People plan their day around this and are rarely told. Here are realistic durations, the things that stretch them, and the one case where the job finishes weeks after the crew leaves.
These are working ranges for a competent crew on a typical Sydney property. Every one of them moves with access.
Gutter clearing
A single-storey house with straightforward roof access: two to four hours.
Double storey, or a complex roof with valleys and multiple levels: half a day, sometimes more.
What stretches it: heavy compacted debris that has been there for years, downpipes that need clearing individually rather than just flushing, a steep or brittle roof that cannot be walked, and leaf guard that has to come off and go back on.
The flow test at the end is not optional and takes time. Clearing a gutter without checking the downpipes actually run is half a job. More: blocked downpipes.
House washing, soft wash
Single-storey, average footprint: three to five hours.
Double-storey: a full day.
Large or complex homes, or anything with multiple materials needing different methods: one to two days.
What stretches it: height and access, heavy growth needing longer dwell or a second application, extensive masking, and material changes across elevations. A house that is render at the front, timber at the side and fibre cement at the back is three jobs sharing a setup. More: how we soft wash.
Roof soft washing
Application on a standard single-storey roof: two to four hours. Double-storey or complex: most of a day.
But the roof will not look finished when the crew leaves, and this is the one people most need warning about. Soft washing kills the growth rather than blasting it off. Dead moss and lichen break down and weather away over the following weeks, so the roof continues improving for a month or more.
Heavy lichen is often a two-visit job from the start, and it should be quoted that way. More: lichen and the first 48 hours after a soft wash.
Driveways and hard surfaces
A standard driveway with a surface cleaner: one to three hours.
Add individual stain treatments and it changes shape entirely. Oil, rust and tannin each need their own chemistry and dwell, and each may need repeating. A driveway with three oil patches is not a two-hour job.
Sealing afterwards is a separate visit, because the slab has to be properly dry first — usually at least 24 to 48 hours depending on weather, and longer after rain. Anyone offering to clean and seal a driveway in one afternoon is sealing a damp slab. More: driveway sealers.
Windows
An average single-storey home, inside and out: two to four hours. Double-storey with water-fed pole work outside: four to six.
What stretches it: tracks and sills, which are slow hand work and which most quotes quietly exclude; salt-caked coastal glass needing repeat passes; and flyscreens, which have to come out, be cleaned, dry and go back. More: window tracks and sills.
Decks
Cleaning alone: two to four hours for a typical deck.
Cleaning and re-oiling is not a single visit. The timber has to dry thoroughly before oil goes on — generally at least 48 hours in good weather, and longer in winter or after rain. Oil over trapped moisture clouds and fails.
So a deck restoration is realistically a week, with two attendances and the weather deciding the gap. More: when to re-oil.
Solar panels
A residential array: one to two hours, assuming safe roof access. The access is usually the longer part.
The things that stretch every job
Access. Steps, distance from the vehicle, narrow side passages, and steep ground. This is the big one and it can add half a day. More: access and steep blocks.
Setup and pack-down. A largely fixed block at each end, which is why combining services on one visit is genuinely more efficient.
Protection. On a property with extensive planting, outdoor fittings and furniture, masking is a real share of the day. More: what gets masked.
Discovery. Finding a cracked tile, a corroded bracket or a drummy section means stopping, photographing and having a conversation. Worth every minute and it is not in the estimate.
Weather. Heat shortens the workable window because surfaces dry before chemistry works. Wind stops height and soft wash work entirely. More: why we cancel for wind.
Why a faster quote is usually a worse one
If one operator says a day and another says two hours for the same scope, they are not describing the same job.
The short version usually means no masking, no test patch, no tap test, one machine at one setting, no separate stain treatment, and a driveway done with a wand. It will be finished by lunch and some of it will show.
More: comparing quotes properly.
When you will have the photo report
Same day or next. It is the part of the job you can actually check, and it should not require chasing. More: what is in our photo report.
