Pressure Washing a Colorado Home: Curb Appeal in One Afternoon

One pressure washer, one afternoon between April and October, and a Colorado home's driveway, siding, front walk and deck come back to the color they were the day they were finished. The job takes four hours on a 2,000 sq ft Front Range home, costs $60 to $120 to rent the machine, and is the highest-return four hours in the pre-listing plan.

This is the one-tool version of curb appeal. The full exterior plan over several weekends is on our preparing and adding value before selling page. This post covers the machine, the nozzle and pressure for every Colorado surface, the freeze-thaw rule, and the hour-by-hour plan.

What does pressure washing remove from a Colorado home?

A Front Range exterior collects a specific list of grime. Magnesium chloride from winter road spray dries into white bloom and dark tide marks on the driveway and garage apron from October to April. Cottonwood fluff and pollen coat the north and east walls every June. Mildew grows on the shaded north side where snow sits longest. Mud splashes the bottom two feet of siding during May and June hail storms. Chalk from UV-worn paint at 5,280 feet dusts every south and west wall.

Water at 1,200 to 3,000 psi removes all of it except the chalk, which is paint failure and comes off only with new paint. Listing photos shot after a wash show a driveway two shades lighter and siding that reads as its real color.

When is it too cold to pressure wash on the Front Range?

Wash when the air is above 40 degrees and the forecast shows no freeze for the next 24 hours. Water forced into concrete cracks and under siding that freezes that night expands and spalls the surface, and freeze-thaw nights run from October to April along the whole Front Range. The best window is April 15 to October 15, on an afternoon so surfaces dry before dark.

• Start after noon: morning shade on the north side keeps siding wet; afternoon sun dries it in an hour.
• Skip wind days: a 30 mph chinook blows spray back and onto the neighbor's car.
• Water rules: a pressure washer runs 1.5 to 2.5 gallons a minute against 5 to 10 for an open hose, so it uses less water than hose-and-brush. Denver Water's summer rules bar letting water pool in gutters, streets and alleys, so aim runoff at the lawn.

Should I rent or buy a pressure washer in the Denver metro?

Rent for a one-time listing job; buy an electric unit when you plan to wash the deck every spring. Gasoline engines lose about 3 percent of their power for every 1,000 feet of elevation, so a gas washer rated at sea level runs roughly 15 percent weaker in Denver and closer to 20 percent weaker in Castle Rock or Monument. Rent one rated 3,000 psi or higher for driveway work at altitude.

Which nozzle and pressure for each Colorado surface?

Nozzles are color-coded by spray angle: red is 0 degrees, yellow 15, green 25, white 40, black is the low-pressure soap tip. Hold the wand 12 to 18 inches from the surface and test a hidden square foot first.

Board, lap, shingle and board-and-batten wood siding types each take water differently, and every one of them fails when the spray goes up under the lap. Keep the wand level or angled down on every wall.

What is the one-afternoon plan?

1. 12:30, set up (30 minutes): close every window, cover the electric meter, outdoor outlets and light fixtures with plastic and tape, move cars to the street, pull furniture and planters off the deck and patio, wet down the shrubs along the foundation so detergent does not stick to leaves. Put on goggles and closed-toe boots.
2. 1:00, driveway and garage apron (60 minutes): spray concrete cleaner on the mag chloride marks and oil spots, wait 10 minutes, then run the surface cleaner in overlapping passes from the garage door down to the street. Rinse toward the lawn.
3. 2:00, front walk, steps and patio (30 minutes): same method, green tip at the edges the surface cleaner misses.
4. 2:30, siding (75 minutes): start at the top of the wall on the shaded north side, work down and across in 4-foot sections with the white or green tip, and keep the spray level or angled down. Finish with the south and west walls so they dry in full sun.
5. 3:45, deck and fence (45 minutes): white tip, 500 to 1,200 psi, long strokes with the grain. Note any board that stays dark and soft; it gets replaced, not stained.
6. 4:30, wrap up (30 minutes): rinse the shrubs, uncover the meter and fixtures, sweep standing water off the driveway toward the grass, run the washer dry and coil the hose. Return the rental before 5:00.

Photograph the driveway and front elevation at 6:00 pm while the concrete is still damp-dark at the edges and the siding is dry. That is the shot buyers see first.

What should never be pressure washed on a Colorado home?

• Chalked paint: if a hand on the siding comes away white, pressure strips it to bare wood in patches. Wash at 500 psi with the soap tip, then paint. Our Front Range curb appeal fixes post covers the paint job.
• Hail-cracked siding and fogged windows: water enters every crack and every failed seal. Replace the panel or the glass unit ($300 to $900) first.
• Asphalt shingles: pressure strips the granules and voids a Colorado hail-rated roof. A roofer with a low-pressure rig cleans moss.
• Window screens: the mesh tears at 1,000 psi. Hose them flat on the lawn.
• Air conditioner fins, the electric meter, the gas meter, and the crack where the foundation meets the siding: water in any of those becomes an inspection item.

Where does the dirty water go?

Storm drains in Denver and every Front Range city flow untreated to creeks and the South Platte River, and city stormwater rules bar detergent, paint chips and oil from the storm sewer. Aim runoff at the lawn or a landscaped bed, use a biodegradable concrete cleaner, and sweep paint chips into a bag before they reach the gutter. On a driveway that slopes to the street, roll a towel across the bottom edge to catch the first rinse.

When should a Colorado seller hire a pressure washing company?

Hire out a two-story home with a walk-out on a sloped Highlands Ranch or Castle Rock lot, any stucco home, and any home with pre-1940 brick in Denver's older neighborhoods. A professional house wash on the Front Range costs $250 to $600 for a 2,000 sq ft home, and a driveway runs $150 to $350. Crews carry soft-wash rigs that clean stucco and old brick at 300 psi with a cleaner instead of pressure.

Hire out as well when the listing goes live in five days and the deck also needs stain. The wash is the first job in the Colorado home selling guide sequence, and stain needs 48 dry hours after it.

What if you skip the prep and sell as-is?

Some Front Range sellers trade the afternoon for a lower price and sell as-is to a cash buyer such as Dynamic Home Buyers. You are free to use any provider. Before taking that trade, compare the cash number to what the home lists for after a $100 wash and a weekend of cleanup; our Denver cash home buyers and fast-sale guide shows the gap on typical metro homes, and the Smart Pricing Report gives the list price for your street.

Where to go next

• The Colorado Home Seller's Guide
• Showing your Colorado home to buyers
• Denver curb appeal tips from a local
• Concrete upgrades that raise curb appeal in Colorado Springs
• Explore Highlands Ranch homes for sale
• Meet the Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group tells every Front Range seller which exterior jobs move the price and which do not, schedules the wash, stain and photos in the right order, and prices the home on the comps after the work. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. To see the driveways yours will be compared against, search every home for sale in Colorado.