House washing cost
What house washing costs across the US — by home size and surface, with a fair low/average/high range.
Cost by home size
| Home size | Range | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Small (under 1,500 sq ft) | $120–$480 | $240 |
| Medium (1,500–2,500) | $150–$600 | $300 |
| Large (2,500–4,000) | $195–$780 | $390 |
| Very large (4,000+) | $255–$1020 | $510 |
What affects the price
- Size & surface area — the biggest driver; most jobs are priced from a per-square-foot rate.
- Condition — heavy algae, mildew, oil, or salt film needs more solution and dwell time.
- Access & height — second stories, steep roofs, and tight landscaping add labor.
- Method — soft washing (siding, roofs) uses cleaning solution and costs a bit more per foot than a plain concrete blast.
How much does it cost to pressure wash a house?
Most single-family house washes land between $150 and $600, with $300 the common middle. That is the whole answer for a typical one- or two-storey home on ordinary siding. The number moves on four things and almost nothing else: how many square feet of wall there are, how many storeys the crew has to reach, what the siding is made of, and whether the house is painted and old enough to need lead-safe handling. Everything below is those four factors in the order they cost you money.
One naming note, because the search term and the correct job disagree: people search “pressure wash a house”, but on siding the right method is a soft wash — cleaning solution doing the work, rinsed at low pressure. A crew that literally pressure-washes your siding is doing a cheaper, worse and more damaging job under the same name.
| House size | Typical wall area | Typical price | What is actually driving it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single storey, ~1,200 sq ft | ~1,100–1,400 ft² | $150 – $275 | Area alone. Everything reachable from the ground or a short ladder |
| Single storey, ~2,000 sq ft | ~1,600–2,000 ft² | $225 – $375 | Area, plus setup time walking the perimeter twice |
| Two storey, ~2,000 sq ft | ~2,000–2,400 ft² | $300 – $500 | Reach. Ladder work and safe access, not extra wall |
| Two storey, ~3,000 sq ft or more | ~2,800 ft²+ | $450 – $600+ | Reach and area together, usually a longer crew day |
| Any size, pre-1978 and painted | — | Quote separately | Lead-safe handling — see below. This is a different job, not a surcharge |
Per square foot that works out to roughly $0.15–$0.30 of wall area, which is the figure to use if your house is an awkward shape. Beware of quotes priced on floor area — a long ranch and a compact two-storey can have the same floor plan and very different wall areas.
Why the second storey costs more than the extra wall is worth
The jump from a single-storey to a two-storey wash is bigger than the extra square footage explains, and that is not a markup. It is access. Above roughly ten feet a crew is either on ladders, working from a fixed position and moving constantly, or using an extension wand that trades reach for control. Both are slower than walking a wand along a ground-floor elevation, and ladder work carries the safety overhead every legitimate operator prices in — OSHA’s ladder standard, 1926.1053, is written for construction employers rather than homeowners, but it is the industry’s working line and it is why setup on an elevated wall takes the time it does. If a two-storey quote is barely above a single-storey one, ask what the plan is for the upper elevation. The usual answer is a wand from the ground at an angle, which cleans the parts you can see from the driveway and misses the rest.
Siding material changes the method, and the method changes the price
| Siding | What it needs | Effect on cost |
|---|---|---|
| Vinyl | A straightforward soft wash. The industry’s own maintenance guidance is a wash-down job, not an abrasive one — and water driven up under a lap course is the main way to get it wrong | Baseline. The cheapest common siding to clean |
| Fibre cement | Same soft-wash approach, but a heavier, better-sealed surface that tolerates the process well | Baseline to slightly higher — usually just area |
| Brick and masonry | Its own rules. The Brick Industry Association’s Technical Note 20 is built around pre-wetting, controlled pressure and thorough rinsing — the failure modes are burned mortar joints and cleaner left in the wall | Higher. More steps, more rinse water, more care |
| Stucco | Absorbent and easy to erode. Low pressure and patience, and any crack takes water straight into the wall | Higher. Slow, and often refused by wand-only crews |
| Painted wood, post-1978 | Sound paint washes fine; failing paint comes off, which is either a bonus or a disaster depending on your plans | Baseline, with a real risk of stripping loose paint |
| Painted wood, pre-1978 | Assume lead paint until tested — see below | Separate job. Do not accept a normal wash price |
The pre-1978 paint question almost nobody asks
This is the one item on this page that is a safety question rather than a price question, and it is the reason a cheap quote on an old painted house can be the most expensive thing you buy all year. Homes built before 1978 may have lead-based paint, and EPA’s guidance on sources of lead is clear that deteriorating paint and the dust and chips it produces are a primary exposure route — particularly for young children. A pressure washer aimed at chalking paint does exactly one thing well: it turns that paint into airborne particles and wash water, and deposits both in the soil your family walks on.
What to do with that: if the house predates 1978 and is painted, say so when you request the quote and ask how the crew handles it. A serious answer involves testing or presuming lead, containment, and controlled collection of the wash water — and it costs more than a standard wash. An operator who shrugs at the question is telling you they have not thought about it. That is a reason to keep calling, not a bargain.
The failure mode that costs more than the wash: water in the wall
Siding sheds water running down it. It is not built to resist water driven upward at pressure, and that is precisely what a wand held at the wrong angle does — under the lap, past the trim, around the window flashing. The stain on the outside is cosmetic. Trapped moisture inside a wall cavity is not: EPA’s mold guidance turns on the same principle throughout, that mold growth is a moisture problem and controlling moisture is the control that matters. Trading a visible algae film for a hidden damp wall is a bad trade at any price.
This is also why the soft-wash principle is worth insisting on. The roofing manufacturers state it most bluntly for their own surface — ARMA instructs homeowners to “DO NOT use a power washer or any type of brush or broom to clean algae from the roof surface” — and the logic carries to siding: let the solution kill the growth, then rinse it off gently. Pressure is what you use on flatwork, not on the envelope of the building.
Red flags in a house-washing quote
- A firm price given without the number of storeys. Reach is the second-biggest cost line. Nobody can price around it blind.
- “Pressure washing” used for the siding itself. Ask whether it is a soft wash. A pro will say so unprompted and usually mention dwell time.
- No question about the build year on a painted house. See the lead section above.
- Priced per square foot of floor area. You are paying for wall, and the two numbers are not related.
- Windows, screens and gutter faces unmentioned. These are the classic “that’s extra” discoveries on the day — get them named in the quote either way, and see our window cleaning cost guide for what a fair add-on actually runs.
- An hourly rate with no cap. Ask for a flat, not-to-exceed number.
What a fair house wash actually includes
At the $300 middle of the band, a reasonable scope is: pre-wet and protect plantings, apply a soft-wash solution to all elevations, dwell, low-pressure rinse top-down, and rinse the landscaping again afterwards. Trim, soffits, fascia and gutter faces are normally included; gutter interiors are a separate job with a separate price. If a quote is well under the band, the usual explanation is fewer elevations, a wand instead of a soft wash, or both.
Prices are also seasonal in humid climates, where growth returns faster and the interval between washes matters more than the price of any one wash. In Southwest Florida, where a shaded north elevation can re-green within a year, we point readers to the Naples crew we recommend for flat-rate house washing. Elsewhere, the metro list at the foot of this page covers the rest of our coverage area.
How to get a fair quote
Send a couple of photos and ask for a flat price by the job, not an hourly meter. Confirm the crew soft-washes anything delicate. Our estimator turns your size and service into a range before you call, and the per-square-foot guide shows the underlying rates.
Frequently asked
How much does house washing cost?
Is house washing priced by the job or by the hour?
How much does it cost to pressure wash a house?
Is house washing the same as pressure washing?
Why does a two-storey house cost so much more to wash?
Is it safe to pressure wash a house painted before 1978?
What should a house wash include for the price?
Sources & standards
The trade and government guidance behind the method notes on this page. We link them so you can check us.
- ARMA — Algae Discoloration of RoofsRoof guidance, but it is the clearest statement of the soft-wash principle: solution and low pressure, not a blast.
- EPA — Mold and moistureMoisture control: why forcing water behind siding trades a stain for a mold problem.
- EPA — Protect your family from sources of leadWhy a painted house built before 1978 is a different job: disturbing old paint spreads lead dust and chips.
- Polymeric Exteriors Alliance — vinyl siding maintenanceThe siding industry’s own line on cleaning vinyl: it is a wash, not an abrasive job.
- Brick Industry Association — Technical Note 20, Cleaning BrickworkMasonry has its own rules — pre-wetting, pressure limits and rinse-off, not a generic wand pass.
