How much does pressure washing cost in San Diego?

TL;DR

• Most San Diego pressure washing jobs price out between $0.15 and $0.80 per square foot, depending on surface type and staining.
• Expect $150 to $450 for a driveway, $250 to $600 for a whole-home soft wash, and $400 to $900 for a roof soft wash.
• Five things move the price the most: square footage, surface type, stories/access, staining severity, and add-ons like sealing.
• A $75 driveway quote almost always means a rushed wand job that leaves stripes and needs redoing within a year.

Pressure washing prices in San Diego vary more than most homeowners expect. A small patio and a two-story stucco home with an algae-stained roof can both be called “pressure washing” by the company calling you back, but the work is completely different. One uses 3,000 PSI and a surface cleaner. The other uses 100 PSI, sodium hypochlorite, and a surfactant applied at a slow dwell. Different equipment, different chemistry, different time on site.

Here’s how the pricing actually works, broken down by surface, with real San Diego ranges and an honest explanation of what moves the number up or down.

How pressure washing is priced

Most residential jobs are quoted one of two ways: per square foot or as a flat-rate package by surface type.

Per square foot is the most common method for flatwork like driveways, patios, and sidewalks. Rates range from $0.15 to $0.40 per square foot for standard concrete, higher for textured or decorative surfaces. A 600 square foot driveway at $0.25 per foot comes to $150, which is right in the middle of the market.

Flat-rate packages are more common for whole-home soft washes, roofs, and bundled multi-surface jobs. A company quoting a whole house isn’t going to measure every square inch of your stucco; they’ll walk the property, estimate the wall area, factor in the number of stories, and give you a package price.

Commercial work is almost always quoted by the job after a walkthrough. Parking decks, restaurant pads, and multi-building HOA properties have too many variables for per-foot pricing to hold.

Price ranges by surface

These are real San Diego market ranges based on typical single-family residential jobs. Your specific number depends on the five factors covered in the next section.

Driveway cleaning

Standard two-car concrete driveway (400 to 700 sq ft): $150 to $350.

Extended driveways, circular entries, or driveways with heavy oil staining run $300 to $450. Stamped or colored concrete adds $50 to $100 because it needs lower pressure and more careful technique to avoid lightening the finish.

Most driveway jobs include a pre-treat with sodium-hypochlorite-and-surfactant solution, a surface-cleaner pass at 2,800 to 3,500 PSI, and a rinse. Oil stains get degreaser treatment. Rust staining gets F9 Barc (an oxalic-acid-based rust remover). If you want driveway cleaning with sealing added, budget an extra $100 to $250 for the sealer and application.

For a deeper breakdown on driveway-specific pricing, see our driveway pressure washing cost guide.

Whole-home soft wash (house washing)

One-story home (1,500 to 2,000 sq ft of wall area): $250 to $400.

Two-story home: $350 to $600.

Soft washing, not high-pressure washing, is the correct method for any painted, stucco, wood, or vinyl surface. The rig runs at 40 to 100 PSI and uses a sodium-hypochlorite-and-surfactant mix that kills algae, mildew, and the organic staining that builds up on stucco in coastal neighborhoods like Carlsbad, Encinitas, and La Jolla. High pressure on those surfaces drives water behind the paint, cracks stucco, and voids siding warranties.

Price goes up for homes with gutters included, homes with significant algae bloom from the marine layer, or homes with two-story sections that require extension equipment. A straightforward soft wash at the right chemistry (usually 0.5 to 1.5% sodium hypochlorite on the surface) takes two to three hours on a two-story home.

See our full guide on house washing costs in San Diego or go straight to our house washing service page for what’s included.

Roof soft wash

Single-story roof (1,200 to 1,800 sq ft): $350 to $600.

Two-story roof or larger: $500 to $900.

Roof cleaning is always soft wash. No exceptions. High pressure on asphalt shingles, tile, or membrane roofing strips granules, cracks grout, and voids most manufacturer warranties. The chemistry does the work: sodium hypochlorite at 2 to 3% applied with a 12-volt downstream pump, a dwell time of 10 to 20 minutes, then a low-pressure rinse.

Gloeocapsa magma, the dark streaking you see running down roofs all over coastal San Diego, is a type of cyanobacteria. It’s not just dirt. It feeds on limestone filler in asphalt shingles and shortens roof life if left untreated. One treatment removes it. Most roofs in humid coastal zip codes need a cleaning every three to five years.

Price drivers for roofs: roof pitch (steeper is slower), tile vs shingle (tile needs more care around grout), and access (homes with no second-floor balcony require more equipment to reach the peak safely).

Our roof cleaning cost guide covers this in more detail, and the roof cleaning service page explains exactly what the job includes.

Deck and patio cleaning

Standard wood deck or concrete patio (200 to 500 sq ft): $150 to $350.

Larger decks, pavers, or flagstone: $250 to $500.

Wood decks need lower pressure (1,200 to 1,500 PSI with a wide 40-degree white tip) to clean without raising grain or splintering surface fibers. Composite decking like Trex needs even lower pressure. Concrete patios get the full surface-cleaner treatment, same as a driveway.

Paver patios are a separate category. Cleaning the pavers themselves is straightforward, but high pressure destroys the polymeric sand in the joints. Any job that includes pavers should also include re-sanding the joints with fresh polymeric sand (Alliance Gator or SEK) afterward. That adds $100 to $300 depending on the size of the area and how much sand needs to be replaced. Our deck and patio cleaning service covers both.

Concrete flatwork beyond the driveway

Sidewalks, pool decks, garage floors, and common-area concrete price similarly to driveways: $0.15 to $0.40 per square foot. A 200 square foot pool deck runs $80 to $120. A long front walkway with rust staining from sprinkler heads (iron oxidation from hard San Diego water, especially in Escondido, Poway, and El Cajon) costs more because the F9 Barc treatment takes time to dwell and rinse properly.

Commercial concrete, parking structures, and loading docks are priced by the job after a site visit. See our commercial pressure washing page for more.

Five things that move the price

Understanding these factors is how you evaluate quotes accurately, not just compare numbers.

1. Square footage

The single biggest driver. More surface area means more time, more water, more chemistry, and more labor. This one is straightforward.

2. Surface type: soft wash vs high pressure

Soft washing costs more per square foot than concrete flatwork because the chemistry is more expensive, the equipment is different, and the risk of damage if done wrong is higher. Any company pricing a stucco home the same as a concrete driveway per foot is probably planning to run the same machine on both, which is the wrong call for the stucco.

3. Access and stories

One-story home: easier. Two-story home: more time, extension poles or ladder work, and sometimes a second technician. Same for roofs. Homes with good flat access to all sides are faster to work than homes on narrow lots where a truck and hose reel can only set up on one side.

4. Staining severity

Moderate mildew and dirt are priced into the base rate. Heavy oil, deep rust, or roof algae that’s been there for five years requires more chemistry, longer dwell time, and sometimes multiple passes. Honest companies build a stain-severity assessment into their walk-around quote. A company that doesn’t ask about staining before pricing should make you curious.

5. Add-ons

Sealing, polymeric sand replacement on pavers, window cleaning, and gutter cleaning are the most common add-ons. Each has a real cost. Sealing a 500 square foot driveway adds $150 to $300 depending on sealer type (penetrating vs film-forming) and surface prep requirements. Our window and gutter cleaning service is often bundled with a whole-home soft wash for a discount.

Why the $75 driveway quote is a trap

You’ll see them in the Facebook neighborhood groups. “$75 driveway, booked solid all month.” It’s real work being done by real people, but the economics of that price only work one way: moving fast. Fast means a bare 25-degree wand tip instead of a surface cleaner. Fast means skipping pre-treatment and just using water pressure. Fast means wand stripes, uneven cleaning, and concrete that looks okay from 20 feet and terrible up close.

The other issue is that without chemistry, pressure alone doesn’t kill the biological matter. Algae and mildew get knocked off the surface but the root systems stay. It comes back faster than it would have after a properly treated cleaning.

You’ll pay $75, then call someone else six months later. Budget jobs usually cost more in the end.

Soft wash vs pressure washing: why it matters for pricing

These aren’t the same service, and they don’t cost the same.

High-pressure washing (2,500 to 4,000 PSI) is for hard, flat surfaces that can take the force: concrete driveways, sidewalks, and garage floors. The pressure physically removes the material.

Soft washing (40 to 150 PSI) is for anything organic, painted, fragile, or porous: roofs, stucco, painted wood, vinyl siding, and most fencing. The chemistry removes the material. The water is just a delivery and rinse mechanism.

Soft washing costs more per square foot because the chemicals cost more and the technique requires more skill. But it’s the only safe option for the surfaces it’s designed for. A company that quotes your stucco home, your roof, and your concrete driveway all at the same per-foot rate is using the same machine on all three surfaces, which is a red flag.

A proper pressure washing service in San Diego will assess each surface on a property separately and apply the right method to each one.

What to expect in a written quote

A legitimate quote should break down what’s being cleaned, how it’s being cleaned (soft wash vs pressure), what chemistry is being used for staining, and what’s not included. If a quote doesn’t mention surface type or method, ask. “Pressure washing your house” doesn’t tell you whether they’ll be running 3,000 PSI on your stucco or applying a proper soft-wash mix at 100 PSI.

Get the price in writing. Get confirmation that they carry general liability insurance and workers’ comp. Ask specifically if the price includes any stain treatment or if that’s a line-item add-on.

When to call a pro vs DIY

DIY pressure washing is reasonable for small concrete jobs under 300 square feet where you own or can rent a surface cleaner attachment. Anything beyond that, anything involving soft wash chemistry, and anything on a roof or two-story surface, falls into “hire it out” territory for most homeowners.

The rental fee for a surface cleaner plus a half-day of your time on a big driveway often costs more than a professional quote, and the results are not the same. If you’ve priced it out and the gap is small, the professional result and the warranty on the work are worth the difference.

Get an honest quote for your San Diego home

We price jobs by square footage, surface type, and staining severity. No mystery numbers. We’ll walk your property, tell you exactly what method each surface needs, and give you an itemized quote before any work starts.

Call (858) 925-5546 or request a quote online. We serve all of San Diego County, from Oceanside and Carlsbad to Chula Vista and Imperial Beach, and inland to Escondido, Poway, Alpine, and El Cajon.