Pressure washing cost for a driveway, and why a house differs

Where a driveway quote should land

Expect $400 to $600+ for a two-car driveway. Most two-car drives land inside that, and long or heavily grown ones go past the top.

It isn't a quote for your driveway or anyone's price list. Use it to check the quote you get: a number far outside it should come with a reason you can check.

Why is a house wash priced differently?

Because a house isn't washed the way a driveway is. Concrete takes real pressure, but vinyl siding and painted wood don't, so they get a low-pressure soft wash where a cleaning solution does the work and the water mostly rinses. Put driveway pressure on siding and water goes up behind the boards while the paint comes off the front.

On a house, height and access drive the job: a tall wall needs more setup, and every shrub, window and door around it has to be worked around. Two houses with the same wall area can be very different jobs, so a per-foot figure for a house misleads more than it helps.

Decks and patios have the same problem. Wood, stone and composite each take a different method, and a deck deserves a look before it gets washed at all, because too much pressure raises fuzz on soft wood and can gouge it, and a wash makes a rotten board look as good as a sound one. Run the deck safety checks first.

What moves a driveway quote inside the range

Two-car is a description and not a measurement. These are the things that separate one two-car drive from another:

• Size. A long drive, a wide apron or a turnaround is more concrete to wash than the usual two-car.
• Growth. Green film on the shaded side lifts easily. Black algae, and a drive that hasn't been washed in years, take more time at the same size.
• Stains. Old oil has soaked in, and a wash may lighten it without removing it.
• Water and access. An outside spigot is usually enough. A long hose run, a slow supply or a well changes the setup.
• What has to be protected. Dense planting along the edge, a wooden gate and anything parked that can't be moved all need working around.
• What else is on the visit. Walkways, the front steps and the garage apron are extra surface, so get them named in the quote.

What a proper wash includes, and where a thin one saves

On concrete, the cleaning solution goes on first and is left to work, then everything is rinsed. Growth that's only blasted off with water comes back sooner than growth that was killed first. A rotating surface cleaner does flat ground evenly, while a bare wand leaves striped arcs that are very hard to hide once they're there.

A quote well under the range may be a quote for the lighter version of that: water and a wand, no waiting time. Ask which method the number assumes.

That green and black film is a living growth, the same kind that speckles shaded paint, which is why it gets killed before it's rinsed.

A rented machine is enough for the driveway

A concrete driveway is the best pressure washing job an owner can take on. Concrete takes real pressure, nothing on it is painted, and a mistake shows as a stripe you can go back over. A machine with a surface cleaner attachment covers the whole job.

Trouble starts when the same machine goes to the house. Siding, painted wood, older mortar and anything on a roof lose to high pressure, and a wand held close to wood leaves a gouge you can't undo. Keep the machine on the concrete.

What you trade is a weekend and a sore back. If the drive is long, badly stained or in deep shade, the quote starts to look better.

The order that saves a second wash

When the wash is one of several exterior jobs, the order is worth getting right. Clean the gutters first, because a clogged one sends water and grit down the wall you've just washed, and what gutter cleaning usually runs covers that job.

Then the house, top to bottom, with the flat ground last, since everything above drips onto it. Paint or stain goes on after all of it, once the surface is fully dry. A wash also takes more paint off a coat that's already failing, so we'd rather you look at the paint before you book one.

Get the order wrong and you're washing twice.

For a number on your own driveway, start with pressure washing.

Questions that come with this one