How Much Does Pressure Washing Cost in Melbourne? (2026 Guide)
Driveway pressure washing in South East Melbourne starts at $300 with Clearline. Size, surface and access move it from there. But the thing that changes your price most is one people rarely think to ask: whether the surface should be pressure washed at all.
What it costs
Driveway pressure washing with Clearline starts at $300 for a standard residential driveway.
We publish a starting price, not a range. A range just leaves you guessing which end you land on. This is where we start. You get a fixed price once we have seen the surface, and it does not change on the day.
House washing, rendered walls, cladding and roofs are quoted after we have had a look. They are soft-wash jobs, not pressure jobs, so one starting price cannot be honest about both.
Commercial and strata work is priced per site.
What moves the number
- Size, and how it is laid out — One open driveway is quicker than the same area cut up into paths, steps and corners.
- The surface — Concrete, exposed aggregate, pavers, brick and bluestone all clean differently.
- Pressure or soft wash — Soft washing is slower. The cleaning agents need time to do the work.
- How bad it has got — A season of grime rinses off. Years of moss and lichen is a much bigger job.
- Access and water — Side gates, steps, and how far it is to a tap.
- What is nearby — Garden beds, pools and delicate plants need covering and a slower pass.
- The state of the surface — Cracked or lifting concrete needs care. Sometimes it needs flagging rather than cleaning.
Pressure or soft wash — and why it changes the price
High pressure cleans by force. That is the right answer on hard surfaces — concrete, brick, pavers, paths and patios. It is quick, and per square metre it is the cheapest work we do.
Render, cladding, roofing, fascia and fences cannot take that force. They get soft washing instead: low pressure, with cleaning agents that break the growth down. The agents need time to sit and work, so it is slower. That is why a house wash costs more than a driveway. It is the method, not the size.
Roofs are always soft washed, never high pressure. Force can push water up under the tiles or sheets, and then you have a repair instead of a clean. If a roof is not safe to clean, we will tell you. More on how we match method to surface.
Where a cheap quote cuts
Two quotes on the same driveway can be miles apart. Usually they are not describing the same job.
The quick way is to clean the open middle of the slab and go. But the time goes into the edges — paver joints, the kerb line, the strip along the garden bed. Those are the first things cut when a price comes down. They are also the first things you notice once it dries.
Prep is the other thing that disappears. Covering plants, wetting them down first, and keeping the runoff out of your garden all take time before any cleaning starts. None of it shows up in an after photo, so it is easy to leave out.
What's included
- We check the surface and choose the method before starting
- Plants, beds and trees covered and wet down first
- Dirt, moss, algae and lichen removed
- Edges and joints done, not just the open middle
- Any cracking, lifting or existing damage noted
- Before and after photos of each area
- Runoff managed, site left clean
- Property Health Report™ within 24 hours
How often it's worth doing
Once a year suits most homes here. Twice if you are shaded. Which way a surface faces matters more than the calendar — south-facing areas, anything under trees, and anywhere that stays damp will grow moss and algae much faster. It is why one side of a driveway often looks older than the other. Staying ahead of it is cheaper, too. Lichen that has had years to root into concrete takes far longer to shift than a surface cleaned before it takes hold.
Common questions
How much does pressure washing cost in Melbourne?
Driveways start at $300 for a standard residential driveway. Size, surface, how dirty it is and access move it from there. House washing, render, cladding and roofs are quoted separately. They are soft-wash jobs, so the work is not comparable.
Why does a house wash cost more than a driveway?
It is a different method, not just a bigger area. Walls and roofs get soft washing, and the cleaning agents need time to work. You cannot rush it the way you can a concrete driveway. Height and access add setup on top.
Why is one quote half the price of another?
They are usually not the same job. The quick version cleans the open middle of the slab and skips the edges, the paver joints and the strip along the garden bed. Those take the longest, and they are the first thing you notice once it dries. Ask what happens at the edges before you compare two numbers.
Is it priced by the hour or by the square metre?
Neither. We look at the surface and give you one fixed price. It holds on the day unless you add something to the job. An hourly rate makes a slow job your problem, and a rate per square metre ignores that the awkward corners take longer than the open middle.
Will it remove oil stains from the driveway?
Sometimes, and we would rather say so before you pay. Fresh oil usually lifts. Oil that has soaked into the concrete for years has gone too deep for pressure to reach, so the honest answer is a big improvement rather than a clean slate. We will tell you which one you have got when we quote.
What about commercial or strata properties?
Priced per site. Car parks, entryways and building frontages vary too much in size and access for a starting figure to help, and most of this work runs to a schedule rather than as a one-off.
Protect your property
with confidence.
Every visit includes professional workmanship, before-and-after documentation, and your Clearline Property Health Report™. Whether it's a one-off service or ongoing maintenance, the process is the same.