Pressure cleaning before you sell or hand back the keys

Whether you're listing a property or handing back the keys, exterior cleaning is the highest-leverage thing you can do for the money. It's fast, it's a few hundred dollars, and it's the difference between a listing photo that looks cared-for and one that quietly tells buyers the place has been neglected. Here's the Canberra-specific checklist and the timing that matters.

Why the exterior carries so much weight

Buyers and property managers form an impression in the first few seconds, and the surfaces that create it are exactly the ones that get ignored day to day:

• The driveway is usually the largest single surface in the hero photo of a listing.
• The front facade and entry set the tone before anyone reaches the door.
• Black mould on render or a green path reads as deferred maintenance, and buyers extrapolate from it.
• For rentals, the final inspection is a comparison against the entry condition report, and outdoor surfaces are on it.

The pre-sale checklist

Surface	Priority	Why
Driveway & front path	Essential	Dominates the main listing photo
Front facade / render / brickwork	Essential	Mould and grime read as neglect
Entry, porch & front steps	Essential	Where every buyer physically stands
Gutters & fascia	High	Streaked gutters are visible in every elevation shot
Roof	High	Moss and lichen suggest an ageing roof, whether or not it is
Alfresco, deck & pergola	High	Outdoor living is a headline feature in listings
Rear paving & pool surrounds	Medium	Green paving looks unsafe and unused
Fences & garage door	Medium	Frames every wide shot of the property
Garage floor	Medium	Oil stains suggest a car with problems
Solar panels	Low–medium	Only if solar is a selling point in the listing

The end-of-lease checklist

Vacate cleaning quotes often stop at the back door. The items that actually get flagged at a final inspection are:

• Driveway and carport — oil drips are the single most common exit issue. Our oil stain guide covers the DIY approach.
• Paths, courtyard and patio — mould and algae build-up over a tenancy.
• Garage floor — oil, paint and general grime.
• Bin area — staining and odour.
• External walls near the entertaining area — BBQ splatter and grease.
• Gutters — if the lease makes them the tenant's responsibility, which varies.

The benchmark is the entry condition report, not perfection. Tenants are generally expected to return a property in the condition it was in at the start, allowing for fair wear and tear — so a driveway that was clean at entry and is oil-stained at exit is fair to raise, while ten years of accumulated roof lichen usually isn't. If you're unsure where a particular item sits, ask your property manager before the final inspection rather than after.

Timing: book it earlier than you think

Milestone	Book the clean
Listing photography	1–2 weeks before
First open home	Within 2 weeks prior
Auction day	3–5 days before
Final rental inspection	3–7 days before
Repainting the exterior	Always immediately before — paint won't bond over mould or chalking

Two reasons for the buffer. Freshly cleaned concrete dries unevenly and looks patchy for a day or two, so a same-morning clean can photograph worse than no clean at all. And Canberra weather cancels jobs — frost, sustained rain or a freezing week can push a booking, and you want room to move.

What it costs

A standard pre-sale presentation package — driveway, paths, front facade and gutters — typically runs $400–$900 for a single-storey home, more for double-storey or larger blocks. Individually: driveways $150–$450, house soft-wash $250–$600, gutters $149–$420, roof $399–$900. Bundling in one visit is significantly cheaper, because most of the cost of any job is getting the equipment on site. Full detail is in the Canberra cost guide.

Do it in the right order

1. Gutters first. Clearing them dumps debris and sludge down the walls and onto the paving below.
2. Roof next. Same logic — everything runs downhill. See the roof cleaning guide.
3. Walls and facade. A soft wash, never a blast, on render, paint and cladding.
4. Driveway, paths and paving last. They catch all the runoff from everything above.
5. Windows after everything. Have them done once the wet work is finished, or they'll need doing twice.

Getting the order wrong is the most common way people end up paying for the same surface twice.

FAQs

Should I pressure clean before selling my house?

Almost always, yes. The driveway, paths and front facade are the first thing in every listing photo and the first thing a buyer sees at an open home. It's one of the cheapest presentation improvements available — typically a few hundred dollars against work like painting or landscaping.

Do I have to pressure clean for an end of lease in the ACT?

It depends on your lease and your entry condition report, not on a blanket rule. Tenants are generally expected to return the property in the condition it was in at the start, allowing for fair wear and tear. If the driveway or paving was clean at entry and is stained at exit, cleaning is reasonable; if it was already stained, it may not be. Check your condition report and lease, and raise it with your property manager if unclear.

How long before listing photos should I book a clean?

One to two weeks ahead. That gives the surfaces time to fully dry and lets you reschedule if the weather turns. Concrete looks patchy while it's drying, so cleaning the morning of a photo shoot is a false economy.

How much does it cost to pressure clean before selling?

A typical presentation package — driveway, paths, front facade and gutters — usually lands in the $400–$900 range depending on the size of the property and the number of storeys. Booking the surfaces together in one visit costs considerably less than separate call-outs.

Who pays for pressure cleaning at end of lease, the tenant or the landlord?

Cleaning to return the property to its entry condition generally sits with the tenant. Maintenance items — a roof that needs treating, gutters that have never been cleared, degradation that accumulated over years — generally sit with the owner. The entry condition report is the reference point when there's disagreement.

Does pressure cleaning actually add value to a sale?

It's presentation rather than valuation. What it changes is buyer perception — a clean, well-kept exterior signals a maintained property, while black mould on the render and a green driveway invite buyers to assume there are other deferred maintenance problems and to bid accordingly.