Drone exterior cleaning, answered

Drone exterior cleaning works in three steps: a free site survey to measure the surfaces and plan the staging positions, a heated soft-wash pass that lifts algae, mold and atmospheric grime at low pressure, and a 0 TDS pure-water rinse that dries spot-free. The drone is a Lucid Bots Sherpa flying on a tether that carries water and power from the truck, and the FAA Part 107 pilot works from the ground.

• Drone facade cleaning
• Equipment and method

Yes. Drone cleaning uses low-pressure soft-wash chemistry and a pure-water rinse, so there is no hard contact with the surface and none of the etching, blown sealant or forced water intrusion that pressure washing causes. The drone flies from a staging position on the client's own property, nobody works at height, and entrances stay open throughout.

• Drone window cleaning

A cleaning drone handles stucco, EIFS, painted and bare concrete, brick, metal panel, curtain-wall glass, tile, metal, shingle and membrane roofs, and solar arrays. The chemistry and pressure are matched to the surface so coatings and warranties stay intact. Parking decks are the exception: they are ground work, described below.

• Drone roof cleaning
• Solar panel cleaning

Yes. Every flight is performed by an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot, and Exterior Drone Washing carries $2M in commercial general liability whose description of operations expressly covers exterior building washing by drone. A certificate of insurance is issued to your management company before mobilization.

• Credentials and compliance

No. There is no scaffolding, swing stage or overhead rigging, so lobbies, entrances and windows stay open and buildings operate normally. Belmont Village, a 130,000+ sq ft luxury senior living high-rise, was cleaned by our Florida division with residents in place and every entrance open.

• Case studies

The drone reaches up to 200 ft, about 18 stories, per staging position. Taller buildings are cleaned by staging from podiums, setbacks or the roof, so height is a planning question settled at the site survey rather than a limit on the building.

• High-rise facade cleaning

We clean commercial and multifamily buildings: office towers, condominiums, senior living, hotels, hospitals, schools, warehouses, retail centers, parking structures and rooftop solar arrays. Residential roofs are also priced, at a small-roof rate that slides into the commercial band as the job grows.

• Roof cleaning
• How we price

It depends on the surface area and the number of staging positions, and the site survey sets the schedule. For scale, our Florida division cleaned Belmont Village, a 130,000+ sq ft luxury senior living high-rise, in 7 days, and delivered the full exterior of Miramar Centre II, a four-story Class A office building in Miramar Centre Corporate Park, in 48 hours. Both are documented case studies.

• Read both case studies

Commercial drone cleaning is priced at $0.12–$0.25 per square foot of surface, fixed after a free site survey, with no minimum charge. Bigger jobs get lower rates: at 40,000 sq ft and up the range is $0.12–$0.20. Facade, glass, roof and industrial surfaces share the same band; parking garages are the one exception. This is our published national rate; every job is a fixed price after a free site survey.

• The full pricing model

We publish prices because a property manager should be able to read the rate, compare it with a scaffolding or boom-lift bid and decide whether a call is worth the time. The rate covers the cleaning; there is no separate line for access equipment because there is none to erect, rent or dismantle. Publishing the number also keeps us honest: the same figure appears on every service page and in the proposal.

• Why we publish

A quote starts with a free site survey. We measure the surfaces, check the airspace and stormwater rules for the site, and agree the staging positions. The proposal that follows is a fixed price for the scope, not an hourly estimate, so the number you approve is the number you are invoiced.

• Book a free site survey

Drone cleaning runs 30–60% below scaffolding, swing-stage or boom-lift cleaning of the same scope, because the access equipment, permits and closures that make up most of a traditional bill are not needed. On a recurring schedule the 20–30% maintenance discount comes off our price on top of that gap, so the saving compounds rather than adds.

• How the comparison is calculated

Most single-family roofs land $500–$1,200, with no minimum charge. Small roofs carry a higher per-square-foot rate that covers mobilization, and above that size the rate slides toward the commercial band. This is our published national rate; every job is a fixed price after a free site survey.

• Roof cleaning

Exterior Drone Washing operates nationwide. Crews and equipment mobilize anywhere in the United States, with travel built into a fixed quote after a free site survey. In Florida we operate as Vista Drone Cleaning. Vista Drone Cleaning serves that state through its own site. Every job uses the same equipment, method, insurance and price sheet.

• Every state we serve
• Florida division

Water-based washing follows the freeze calendar and cannot run once overnight temperatures sit near freezing. Florida is worked year-round; most other states run roughly spring through fall, with the exact window narrower in colder climates. Season windows are average freeze dates and are descriptive, not a service guarantee; the site survey sets the actual date.

• Pennsylvania
• Colorado

New York City requires an NYPD/DOT permit for every drone takeoff and landing (38 RCNY Chapter 24), with at least 30 days' notice, a $150 fee, proof of insurance and Part 107 certification, community-board notice and posted signage. Drone flights are scheduled around that process and are never promised on a same-week basis. Manhattan sits under JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Class B airspace with a LAANC ceiling of zero; flights need manual FAA authorization, which can take up to about 90 days. Work that cannot wait for a permit is done with water-fed poles and ground crews, the same hybrid method used on the Miramar Centre II project.

• New York

Cleaning a landmarked building or one in a historic district needs a Landmarks Preservation Commission permit, which caps water pressure. Wash water discharged to the sanitary sewer needs DEP approval; it is captured and disposed of accordingly. Both are handled during the site survey and before a date is set.

• New York permit process

No. Parking garage decks are ground work: a covered deck has low clearance and no reliable GPS, so decks and drive lanes are cleaned with heated water and rotary surface cleaners by a ground crew. The drone cleans the exterior facade and the open top deck. It is a hybrid method, and the garage page says so.

• Parking garage cleaning

Parking garages are the one service with its own rate. On structures of 100,000 sq ft and up, the deck and drive surface is a flat $0.06 per sq ft, and walls, columns, ceilings and stairwells are $0.06–$0.08 per sq ft. Below 100,000 sq ft no rate is published; those structures are quoted after a free site survey. This is our published national rate; every job is a fixed price after a free site survey.

• Garage pricing tiers

Yes. Buildings on a recurring maintenance schedule are priced 20–30% below the single-visit rate, per visit, because the survey, the staging plan and the chemistry are already set. The discount does not apply to the parking garage deck rate, which is already flat.

• Maintenance pricing

Yes. Multi-building portfolios are priced 20–30% below single-building rates. Portfolio pricing is an alternative to the maintenance-contract discount, not an addition to it: a client receives whichever applies, and the two are never stacked.

• Discuss a portfolio

Ask any member of the team once the survey is booked. A certificate of insurance naming your management company or ownership entity is issued before mobilization, and W-9 and entity documents are supplied for vendor onboarding.

• Contact the team