How to Prepare Your Home for an Exterior Cleaning Appointment

You've scheduled an exterior cleaning. Good news: there's very little you actually have to do. A professional crew handles the heavy preparation, that's part of what you're paying for. But a handful of small things on your end make the day faster, safer, and more thorough. Here's the complete checklist.

The day before

• Move vehicles. Cars out of the driveway, and away from garage doors if the wash includes them. Cleaning water and overspray don't mix with a wax job, and crews can't surface-clean a driveway with a car parked in the middle lane.
• Clear the perimeter. Patio furniture, potted plants, garden hoses, doormats, kids' toys, and yard decor near the house should be moved back or into the garage. You don't have to relocate heavy items, tell the crew and we'll work around or move them properly.
• Note your fragile things. Heirloom planters, delicate annuals, that ornamental Japanese maple the whole yard bends around, point them out. We protect them either way, but a heads-up beats detective work.
• Close windows and, if your screens are coming out for a house wash, that's it, we handle the rest. If any window doesn't close or latch, mention it so we can keep water away from it.

The morning of

• Pets indoors or leashed. Cleaning means gates opening, equipment moving, and a stranger in the yard. Even calm dogs have strong opinions about all three. Plan for pets to be inside or with a friend for the window when we're scheduled.
• Unlock gates and side doors so we can access the full perimeter and the water source.
• Switch off exterior outlets and light switches that might be in the work zone, landscape lighting timers, holiday outlets, fountain pumps. We shield fixtures as part of our process, but powered-off is safer than shielded.
• Skip watering the lawn right before the visit, pre-wetting is part of our plant-protection setup, and soggy ground just makes mud of the walkways.

Good to tell us in advance (any time)

• Recently painted or stained surfaces, we'll keep aggressive methods away until coatings have fully cured.
• Newly seeded or sodded lawn areas.
• Wasp nests, hornet activity, or snake-prone spots, genuinely useful to know before anyone puts a hand near an eave.
• Delicate plants, koi ponds, or irrigation heads inside the work area.
• Where the outdoor spigot is, and whether it drips or sticks (we bring our own connections, but surprises at your spigot are worse than knowing).

Do you need to be home?

Usually not. Exterior cleaning needs outside access, water, and agreement on scope, not anyone inside the house. Many Indian Land homeowners are at work while we clean; the crew walks the property with you at the estimate, and you come home to the reveal. If you'd rather be present, that's welcome too.

What we do before the water starts (so you don't have to)

The professional side of preparation is our job: a full walk-around inspection, pre-wetting and covering landscaping, protecting outlets and fixtures, planning water flow, and shielding delicate finishes. The full routine is described in our property-protection process, it's the same preparation we'd want for our own homes.

Haven't scheduled yet? Free estimates here, and we'll fold the preparation plan into the quote so you know exactly what the day looks like.