SAFER. FASTER. SMARTER.
Full exterior cleaning solutions led by drone technology.
The 2026 Maintenance Planning Reality
If you manage facilities, you already know: the further ahead you plan exterior maintenance, the better your options. Waiting until summer means competing for contractor availability, paying peak-season rates, and scrambling to fit work around tenant operations.
Q1 is when the smart planning happens. Budgets are fresh. Schedules are open. And the buildings that get attention early are the ones that don't become problems later.
This resource is for the people doing that planning—facilities managers, property managers, operations leads, and asset managers responsible for large commercial and industrial buildings. The goal is simple: give you what you need to make informed decisions about exterior maintenance before the spring rush.
What a Solid Exterior Maintenance Plan Includes
If you're the one responsible for putting together this year's maintenance plan, here's what a complete exterior scope looks like:
- Building envelope — Facades, exterior walls, loading dock areas, canopies
- Ground-level surfaces — Concrete aprons, pavement, entry points, sidewalks
- Drainage and gutters — Cleared and functional before spring rain
- Documentation — Before/after records for compliance, asset tracking, and stakeholder reporting
The plan should align with your budget cycle, specify execution timing that minimizes operational disruption, and account for building height and construction type when selecting methods.
For industrial facilities over 30,000 square feet with 3+ stories, traditional scaffolding and lift-based approaches are slow, expensive, and increasingly hard to staff—which is exactly why more facilities teams are shifting to drone-based exterior cleaning.
DRIP Delivers on That Plan
DRIP was built to execute the scope above—completely.
We combine FAA-certified drone cleaning for building exteriors up to 12 stories with ground-level pressure washing. One provider, full coverage, no juggling multiple vendors or coordinating handoffs.
Our parent company, VizionAir, brings decades of commercial drone experience. You're not onboarding a vendor who's figuring it out on your building—you're working with a team that understands industrial operations, safety documentation, and how to execute without disrupting your facility's workflow.
We focus on industrial facilities, distribution centers, and large commercial properties across Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee—the exact building types where traditional methods fall short and Q1 planning matters most.
Why Exterior Maintenance Matters Now
Environmental & Longevity Factors
Winter conditions leave behind biological growth that can cause permanent damage if left untreated through the warmer months.
Moisture and shade create a breeding ground for mold and algae. Cleaning before summer heat accelerates their growth can stop these organisms from rooting into siding and roofing before they cause decay.
In the Midwest and Ohio Valley, buildings take a beating year-round. The region is subject to harsh winters with heavy snowfall and sub-zero temperatures, intense summer heat, and seasonal storms. Winter leaves behind road salt, de-icing residue, and grime. Spring brings pollen and organic growth. Summer heat accelerates UV damage and fading.
As a general rule, a commercial building should have its exterior, entrances, sidewalks, parking lots and dumpster areas power washed at least twice a year to limit the buildup of dirt, grease and seasonal elements. Industrial facilities with heavy traffic, loading operations, or proximity to highways often need more frequent attention.
Exterior Condition Directly Impacts Value—and Customer Choice
Commercial property valuation methods—whether income approach, sales comparison, or cost approach—all factor in building condition. Adjustments to the capitalization rate can be made to reflect specific property features like exterior quality.
The older the building and the worse it's been maintained, the less valuable it is and the costlier the repairs. For income-generating properties, that translates to higher cap rates, lower valuations, and reduced leverage when refinancing or selling.
Potential buyers or tenants are likely to factor in the cost of deferred maintenance when negotiating prices or lease terms, ultimately costing the owner more.
For buildings with customer-facing tenants—retail, restaurant, fitness, medical—exterior appearance also shapes end-customer decisions:
That affects tenant revenue, which affects lease renewals and rent growth.
Tenant Retention Is Tied to Building Condition
Good curb appeal can increase tenant satisfaction and may encourage renters to stay in your property longer. For industrial and commercial properties, tenant turnover is expensive—vacancy costs, buildout expenses, and leasing commissions add up fast.
A commercial property with visible improvements will drive more interest and sell faster than one without. A building that has an exceptional appearance is more likely to attract new tenants and encourage existing ones to stay.
This isn't about aesthetics for its own sake. It's about protecting occupancy, supporting renewal conversations, and avoiding the costs of vacancy.
Compliance and Documentation
Regular exterior maintenance creates documentation that supports property condition assessments, insurance requirements, and stakeholder reporting. A Property Condition Assessment reveals the real condition of a building, preventing costly surprises and supporting informed decisions.
DRIP provides thorough documentation with every project—before/after photos, scope details, and completion records. This supports preventative maintenance tracking and demonstrates proactive management when refinancing, during due diligence, or justifying capital expenditure requests.
VizionAir Aerial Data Services: For facilities that need more, VizionAir's aerial data capture services provide high-resolution imagery, roof surveys, and building envelope assessments—useful for asset documentation, insurance claims, or identifying maintenance needs before they escalate.
The Spring Timing Advantage
Winter damage is already on your building. Planning now means execution in Q2, when weather conditions are optimal and contractor availability is still reasonable.
Waiting until summer means competing for schedules and paying peak-season rates. Partnering with service providers early can result in significant cost savings—securing competitive rates and consistent scheduling.
There's also a sequencing benefit: exterior cleaning clears the way for other spring work. Outdoor A/C units sit exposed all winter and need cleaning before summer use. Getting building exteriors done first means your HVAC techs and roofers are working on clean surfaces—not circling back after.
Exterior maintenance isn't a cost—it's asset protection. The window to lock in your 2026 plan is Q1.
The Shift to Drone-Based Exterior Cleaning
Why Traditional Methods Fall Short
For single-story buildings or small jobs, a pressure washer and a ladder might be enough. For multi-story industrial facilities, the math gets harder.
Scaffolding
Requires setup time measured in days, not hours. Commercial scaffolding projects typically take two to five days just to erect—before any cleaning begins. Add permitting, pedestrian management, and teardown, and you're looking at significant coordination overhead.
Boom Lifts
Offer flexibility but come with constraints. Most have a maximum safe operating wind speed of 20-28 mph—which means weather delays are common. Height limitations, ground clearance requirements, and the need for stable, level surfaces restrict where they can operate.
Rope Access
Works for some applications, but requires specialized technicians with IRATA or SPRAT certification, extensive safety equipment, and inherent risk. It's expensive, scheduling-dependent, and not always practical for the scale of industrial exterior cleaning.
All three methods share a common problem for facilities managers: they're slow to mobilize, disruptive to operations, and increasingly difficult to staff.
What Drone Cleaning Actually Is
There's a misconception that drone cleaning means pressing a button and watching a robot do the work. It doesn't.
Drone-based exterior cleaning is a hybrid approach that uses the drone as a precision tool within a coordinated field operation. The drone handles height—applying cleaning solution and high-pressure rinse to surfaces that would otherwise require scaffolding or lifts. Ground crews handle everything at grade level. Operators manage flight paths, adjust pressure and flow, and adapt to building geometry in real time.
What makes it work isn't the drone alone—it's the combination of FAA-certified operators, field experience, and high-level coordination that turns a complex building into a manageable project.
Here's What a Typical Two-Day Job Looks Like
- Pre-job site walk: identify access points, water source, power, staging areas
- Ground crew begins pressure washing concrete aprons, sidewalks, loading dock areas
- Drone team rigs equipment, verifies flight parameters, runs safety checks
- Drone cleaning begins on upper floors—facades, canopies, roofline areas
- Ground and aerial work runs in parallel, not sequentially
- Drone finishes remaining upper sections
- Ground crew completes lower walls, entryways, dumpster pads
- Wand work handles detail areas—corners, signage, fixtures
- Final walkthrough, before/after photos, documentation delivered
The result: full building coverage in two days, no scaffolding, no lift rental, no multi-week disruption.
Where Drone Cleaning Makes Sense
Not every building needs drone-based cleaning. But for certain building types, it's the most practical option available.
- Industrial facilities over 30,000 sq ft with 3+ stories
- Warehouses and distribution centers with tall facades
- Buildings where scaffolding would block loading docks or truck traffic
- Facilities that can't afford multi-day operational disruption
- Properties with complex geometry—canopies, setbacks, roofline variations
- Single-story buildings where ground-based methods are sufficient
- Historic structures requiring specialized restoration techniques
- Buildings with significant roof access for suspended scaffold rigging
The value isn't just speed—it's operational continuity. Your facility keeps running. Trucks keep loading. Tenants keep operating. The cleaning happens around your schedule, not the other way around.
Safety, Speed, and Access
Drone cleaning keeps workers on the ground. No harnesses, no elevated platforms, no rope rigging. The equipment is purpose-built for exterior cleaning—not adapted from construction or utility applications.
For buildings up to 12 stories, drones can access surfaces that would otherwise require expensive, time-consuming setup. And because setup is measured in hours rather than days, projects move faster and weather windows are easier to hit.
About DRIP
DRIP is drone-powered exterior cleaning, backed by VizionAir's decades of commercial drone experience. Same team, same operational standards—purpose-built for industrial facilities.
Built for Complex, Ambiguous Work
VizionAir has spent years in the commercial drone space tackling projects that don't come with a playbook—varied scopes, difficult access, tight timelines, and conditions that change mid-job. What we've learned is that the drone is just a tool. The operator and the planning behind each mission is what makes aerial programs scale.
That solution-first mindset is what led to DRIP. We saw facilities managers struggling with exterior cleaning on tall industrial buildings—scaffolding delays, lift restrictions, contractor availability—and built a service specifically to solve it.
DRIP combines drone-based cleaning for upper levels with ground-level pressure washing, all coordinated through the same operational discipline we bring to every VizionAir project. One team, full coverage, no gaps.
Schedule an In-Person Assessment + Coffee
We'll come to your facility, walk the building with you, and put together a scope and estimate on the spot. No pressure, no follow-up spam.
What to Expect
- We'll reach out within 24 hours to schedule
- On-site walkthrough takes about 30 minutes
- You'll get a written scope and estimate same day
- Coffee's on us—just tell us how you take it
Serving Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee. If you're outside our core region, reach out anyway—we have nationwide capability for the right project.