make the door stick and wear the rollers.

Units at Moorings Bay Apartments run from roughly 1,100 to 1,680 square feet, and most screened patios are a modest size, well under the 800 square feet that marks our small-patio rate. They are still worth doing properly. A small patio facing the water is often the room owners use most, for morning coffee or watching boats come in, and a clouded screen takes the view away.

On buildings from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, balcony edges, stair landings and open walkways are where staining shows worst. Salt film dulls paint and glass, algae grows where water sits, and rust streaks run down from railings and drain spouts.

The neighbors share that history. Yacht Harbor Manor and Gulf Bay Apartments were finished in 1969, Jennifer Shores in 1971, the Commodore Club on Harbour Drive in the early 1970s and Admiralty Point in 1982. Each has its own board, documents and maintenance schedule, but all of them have spent forty to sixty years in the same humid, salty air, and their balconies and walkways show it in much the same places.

Older paint and concrete need a gentle hand. High pressure can lift loose coatings and push water into cracks, so we soft wash at low pressure and treat rust stains separately after the wash.

Rust streaks deserve a closer look on these buildings. A light orange trail under a rail post often comes from the post itself or a fastener and lifts well with a rust remover. A dark, persistent stain coming out of the concrete can mean reinforcing steel is corroding inside the slab. We clean both, but the second kind may fade without disappearing, and it is worth showing to the manager or engineer.

If we see loose paint or spalling concrete on a balcony, we point it out to the manager rather than cleaning over it.

The line between owner and association work matters on every building here. Screened patios are often the owner’s responsibility to keep clean, while balcony edges, stairs, walkways, the bayfront pool deck and the shared docks belong to the association. We quote each part to whoever is responsible for it, so an owner can book a patio on the same day the board has the walkways washed, with separate invoices.

The docks are part of daily life on the bay. At Moorings Bay Apartments slips are leased to owners, and there are no bridges between the building and the Gulf. Bird droppings, salt crust and algae on dock boards are the most common complaints, and slip holders sometimes want their own area cleaned before guests or a boat arrives. We clean docks at low pressure and direct rinse water away from the bay where we can.

Most residents live here rather than renting out. Moorings Bay Apartments, for example, does not allow leasing during the first three years of ownership and then only once a year with a 60-day minimum. That means people are home during most work, so we schedule with the manager around parking, pool hours and quiet times, and keep hoses and equipment out of shared hallways when not in use.

For most bay-front patios a yearly cleaning keeps salt and pollen under control, and units facing directly onto the water may want a light rinse between visits during the windier months. The neighborhood is not gated in the way many Naples communities are, but buildings have their own entry and parking arrangements, which we confirm with the owner or manager before arriving. When the job is done, you receive photos and a short written record, which seasonal owners and boards both find useful for their files.