What Exterior Cleaning Actually Costs in Northeast Ohio — and Why
Ask three companies to wash the same house and you will get three different numbers, sometimes hundreds of dollars apart. That is not because one of them is guessing. It is because they are measuring different things, including different work, and in some cases proposing to do the job a different way. This explains what is actually behind the number, so you can compare quotes on something other than which one is smallest.
Why nobody will tell you the price
Search what a house wash costs and you will find national cost guides quoting a range — a few hundred dollars to over a thousand — which is technically true and useless for deciding anything. Search for a local company and you will usually find a contact form.
There is a reason for that, and it is not entirely cynical. Houses genuinely differ. But the effect is that a homeowner cannot find out what this work costs without giving up their phone number first, and that is a choice companies make rather than a fact about the work. We publish our full price list because a homeowner asking what something costs deserves an answer, not an appointment.
The number that actually drives the price
For a house wash, it is the square footage of your home — the same figure recorded on your county auditor’s property record. Not an estimate, not a walk-around measurement, not something a salesperson decides at your door. You can look it up yourself in a couple of minutes, and once you have it you have your price.
That matters more than it sounds. Square footage is an objective, third-party number that neither of us controls. Pricing from it means the quote you get is the quote your neighbor with the same house gets, and it means you can check the arithmetic. Pricing from a walk-around measurement means trusting whoever held the tape.
Roofs are priced on roof area rather than home square footage, because a ranch and a two-story with the same living space have very different roofs. Concrete, decks and patios are priced on the measured area of the surface itself.
A house wash runs from $249 for a home up to 1,000 sq ft to $879 at 5,501–6,000 sq ft, with a published price at every size in between. A roof soft wash runs from $349 to $1,149 by roof area. A two-car driveway is $169.
One price per size. Same price for a ranch or a two-story of the same square footage — we do not charge a second-story penalty.
Why two quotes for the same house come out different
Three things account for nearly all of it, and only one of them is about who is cheaper.
They are not measuring the same house
“Square footage” can mean the home’s living area, the ground footprint, or the actual wall surface being washed. Those are three different numbers for one house, and a quote built on one is not comparable to a quote built on another. Ask which one a company is using. If the answer is vague, the price is too.
The cheaper quote may be a smaller job
Gutter face washing, soffits, fascia, downspouts, and interior gutter clean-out are sometimes in the price and sometimes separate line items added later. Two quotes that look a couple hundred dollars apart can be identical once you list what each one actually covers — or the gap can be much wider than it looked.
It may not be the same work
A low-pressure soft wash that kills organic growth at the root takes longer and costs more than blasting a surface with pressure. On a roof the difference is not stylistic: the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association tells you not to pressure wash asphalt shingles at all. A quote that is cheap because it is faster is buying you a different outcome.
Where the money in this work actually goes
Homeowners often assume they are paying for chemicals. They are not, really. On a typical residential job the cleaning solution is a small single-digit percentage of the price. The overwhelming majority of the cost is time on the property and the cost of being able to be there at all — the equipment, the insurance, the vehicle, and the hours.
This is why the cheapest quote in a stack is usually the one planning to spend the least time at your house. It is also why bundling saves you real money rather than notional money: setting up and breaking down is a fixed cost per visit, not per service. A driveway cleaned during a house wash costs materially less to perform than the same driveway on its own trip, and it should be priced that way.
What is included, and what genuinely is not
Our house wash includes the gutter exteriors, soffits, fascia, and downspouts. It is one job, not a base price with the obvious parts sold back to you.
The one worth knowing about: interior gutter clean-out is included with a roof soft wash. Priced on its own, that work runs $0.85 per linear foot on a single story and $1.15 on a two-story — on most homes, a meaningful line item. It is included because we are already up there and it would be strange to charge you twice for the same ladder.
Things that legitimately change a price, and that any honest company will tell you about before the work rather than after: elevation and access, roof pitch, siding material — stucco, EIFS, cedar and painted wood need different handling than vinyl — and heavy organic growth that needs more than a single pass. These are real conditions, they are itemized, and you see them on the estimate before you agree to anything.
How to read a quote you have been given
Four questions that will tell you more than the total:
- What are you measuring, and what number did you get? You should be able to verify it.
- What is included at that price? Specifically: gutters inside and out, soffits, fascia, downspouts.
- What pressure are you using on my siding and roof? For a shingle roof, the correct answer involves no pressure at all.
- What would make this number go up on the day? If nothing could, ask what happens when something does.
Know your price before you call anyone
Look up your home’s square footage on your county auditor’s site, then find that row on our pricing page. That is the price — not a starting point, not a range, and not something that changes when we see your car in the driveway.
Related Questions
When do I pay for the work?
Payment is due when the job is finished. You get an itemized invoice showing what was done and what each part cost, and you can settle it on the spot or from the invoice. Larger commercial projects can be set up on Net 30 terms instead, and recurring commercial and property-management accounts are invoiced on an agreed schedule rather than job by job.
What is the difference between gutter cleaning, a gutter clean-out and gutter brightening?
Three different jobs on the same piece of metal. Gutter cleaning is the outside face of the gutter and downspout. It comes with a house wash or a siding cleaning at no extra cost. A gutter clean-out is interior work: removing packed leaves, shingle grit and sediment from inside the trough, then flushing each downspout to confirm water runs through it. It is included free with roof soft washing, because roof work puts debris into the gutters by design. It is also sold on its own, priced per linear foot, with no other service required. Gutter brightening removes the dark vertical striping bonded to the front face, often called tiger striping. That is oxidized aluminum and road film chemically stuck to the finish, so it needs a dedicated product and will not come off with house wash solution. It is never included in a house wash. A quick way to tell what you need: if the inside is full, you need a clean-out. If the outside is streaked dark, you need brightening. If neither, the cleaning that comes with your wash is enough.
Do you guarantee your work?
Yes, on two different timelines, because roof work does not finish on the same clock as everything else. On any surface other than a roof: if you are not satisfied with something we cleaned, tell us within 14 days and we will come back and re-clean it at no charge. Fourteen days rather than a week on purpose — most people do not look properly until the following weekend, and a rain in between makes anyone doubt the result. On roof soft washing: 60 days. A roof keeps improving for four to six weeks after the visit as the treated moss and lichen lose their grip and release with rain and weather. Judging a roof at two weeks would be judging it half-finished. If it has not come around within 60 days, it gets re-treated at no charge. What the guarantee does not cover is anything cleaning cannot correct: oxidized or chalked finishes, concrete scaling where the top layer has already broken loose, failed paint or stain, and rust with an active source still feeding it. Those get identified on the walkthrough and stated before any work begins, so nothing on that list is a surprise afterward.
Can you clean my patio furniture while you are doing the patio?
Yes, and it is the sensible time to do it since everything has to come off the patio anyway. Patio and outdoor furniture and equipment cleaning is $79 and covers furniture, swing sets, grills and similar outdoor items, cleaned at a pressure and solution matched to the material. Cushions and fabric are not included — this is hard surfaces: frames, tables, slides, plastic and metal.
Do you charge more for a two-story house?
No. One price covers the house at that size, whether it is one story or two. A home up to 1,500 square feet is $299 either way, and 2,000 square feet is $349 either way — you read your price off the table without doing arithmetic or wondering which column applies to you. A second story does take longer and needs more reach, and that is already built into the size-based price rather than added on top. Genuine difficulty does carry an add-on: a third story, or an elevation that cannot be worked from the ground. Anything like that is identified while the property is walked and stated before the work starts, never added afterward.
What payment methods do you accept?
Cash, check, and credit or debit cards. Card payment can be taken at the property when the work is finished, so there is no waiting for an invoice to arrive if you would rather settle on the day. Full card numbers are never stored on this website.
Do you require a deposit?
Not on residential work. Exterior cleaning is same-day work with no materials to buy in advance, so there is nothing to fund before starting — you pay once it is done and you have seen the result. On projects at or above $1,000 there is a right to ask for a deposit of up to 25% to hold a date, which is rare in practice and would always be discussed before it appeared on an estimate. Any deposit is credited against the final invoice.
Can I get a price without an appointment?
Yes. Most residential pricing comes from your home's square footage, which is public record on the county auditor listing, so a number can be given from your address alone. Photos help for anything unusual — heavy staining, a surface you are unsure about, or work that is not on the standard list. The walkthrough is still worth doing before the job, but it confirms the method, the access and the exact scope rather than producing the price.
Is gutter cleaning included with a house wash or roof cleaning?
It depends which of the three you mean, and they get mixed up constantly. Gutter cleaning is the outside face of the gutter and downspout — what you see from the street. That is part of every house wash and siding cleaning at no extra charge. A gutter clean-out is the inside: the packed leaves and shingle grit in the trough, and every downspout flushed to confirm it actually runs. This is a real service with a real per-linear-foot price, and it is free with roof soft washing. Not discounted — included. We cannot rinse a roof properly if the gutters will not drain, and leaving the debris up there would only wash it back over everything we just cleaned, so it is part of the job rather than an add-on to it. If you were going to book a clean-out anyway and the roof is anywhere near due, booking the roof gets you both for the price of the roof. You can also book a gutter clean-out on its own, with no washing service attached. That is the standalone service and it is priced per linear foot. Gutter brightening is the third and it is never included in anything. The dark vertical tiger striping on the front face is oxidized aluminum and road film bonded to the finish, not dirt sitting on top of it. It needs its own product, no house wash removes it, and it is usually added after a house wash while the crew is already on site.
How does payment work?
Payment terms are set out with your written estimate before any work begins, and you receive an itemized invoice for the completed scope so you can see exactly what you paid for. Recurring commercial and property-management accounts are invoiced on an agreed schedule rather than job by job. Ask about accepted payment methods when you request the estimate so nothing is a surprise on the day of service.
More questions answered on the full FAQ page.
