Pressure Washing Questions, Answered

There is no flat price list, because the same service can vary a lot from one property to the next. What actually moves the number:

• Square footage or linear footage of the area being cleaned
• Surface type — concrete, vinyl, brick, stucco and wood each need different methods
• Number of stories, which affects access and equipment
• How much buildup there is — five years of algae takes considerably longer than one
• Special treatments like rust or oil removal, which are separate steps

Tell us what needs cleaning, or send a photo, and we will give you a firm number before any work begins — never an open-ended hourly rate that grows once we are on site.

A driveway usually takes one to two hours. A single-story house wash runs two to four hours. A full exterior package — house, driveway and walkways together — is generally a half to full day. Commercial properties are scheduled individually after a walkthrough.

For most exterior work, no. We need access to the areas being cleaned and an outdoor water spigot. Plenty of our customers are at work while we clean. We confirm the details with you beforehand and let you know when the job is complete.

Yes — we connect to an outdoor spigot, which is standard for residential exterior cleaning. Usage for a typical job is modest, comparable to running a garden hose for the length of the work.

Pressure washing uses high water pressure to physically blast dirt off a surface. It is the right approach for concrete, which can handle it.

Soft washing uses low pressure — closer to a strong garden hose — combined with cleaning solutions that break down algae and mildew chemically. The growth dies and rinses away rather than being blasted off.

Soft washing is the correct method for siding, stucco, roofs and wood. It is gentler on the home and the results last longer, because you have actually killed the growth instead of just knocking the surface layer off.

It can, in the wrong hands. High pressure forces water behind siding where it sits and rots sheathing, erodes mortar joints on brick, cracks and pits stucco, and strips protective granules off asphalt shingles. Several major siding manufacturers explicitly void warranties for pressure-washing damage.

This is exactly why we soft wash anything delicate. The only residential surface we bring high pressure to is concrete.

We pre-wet landscaping before applying anything and rinse thoroughly afterward, which dilutes solutions to safe levels. We do recommend keeping pets indoors while we work — mostly because equipment noise and hoses are stressful for animals — and letting treated surfaces dry before pets go back out on them.

For a driveway, honestly, you can. It is slow and you may end up with visible striping without a surface cleaner attachment, but the risk of permanent damage is low.

For siding, roofs and wood, we would gently steer you away from it. Those are the surfaces where rental-unit pressure causes expensive, permanent damage — furred wood, water behind siding, stripped shingle granules. The repair cost dwarfs what the cleaning would have cost.

Most homes along the Gulf Coast do well on a 12 to 18 month cycle. Our humidity and long warm season let mildew and algae establish much faster than in drier climates. Homes under heavy tree cover often need it closer to annually, and north-facing walls almost always show growth first.

Rust: usually yes. Irrigation water in this area carries iron, and sprinkler overspray leaves orange staining across driveways constantly. It responds well to a dedicated rust remover, which a standard wash will not touch.

Oil: depends on age. Fresh spills typically come out completely. Stains that have soaked into the concrete for years often lighten significantly but may not disappear entirely. We will tell you honestly what to expect before we start rather than promising a miracle.

Yes, and it matters more than people expect. Stain and sealant will not bond to wood still carrying mildew spores or an oxidized grey layer — any coating applied over that peels and flakes within a season or two. Cleaning is the prep step for staining, not an optional extra. Allow 48 to 72 hours of drying time in our climate before applying anything, longer if humidity stays high.

Concrete generally stays looking good for about a year in this climate. A properly soft-washed house typically holds up 12 to 18 months, longer than a high-pressure wash would, because the cleaning solution kills the organic growth at the root rather than just removing what is visible. Shade, tree cover and sprinkler patterns are the biggest factors that shorten it.

Walk the property with us when we finish. If something was missed or an area did not come up the way you hoped, tell us and we will take care of it before we call the job done. That is the whole guarantee — no forms, no fine print.

Sugar Land and roughly 20 miles around it — Missouri City, Stafford, Richmond, Rosenberg, Fulshear, Katy, Pearland, Meadows Place, Sienna and nearby southwest Houston. Within Sugar Land we work regularly in First Colony, Riverstone, New Territory, Telfair, Greatwood, Sugar Creek, Avalon, Imperial and Commonwealth. Just outside that range? Call anyway and we will let you know if we can make it work.