What spring landscaping, sprinklers, power washing cost on Long Island

Spring has arrived, and now is the time to start thinking about landscaping, power washing and sprinkler turn-ons before the busy season starts, local experts said. Pricing can vary, and some projects can be done yourself with the right tools and knowledge, while others are best left to the pros.

"As far as spring cleaning, March and April are your key months to start looking into it and reserve your spot," said Pete Ferrante, owner of Cleanfellas Pressure Washing in Franklin Square. "Guys like myself will get booked out for two months, so if you call us up in May, you might be waiting quite a bit."

Some projects to consider around this time of year include exterior siding and window washing (to take care of environmental buildup and rain spots on glass), gutter cleaning and paver restoration, Ferrante said.

"Between $300 and $500 is your average house wash," he said. "Obviously there's a big difference from neighborhood to neighborhood, and the size of the house, but that's your range."

Attempting an exterior house wash without the help of a pro could be harmful to your siding and even dangerous — a "soft wash" involving soaps and bleach can be provided by a company and is the best option for an exterior cleaning, Ferrante said.

"You have to know how to handle your chemicals," he said. "You could burn yourself, get it in your eyes, ruin your neighbor's property, or you can cause leaks or do damage to the siding itself. You can burn your plants or shrubs … and you can hurt yourself; you're dealing with pressure from the machines."

Walt Wagner is the owner of Shore to Shore Landscaping in Commack and Shore to Shore Power Washing in Kings Park. Getting your roof checked out during a power wash is an important part of the process, he said.

"For power washing, a big thing no one ever does, which adds years and years to the life of a roof, is roof washing," Wagner said. "You can see the dark streaks and the moss … People have no idea, the stuff growing up there is a blue-green algae, and it eats away at the shingles. So if you get a wash every five or seven years, you can add 10 to 15 years to the life of your roof, which is a major expense."

He added that cleaning out dryer vents from the outside of the house is another essential project for springtime and should generally be completed once a year to prevent fires.

"Those are two things that nobody even really knows, and they don't find out until it's too late," Wagner said.

As for landscaping, spring cleanup pricing varies depending on "what you include and how big the property is," said Wagner, but could cost around $500 for a quarter-acre parcel.

But "the range is huge," he said. "Some people have a lot of trees, some people get some trimming done with it on their bushes, some people at the same time are adding fertilizer and grass seed. And sometimes the winter is really windy, and there is tons of debris everywhere, so it takes longer and costs more."

But if people have the time and equipment and do their research, they might enjoy making it a DIY project, Wagner said.

Greg Dodd, owner of J&A Irrigation in Freeport, starts sprinkler turn-on services at the beginning of April.

"We come and make sure all the zones of the sprinkler system are operational, make sure all heads are fully covering the lawn, shrubs and flower beds, and we make easy adjustments to make sure things are getting hit," Dodd said. He will also talk to clients about the watering schedule and how homeowners should time their sprinklers this season.

Installations for new systems started in March, so if you're thinking about purchasing some sprinklers this season, for a small Long Island property's front and backyard, services would start around $2,500, Dodd said.

"I don't think it'd be much cheaper than that, because it involves plumbing and there are different regulations in different water districts that make it more expensive," he added.

But sprinklers can be more efficient and less wasteful than hand-watering, Dodd said, "because we're very precise about where the sprinkler heads go, and make sure we're not hitting driveways or sidewalks."

"In general, people here really take pride in their properties and their houses, and with housing prices so high, people are very focused on lawns and landscaping," Dodd said. "And this is the best way to keep that look going."

By Rachel Weiss

rachel.weiss@newsday.com@RachMWeiss

Rachel Weiss joined Newsday in 2016. As a real estate/living multimedia reporter, Rachel writes feature stories and contributes to and appears in on-camera video packages. She was the lead reporter on Newsday’s LI Acts of Kindness series.