Drone Building & Facade Cleaning in Illinois
We clean facades, windows, roofs, solar arrays and parking structures with tethered cleaning drones and, where flight is not the right tool, water-fed poles and ground crews. Crews and equipment mobilize to Illinois with travel built into a fixed quote after a free site survey.
Quick facts
- Coverage
- Statewide, nationwide service
- Season
- The practical exterior washing window runs from around late April to mid-October, between the metro's average last spring freeze and first fall freeze at O'Hare.
- Reach
- Up to 200 ft per staging position
- Insurance
- FAA Part 107 · $2M liability
Where we work in Illinois
Chicago
Chicago has one of the largest concentrations of tall buildings in the country, with more than 1,250 completed high-rises, creating steady demand for facade and window cleaning.
Naperville
The city sits in the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor and hosts large corporate offices for companies such as Nokia and BP America, adding suburban commercial building stock.
Rockford
The metro is the largest center of aerospace production employment in Illinois, with manufacturing plants and supplier facilities that need regular exterior maintenance.
Peoria
Downtown Peoria still carries the former Caterpillar headquarters towers and a civic center complex, commercial buildings that continue to need exterior upkeep after the company's relocation.
Season and scheduling
The practical exterior washing window runs from around late April to mid-October, between the metro's average last spring freeze and first fall freeze at O'Hare.
Chicago's average first freeze is mid-October, and the average last freeze is late April.
Water-based washing pauses in freezing weather, and recurring clients are booked at the start of the window.
How we operate in Illinois
These are the rules that shape a job here; we plan around them at the survey, not on site.
Illinois law reserves drone regulation to the state and bars local governments, including home rule units, from enacting their own drone ordinances, except municipalities over 1,000,000 population.
The Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act restricts law enforcement drone use, requiring a warrant with listed exceptions such as imminent harm, missing persons and disaster response.
Illinois criminal trespass law applies to unauthorized drone landing or operation on another person's property.
Illinois is an all-party consent state for recording private conversations under its eavesdropping statute, which applies to audio captured during drone operations.
Chicago: Chicago Municipal Code 10-36-400 requires consent before flying over people or property and sets distance limits near airports; the Park District Code separately requires a permit for any drone takeoff, landing or operation on the city's parks and lakefront trail.
Both O'Hare and Midway sit under nested Class B airspace shelves covering most of the Loop and lakefront. LAANC automated authorization can be requested for eligible locations and altitudes, but many areas near the runways have a zero foot ceiling for automated approval.
Illinois does not require a state contractor license for pressure washing or exterior building cleaning businesses; a local business license may still be required by the city or county.
Chicago's sewer and stormwater regulations prohibit illicit discharges of wash water to the storm sewer system, but permit routine external building wash-down that does not use detergents.
Chicago's facade ordinance requires a critical examination of exterior walls on buildings 80 feet or taller, at intervals of 4 to 12 years depending on the wall's construction category, performed by a registered architect or structural engineer.
Building stock
Chicago has 137 buildings taller than 150 meters and 356 taller than 100 meters, among the largest concentrations of tall buildings of any US city.
What to expect in Illinois: two documented projects
We have not yet published a documented project in Illinois. Until we do, the two jobs below are the reference for scope, duration and price. Both were delivered in Florida, where we operate as Vista Drone Cleaning, with the same equipment, method, insurance and price sheet that crews bring to Illinois.
Reference project: Belmont Village
Belmont Village Senior Living · Coral Gables, FL, a 130,000+ sq ft luxury senior living high-rise. Delivered in Florida, where we operate as Vista Drone Cleaning.
Belmont Village needed its entire exterior - facade, windows and floor surfaces - cleaned without closing a single entrance or moving a resident. Lifts, scaffolding, swing stages and rope access were all off the table.
Before
After- 130,000+
- sq ft of exterior cleaned
- 7 days
- start to finish
- Zero
- lifts, scaffolding or closures
- 2×/year
- asked back on a semi-annual schedule
Delivered at $0.20 / sq ft, all in, across the full scope. That is a real project price, not the advertised rate, and it does not move when the published range moves.
Reference project: Miramar Centre II
Workspace Property Trust · Miramar, FL, a four-story Class A office building in Miramar Centre Corporate Park. Delivered in Florida, where we operate as Vista Drone Cleaning.
A prospective tenant walkthrough was booked for Thursday and the job was only confirmed on Monday afternoon. Lifts and scaffolding could not clean the building in the time available, and nothing could block the entrances or take over the parking lot.
Before
After- 48 hours
- to complete the entire building
- ~29%
- below traditional pricing for the same scope
- Zero
- lifts or scaffolding on site
- Minimal
- disruption to tenants and daily operations
Services offered in Illinois
- Facade and building cleaningStucco, EIFS, brick, painted concrete and metal panel, cleaned from the air without lifts or scaffolding.
- Window cleaningPure-water drone glass cleaning for high-rise and commercial buildings, no swing stage.
- Roof cleaningSoft-wash for tile, metal, shingle and flat roofs with no foot traffic on the membrane.
- Solar panel cleaningPure-water rinse for rooftop and ground-mount arrays, priced per panel.
- Parking garage cleaningDecks, drive lanes, walls and stairwells at a flat per-square-foot rate.
Pricing in Illinois
We publish our prices. The commercial rate of $0.12–$0.25 per square foot, fixed after a free site survey, is our published national rate, and every job in Illinois is a fixed price after a free site survey. There is no minimum charge on any job, and a maintenance contract runs 20–30% below the one-off price per visit. The full model is on how we price.
Illinois questions
Have you completed a project in Illinois yet?
Not a documented one yet. Our reference projects are two jobs delivered in Florida: Belmont Village in Coral Gables, FL (130,000+ sq ft of exterior cleaned, 7 days start to finish, Zero lifts, scaffolding or closures, 2×/year asked back on a semi-annual schedule) and Miramar Centre II in Miramar, FL (48 hours to complete the entire building, ~29% below traditional pricing for the same scope, Zero lifts or scaffolding on site, Minimal disruption to tenants and daily operations). Work in Illinois uses the same equipment, method, insurance and price sheet, and the first documented Illinois project will be published here when it is delivered.
Do you really serve Illinois?
Yes. 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. The first documented Illinois project will be published on this page when it is delivered.
When is the washing season in Illinois?
The practical exterior washing window runs from around late April to mid-October, between the metro's average last spring freeze and first fall freeze at O'Hare.
Can you fly a cleaning drone in Illinois?
Illinois law reserves drone regulation to the state and bars local governments, including home rule units, from enacting their own drone ordinances, except municipalities over 1,000,000 population. Both O'Hare and Midway sit under nested Class B airspace shelves covering most of the Loop and lakefront. LAANC automated authorization can be requested for eligible locations and altitudes, but many areas near the runways have a zero foot ceiling for automated approval.
Do you need a licence to pressure wash in Illinois?
Illinois does not require a state contractor license for pressure washing or exterior building cleaning businesses; a local business license may still be required by the city or county.
How is pricing set?
Commercial work is quoted per square foot, fixed after a free site survey. $0.12–$0.25 per sq ft is our published national rate, and bigger jobs get lower rates. Crews and equipment mobilize anywhere in the United States, with travel built into a fixed quote after a free site survey.
More general answers are on the national FAQ. See every state on the states directory.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Chicago
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naperville,_Illinois
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockford,_Illinois
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoria,_Illinois
- https://www.weather.gov/lot/firstfreeze
- https://www.dronelaws.us/illinois
- https://www.flyusi.org/guides/drone-laws/illinois
- https://dronepilothq.com/can-i-fly-a-drone-in-chicago-il
- https://www.theamericanllc.com/illinois/pressure-washing
- https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/water/general/Engineering/SewerConstStormReq/2016StormwaterRegulations.pdf
- https://www.thorntontomasetti.com/chicago-facade-ordinance
Our core services
- Facade & building cleaningStucco, EIFS, painted concrete, glass and metal panel, cleaned from the air.
- Roof cleaningSoft-wash for tile, metal, shingle and flat roofs with no foot traffic.
- Window cleaningPure-water drone glass cleaning for high-rise and commercial buildings.
- Parking garage cleaningDecks, drive lanes, walls and stairwells at a flat per-square-foot rate.
Get a free site survey in Illinois
Tell us the property. We survey it for free and send a fixed price.