Power Washing Home's Exterior

MommyLiberty5013 · June 2015

So, 3 sides of our home are vinyl siding and the front is brick and wood siding. We have a 12' x 20' second story deck that has a full staircase to the ground. I am getting quotes on power washing for the exterior sides and the deck/stairs.

We have a 2-story home with a walkout basement, which means in the rear of the home, we have a 3-story house.

I know I can rent a power washer myself at Home Depot, which I am not totally opposed to doing, but I think my time is better spent elsewhere AND I'd have to do the whole ladder thing, which I am not a fan of.

Anyway, the first company came by today to do their free quote with tax it will be nearly $800!!! We were shocked. Anyone have any experience with this? I was thinking it would be more like $300 or $400.

Thanks.

blondie42107 · June 2015

I know someone that does it but I have no idea how they determine price.

(We just got a quote for our smallish driveway (some concrete removal and new concrete put in) and that was $10,000....I'm still in shock)

AprilZ81 · June 2015

I had our old house power washed before we sold it. Two story house with a 2 car garage... They did the house, porch and sidewalk (concrete) and it was about $250-$300 if I remember correctly.

als1982 · June 2015

I have nothing to compare to as our house is shake shingle, but what would you be paying tax on? Maybe it's just where I live, but it's my understanding that labor isn't taxed.

smerka · June 2015

It is the third story that is killing you. They would have to bring out scaffolding or some crazy long ladders. You could ask them for a breakdown or why it is so much.

bparkhur · June 2015

Yes, that sounds right to me, unfortunately. Make sure they don't use bleach. Some companies may give you a lower quote, but they'll add bleach, which is not good. Ask if you haven't already

blondie42107 · June 2015

als1982 said:
I have nothing to compare to as our house is shake shingle, but what would you be paying tax on? Maybe it's just where I live, but it's my understanding that labor isn't taxed.

My guess would be the tax on the supplies...?

smerka · June 2015

In some states, you pay sales tax on services in addition to goods you purchase.

Erikan73 · June 2015

With that size it sounds probably right. With that much to do, it's going to take a lot of time for them to do it. I don't blame you for hiring someone to do it because you can't be on a ladder and get good aim on the house, they will probably using scaffodling which is expensive and takes time to set up or they have special equipment to give them the height they need. Also with the brick, that has to be done carefully else you can break up the mortor and then have to have that all redone. Get a few more quotes to compare.

abrewer5 · June 2015

In my area (Maryland) you can occasionally find groupons for this type of service it might be worth looking for. I also see a lot of signs for whole house power washing for around $200. I've never had them come out because I'd probably just do it myself.

It might be worth pricing out a few companies as some may be busier than other causing the price to increase, but for that size house that seems about right. We have a 20x23 deck and it took me around 5 hours to power wash it. Granted I was trying to get paint off the deck, but it's a labor intensive and time consuming job.

brij2006 · June 2015

I'm a cheapass, but we have a 2.5 story Victorian (about 4,000 sq ft) and I've bought the house wash stuff that's in the green bottle and did it myself. From the ground, it reached the top peaks. The jug of wash cost me $8 on sale at Menards, and I bought the refill for it for another $15. You hook it up to your hose, and the spigot attached to it causes a powerful stream that can reach that high. You spray it with the wash stuff, then switch it to the rinse dial and rinse it off. It got all of the mold off our north side of the house, with ease.

It's this: http://www.amazon.com/Mold-Armor-House-Sprayer-Bottle/dp/B002HYJAGM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1433771995&sr=8-8&keywords=house+wash&pebp=1433772015178&perid=1AZKJBMXQJEMV86RXNHX

If I truly didn't want to take the couple hours of my time to do this, I would hire some teenager who was looking for some extra summer cash and pay him $75-100 to do it for me. Tada, $125 later my house got washed.

MommyLiberty5013 · June 2015

I asked my neighbor who power washed their house and she gave me the name and the amount they paid. $432 for the same style/size house as mine with a deck too. That's a 100% difference in the quote we got from the first company. They weren't even competitive!

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