What to Expect on Exterior Cleaning Day

If you have never had your home professionally washed, the day itself is mostly uneventful, which is the goal. Here is what to do beforehand, what happens while the crew is there, and how it wraps up.

How to prepare the day before

None of this takes long, and doing it the evening before means you are not scrambling in the morning.

• Close all windows and storm windows
• Move vehicles out of the work area
• Bring in cushions and delicate furniture
• Take down anything hanging you value
• Secure pets indoors for the visit
• Turn on an exterior spigot and clear access to it

Windows matter most. An older window that does not seal well can let water past the frame, and it is easier to close everything than to find the one that leaks. Same for basement or crawlspace vents if yours open.

Two things are worth a text rather than a mental note. First, prized plantings: if there is a camellia your grandmother planted or a bed you have babied all spring, tell us where it is before the crew sets up. Second, access: gate codes, alarm codes, a sticky latch, a dog door that needs to stay shut. With those in advance, nobody is standing in your driveway calling you at eight in the morning.

What happens when the crew arrives

1. A quick walkthrough We walk the property, confirm what is included, and look at problem areas up close. If you are home, point things out now.
2. Material identification Siding, trim, soffits, painted surfaces, decking, and hardscape each get matched to the right approach before anything gets wet. Ipe and garapa are treated as their own thing.
3. Protection setup Beds and plantings get pre-wetted, fixtures and anything sensitive get covered, and runoff paths get planned.
4. The work itself Surfaces are treated and rinsed in the order that keeps clean areas clean, generally top down.

If the walkthrough turns up something that changes the job, like rotten trim or a screen that is already torn, we tell you before we start rather than after we finish.

What it sounds and looks like

Expect the noise level of yard equipment: a machine running, water hitting the walls, and the crew talking to each other as they move around the house. On siding it is low pressure, closer to heavy rain than to a machine chewing on concrete, so the loudest part is usually the equipment itself. Hardscape cleaning is louder than house washing.

Visually, wet surfaces look darker and streakier mid-job than they will when dry. It is normal to glance out a window partway through and think it looks worse than when we started. Judge the result once everything has dried.

There will be water on the ground. Walkways and driveways are wet while we work, so if someone is coming and going, use a path away from the crew.

You do not need to be home

Plenty of our customers never meet the crew. If we have exterior water access and a way through the gates, we can do the whole job while you are at work, traveling, or out at the beach, and we send photos once the work is complete so you can see it before you get back.

If you would rather be there, that is fine too. Either way, you get the same photos.

How long it takes

Honestly, it varies. Size, height, how many surfaces are included, and how much buildup has accumulated all move the number, and a two-story home near the marsh that has not been washed in years is a different job from a single-story cleaned last season. Anyone who quotes a flat number of hours before seeing the property is guessing.

What we do is give you a realistic window when we quote the work, and tell you if something on site changes it. Weather can move a start time too, since exterior cleaning is weather dependent and we would rather reschedule than work through a storm.

Landscaping and runoff

Protecting plants is built into the process. Beds along the work area are pre-wetted before anything is applied, sensitive plantings get covered where it makes sense, and everything gets rinsed again afterward. Runoff is directed away from beds and toward hard surfaces where we can control it.

If you have a vegetable garden, a koi pond, a newly seeded lawn, or anything else that needs a wider berth, say so before the day. There is almost always a way to plan around it, and it is easier to do that in advance than once the crew has set up.

The final walkthrough and what comes after

When the work is finished, the crew does a last pass around the property, packs up, and puts back anything that was moved. If you are home, walk it with them. Look at the shaded side and the areas you originally called about.

Then you get photos. We send them after completion on every job, home or not, so you have a record of what was done. If something looks off in a photo, or you spot it yourself a day later once everything is dry, call or text us and we will come back and look. That is what the 100% satisfaction guarantee is for. We are licensed and insured with $2 million in liability coverage, and we hold a 5.0 rating on Google across 26 reviews because we would rather come back than leave someone unhappy.

Cleaning day FAQ

Do I need to be home while the work is done?

No. As long as we have exterior water access and a way through any gates, we can complete the job while you are at work or out of town, and we send photos once the work is finished. Plenty of customers never meet the crew.

How long does an exterior cleaning take?

It depends on the size of the home, the height, the number of surfaces, and how much buildup there is, so we will not pretend there is a standard number of hours. We give you a realistic window when we quote the job and tell you if anything on site changes it.

What do I need to do before the crew arrives?

Close windows and any storm windows, move vehicles out of the work area, bring in cushions and delicate furniture, secure pets indoors, make sure an exterior spigot is turned on and reachable, and send us any gate or alarm codes ahead of time. Point out prized plantings and we will take extra care around them.

Will the cleaning hurt my landscaping?

Protecting plants is part of the process, not an afterthought. Beds along the work area get pre-wetted, sensitive plantings are covered where needed, and everything gets rinsed again afterward. Tell us about anything you are especially attached to and we will plan around it.

Is it loud, and how much water ends up on the ground?

You will hear equipment running and water on the walls, similar to yard equipment, and the crew talking as they move around the house. Siding is cleaned with low pressure rather than high pressure, so the sound is closer to heavy rain than to a machine grinding on concrete. Runoff is directed away from beds and managed as we go.

What if I notice something after the crew leaves?

Call or text us and we will come back and look at it. We back our work with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and we are licensed and insured with $2 million in liability coverage. Noticing something a day later is normal, and it is not an imposition to tell us.

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