Portage County · Service Area

Pressure Washing & Soft Washing in Kent, Ohio

Kent is a university city with distinct owner-occupied residential pockets — University Woods, White Oaks, Fieldstone, the Franklin area and the Davey and Kent Families neighborhood — and each is a different kind of house from the next.

What Exterior Cleaning Costs in Kent

House wash · 1,500 sq ft home$299
Two-car driveway$145
House + driveway$444

Exact prices from the price book, by size. Sales tax is shown as its own line on the estimate.

Kent mixes 19th-century houses in the Davey and Kent Families neighborhood with bungalows and smaller homes near Lake Street. That runs $249 up to 1,000 square feet of home, $299 up to 1,500, and $349 up to 2,000 — the period two-stories included, since a second story is not charged for. Porch spindles, brackets and period trim under heavy tree canopy are soft-wash work at the same price.

Every price we charge is on this site. Find your home’s square footage — or let us work it out from your address — and you have your price. See the full price list.

House washing, by home size
  1. Up to 1,000$249
  2. 1,001–1,500$299
  3. 1,501–2,000$349
  4. 2,001–2,500$399
  5. 2,501–3,000$459
  6. 3,001–3,500$519
  7. 3,501–4,000$579
  8. 4,001–4,500$649
  9. 4,501–5,000$719
  10. 5,001–5,500$799
  11. 5,501–6,000$879

Square feet of home. One price per size, whatever the siding and however many floors. The full table.

Work near Kent: a job in Canton

Every size, priced, for Kent

Why Kent is its own job

Those pockets are genuinely different from one another. University Woods is noted for quality construction, contemporary stock and larger lots; White Oaks holds custom and family-sized homes, ranches and condominiums; Fieldstone is suburban houses on meandering cul-de-sacs. The Davey and Kent Families neighborhood is the historic end of the market — mid-to-late-nineteenth-century homes, classic period architecture, majestic trees and former brick streets. Along Hudson Road you find architecture from each era side by side, with porches and front stoops that define the streetscape. Kent's architectural record includes Second Empire, Gothic Revival and Classic Revival buildings, and the Cuyahoga River runs right through the middle of it all.

Areas We Work in Kent

The city's own neighborhood booklet names most of these. The historic Davey and Kent Families streets need the most careful process; University Woods, White Oaks and Fieldstone are later construction where roof, siding and drive work is the standard package.

  • University Woods
  • White Oaks
  • Fieldstone
  • Davey and Kent Families Neighborhood
  • Franklin
  • West Main Street District
  • Hudson Road area
  • Fishcreek area

Surfaces and Conditions in Kent

Nineteenth-century houses in the Davey and Kent Families neighborhood carry period detail — brackets, spindle work, wood porch floors, soft brick — under heavy mature tree canopy, which is the worst possible combination for organic growth. Hudson Road's era-by-era mix means the porch you are standing on might be original wood, painted concrete or a 1970s slab, and each takes a different setting. The contemporary stock in University Woods and Fieldstone brings larger siding elevations and cul-de-sac drives, where shaded-plane roof algae and sun-side siding oxidation usually turn up together — two unrelated problems that happen to share a house, and that need different products on the same visit.

How a wash goes
  1. Protect plantsBeds and shrubs are wetted down and covered where they need it.
  2. Pre-rinseLoose dirt, cobwebs and dust come off with plain water first.
  3. Soft washThe cleaning solution goes on at low pressure, never a blast.
  4. DwellIt sits and does the work on algae, mildew and oxidation.
  5. RinseTop to bottom, so nothing is forced behind siding or into vents.

Landmarks Near Our Kent Work

  • Kent State University
  • Fred Fuller Park
  • Franklin Mills Riveredge Park
  • Heritage Park
  • John Brown Tannery Park
  • Brady's Leap Park
  • Cooperrider-Kent Bog State Nature Preserve
  • Portage Hike and Bike Trail
  • Kent Stage

Commercial Work in Kent

Kent's central business district was substantially rebuilt over the last fifteen years — Acorn Alley opened as a pedestrian shopping alley in 2009 with a second phase in 2011, the Kent Central Gateway added a 360-space deck with storefronts in 2013, and The Landmark followed in 2014. That put a great deal of new paver surface downtown, and pavers wash out at the joints when pressure is aimed into them rather than across. The Kent Stage's roughly ninety shows a year keeps foot traffic on those surfaces year-round, so they soil faster than they look like they should.

  • Acorn Alley
  • Kent Central Gateway
  • The Landmark
  • Crain to Main corridor
  • University Shopping Plaza
  • East and West Main Streets

See our commercial exterior cleaning services

What one house-wash price covers
A two-storey house with an attached garage. Labels point at the siding, the eaves with soffit and fascia, the gutter faces and downspouts, and the garage door: every one is in the house-wash price.Eaves, soffit & fasciaGutter faces & downspoutsSiding or brickGarage door
  • Siding, brick, stucco or stone
  • Eaves, soffit and fascia
  • The outside of the gutters and the downspouts
  • The attached garage door
  • A second storey, at no change to the price

What to Expect

One Kent driveway can hold two completely different problems. Under the mature canopy the issue is organic growth on period detail — brackets, spindle work, wood porch floors and soft brick — which needs low pressure and dwell time. Near the old campus and the industrial stretch along the Cuyahoga it flips to rust bleed and oil staining, which need a different product entirely and will not respond to the first one. Growth returns on an annual cycle under heavy tree cover; rust returns as fast as its source keeps feeding it.

Read our full process or see how we price work.

Kent home history: older and historic properties

West Main Street holds twenty of Kent's significant older homes, post-Civil War through the early twentieth century, including the Second Empire John Davey House and the Gothic Revival Aaron Ferrey and Charles Kent houses. Painted wood and soft brick that age is low-pressure work, where dwell time takes the place of force entirely. The old Normal College campus and the industrial stretch along the Cuyahoga are the opposite problem on the same drive — rust bleed and oil staining rather than algae, which is a different product and a different dwell time.

Services Popular in Kent

The ones naming Kent go to a page written about this city’s surfaces, with the full price table on it.

Nearby Service Areas

Learn More

Kent Exterior Cleaning Questions

Will cleaning damage the pavers in downtown Kent?

Not with joint-safe technique, but it is a real risk with the wrong one. Kent's central business district was substantially rebuilt over the last fifteen years — Acorn Alley opened as a pedestrian shopping alley in 2009 with a second phase in 2011, the Kent Central Gateway added a 360-space deck with storefronts in 2013, and The Landmark followed in 2014. That put a great deal of new paver surface downtown, and pavers wash out at the joints when pressure is aimed into them rather than across. The Kent Stage's roughly ninety shows a year keeps foot traffic on those surfaces year-round, so they soil faster than they look like they should.

My lot is heavily shaded and the green growth keeps coming back. What can be done about it?

A shorter interval between washes, and trimming the trees back off the roof. Shade and tree cover keep surfaces damp longer, and damp plus low sunlight is exactly what algae, moss and lichen need, so growth returns faster on wooded lots than on open ones. Cleaning removes what is there now; staying ahead of it means yearly or better on the north and tree-facing sides, and keeping branches off the roof and gutters clear so surfaces can dry.

A shaded lot is the case the maintenance plan was built for: $149 a year adds an autumn visit and spot re-clean, and extends the roof warranty to three years.

Learn More — what black streaks, moss, and lichen actually do to a roof

Can one visit handle both algae and rust or oil staining on my property?

Yes, and in Kent that is common, because one driveway can hold two completely different problems. Under the canopy the issue is organic growth on period detail. Near the old Normal College campus and the industrial stretch along the Cuyahoga it flips to rust bleed and oil staining — a different product and a different dwell time on the same visit. Your estimate prices the cleaning; stain treatment is identified on the walkthrough and added as its own line, agreed with you before it happens, then sequence the visit so the stain treatment gets the dwell time it needs rather than being rushed to finish the general cleaning.

My Kent house has porch spindles and brackets under heavy trees. What is the risk?

Heavy mature canopy plus period detail is the worst combination for organic growth and the best argument for soft washing. Nineteenth-century houses in the Davey and Kent Families neighborhood carry brackets, spindle work, wood porch floors and soft brick, all under trees that keep those surfaces damp and shaded. Pressure on any of it strips paint, splinters wood and opens mortar, so the chemistry does the lifting and the rinse stays low and directed. West Main Street holds twenty of Kent's significant older homes, post-Civil War through the early twentieth century, and the same rule applies to all of them.

Do you serve Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, Hudson, and Kent?

Yes. Those Summit and Portage County communities are within our regular range, along with Akron itself. We do residential house washing, roof soft washing, deck and patio cleaning, and concrete work there, plus commercial exterior maintenance for storefronts and managed properties. Work in that direction is often grouped on the same day, so choosing a weekday window when you accept your estimate usually gets you in sooner.

You can get your own number right now: the instant estimate prices your property from the address in about two minutes, and what you accept is what you pay.

Is my Kent porch wood, painted concrete, or a slab?

On Hudson Road it could be any of the three, and that is why the walkthrough confirms the surface before we clean it. Your estimate is built from the measurements first, and if the surface turns out to be something else we tell you before touching it. The era-by-era mix along that street means the porch you are standing on might be original wood, painted concrete or a 1970s slab, and each takes a different setting and a different solution. Original wood gets deck-safe treatment. Painted concrete gets a method that will not lift the coating. A plain slab tolerates more. Guessing wrong on any of them either damages the surface or leaves it dirty, so porch material identification is part of the estimate rather than a decision made on the day.

My siding looks dull on the sunny side but fine in the shade. Why?

Two different problems on one house. The sun-facing elevations have oxidized — the vinyl finish itself has broken down into a dull, chalky layer, which is why a rinse wets it and it dries back looking the same. A lot of siding is made to shed that chalk with washing, so the wash comes first and often takes it off; whatever is left once it is clean is treated and priced after we see it. The shaded planes, usually the roof, hold moisture and grow algae, which is organic and releases with a soft wash. The 1990s and 2000s Medina subdivisions are almost entirely vinyl siding with asphalt shingle, which is the pairing where this split shows up most.

Why a wash leaves chalky siding chalky-looking, and what actually improves it, is explained in why a wash will not bring the color back.

You can get your own number right now: the instant estimate prices your property from the address in about two minutes, and what you accept is what you pay.

Learn More — what siding oxidation is and why pressure washing won't fix it

I have a mid-century ranch on Canton's north side. What actually needs doing?

Usually two things, and they are different jobs. The shaded roof slope carries algae streaking on asphalt shingle, which is a low-pressure soft wash and nothing else — walking or pressuring a shingle roof costs you shingle life. The siding on the elevation that has faced south for forty years is often chalky oxidation rather than dirt, and a lot of siding is made to shed that chalk with washing, so the wash comes first and often takes it off. Whatever is still there once it is clean is treated and priced after we see it. We tell you on the walk-through which of those two you actually have, because they carry different prices and different outcomes.

Why a wash leaves chalky siding chalky-looking, and what actually improves it, is explained in why a wash will not bring the color back.

Learn More — what siding oxidation is and why pressure washing won't fix it

My siding looks washed out and my roof has dark streaks. Same problem?

No — and treating them the same is why a standard wash sometimes disappoints. Washed-out siding on a Northwest Akron split-level or Cape Cod is usually oxidation: the painted or aluminum finish has broken down, so a rinse wets it and it dries back to the same dull grey. The wash comes first and takes off what the siding is designed to shed, and whatever is left is treated and priced after we see it. The dark streaking on the roof is a living organism growing on the plane facing the tree line, and it releases with a low-pressure soft wash. One is a finish problem and one is a growth problem, and they are identified before anything is applied.

Why a wash leaves chalky siding chalky-looking, and what actually improves it, is explained in why a wash will not bring the color back.

You can get your own number right now: the instant estimate prices your property from the address in about two minutes, and what you accept is what you pay.

Learn More — what siding oxidation is and why pressure washing won't fix it

What is the difference between soft washing and pressure washing?

Soft washing uses low pressure and surface-appropriate cleaning solutions for delicate materials such as many roofs and siding types. Pressure washing is generally reserved for durable hard surfaces, such as applicable concrete. SurfaceWorks ProWash selects the method based on the material, condition, and project scope.