A Coral Gables High-Rise, Cleaned by Drone — No Scaffolding, No Disruption
Belmont Village — an occupied senior-living high-rise in the heart of Coral Gables, by the Village of Merrick Park — got its entire exterior, more than 100,000 square feet of facade, cleaned in about two weeks, at $0.20 a square foot, without a single scaffold pole, swing stage, or closed entrance, and without moving a resident. This is the full project: a stone-and-stucco facade, metal sun-shade louvers, high-rise glass, balconies, and a concrete roof deck and parapet, all cleaned by drone, water-fed pole, and a compact lift.
Coral Gables high-rise cleaning — at a glance
An occupied senior-living high-rise in Coral Gables was cleaned across its full exterior using FAA Part 107 drone soft-wash and pure-water rinse, a water-fed pole for lower glass, and a compact lift for after-hours detail work — no scaffolding, no swing stages, no sidewalk closures, and no interruption to residents. Scope included the facade and sun-shade louvers, high-rise windows, the concrete roof deck and parapet, and balcony terraces.
- Building
- Belmont Village, Coral Gables
- Facade cleaned
- 100,000+ sq ft
- Scope
- Facade, glass, roof deck & parapet, balconies
- Method
- Drone soft-wash + water-fed pole + lift
- This project's rate
- $0.20 / sq ft
- Timeline
- ~2 weeks, building occupied
- Compliance
- FAA Part 107 · $2M insured
Drone cleaning, answered
Where was this drone cleaning project?+
Belmont Village, a senior-living high-rise in Coral Gables, Florida, near the Village of Merrick Park. It's a Class-A residential tower with a stone-and-stucco facade, metal sun-shade louvers, high-rise glass, balconies, and a concrete roof deck and parapet — all cleaned from the air and the ground without scaffolding.
What exactly was cleaned on the building?+
The full exterior scope: soft-washing the upper facade and sun-shade louvers by drone, pure-water cleaning of the high-rise windows, cleaning the concrete roof deck and parapet, and pressure washing the balcony terraces. Lower-level glass was reached with a water-fed pole, and a lift was used for close detail work at night to avoid disrupting residents.
Was the building disrupted during cleaning?+
No. Because the work was done by drone, water-fed pole, and a compact lift rather than scaffolding or swing stages, there were no sidewalk closures, no wrapped facade, and no loss of parking or amenity access. Residents kept normal use of the property, and detail passes were scheduled after hours.
Do you clean occupied senior-living and condo high-rises?+
Yes. Occupied residential towers — senior living, condos, and apartments — are a core part of our work in Coral Gables and across South Florida. Exterior cleaning happens with balcony doors closed, HOA/management is notified in advance, and the drone's pure-water system leaves no chemical runoff on landscaping or walkways.
How is drone cleaning approved for Coral Gables airspace?+
Every flight is flown under FAA Part 107 with LAANC airspace authorization where required. Vista Drone Cleaning holds a Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate and carries $2M liability insurance, both of which Coral Gables property managers and HOAs typically require before work begins.
What does drone cleaning a Coral Gables high-rise cost?+
For Class-A residential and commercial towers in Coral Gables, full-exterior drone cleaning typically runs about $0.18–$0.42 per square foot of facade — usually 30–60% below an equivalent scaffolding or boom-lift quote. The Belmont Village project on this page cleaned more than 100,000 square feet of facade at $0.20 per square foot, over about two weeks. The exact price depends on facade material, soiling level, building height, and roof access; we send a fixed per-square-foot quote, not a daily lift rental.
The problem: cleaning an occupied high-rise without shutting it down
Belmont Village, an occupied senior-living tower, couldn't absorb the disruption a traditional exterior clean requires. Management needed more than 100,000 square feet of facade, glass, roof deck, and balconies cleaned without displacing residents, blocking the entrance, or losing amenity access.
- Occupied residential tower — no evacuation or facade wrap acceptable
- Salt haze and biofilm on the facade and sun-shade louvers
- Staining on the concrete roof deck and parapet
- High-rise glass and balconies past safe pole reach
- No room for scaffolding or a swing-stage footprint at the entrance
- HOA insurance requirements: Part 107 + $2M aviation liability
The solution: drone from the air, water-fed pole and lift from the ground
Vista Drone Cleaning replaced scaffolding with a tethered industrial drone flying soft-wash chemistry and a pure-water rinse from the ground, a water-fed pole for lower-level glass, and a compact lift for close detail work scheduled after hours — all run by an FAA Part 107 pilot with the crew on the ground.
- 1
Facade & louvers: drone soft-wash and pure-water rinse across the upper elevations, top to bottom
- 2
Glass & balconies: water-fed pole on lower floors, plus a compact lift for after-hours detail passes
- 3
Roof deck & parapet: soft-washed and rinsed to lift staining without pressure-etching the concrete
Why this works
Safer for crews, faster for tenants, cheaper for owners — and cleaner for the building.
Zero scaffolding, swing stages, or sidewalk closures
No resident displacement — normal use of the building throughout
Full-height reach on the facade past any standard pole
Pure-water rinse leaves no chemical runoff on landscaping
Roof deck & parapet restored without etching the concrete
FAA Part 107 certified + $2M liability insured
Drone cleaning vs the scaffolding approach on a Coral Gables high-rise
Why an occupied residential tower is a better fit for drone soft-wash than rigged access
Building disruption
Traditional
Facade wrap, entrance & parking impact
Drone cleaning
None — residents keep normal use
Sidewalk / street
Traditional
Closures and permits often required
Drone cleaning
Staged on-property, no closures
Facade reach
Traditional
125 ft boom, then rope access above
Drone cleaning
200+ ft from a single ground platform
Crew at height
Traditional
Rigging + rope crew at elevation
Drone cleaning
Zero — pilot works from the ground
Roof deck & parapet
Traditional
High-pressure risks etching concrete
Drone cleaning
Soft-wash lifts staining, no etching
Cost vs scaffolding
Traditional
Baseline rigged rate
Drone cleaning
Typically 30–60% lower
Typical Coral Gables high-rise cleaning costs
Reference ranges for Class-A residential and commercial towers in Coral Gables and Miami-Dade
Per sq ft facade — drone
$0.18 – $0.42
Varies by facade material and soiling
Per sq ft facade — scaffolding
$0.38 – $0.85
Includes rigging, permits, traffic control
Typical full-tower budget — drone
$25k – $150k
Mid- to high-rise, full exterior
Schedule on-site — drone
1 – 4 days
Active facade cleaning; full multi-surface scope runs longer (this project: ~2 weeks over 100,000+ sq ft)
Crew size
1 pilot + 1 ground tech
vs 4–6 person scaffolding crew
Re-clean frequency
9 – 18 months
Coral Gables salt-air + tropical biofilm
Belmont Village Senior Living Coral Gables — the luxury senior-living community developed in collaboration with Baptist Health South Florida. Logo used with permission.
A full-height clean, with the building never closed
Belmont Village’s complete exterior — facade, sun-shade louvers, high-rise glass, balconies, and the concrete roof deck and parapet, more than 100,000 square feet in all — was cleaned in about two weeks, at $0.20 per square foot of facade, with the tower fully occupied the whole time. A full-exterior scope that size on an occupied building, with after-hours detail passes and Coral Gables weather windows, is why it ran two weeks rather than the few days a facade-only job takes. At $0.20 a square foot it came in typically 30–60% below a comparable scaffolding or boom-lift quote — with no scaffolding, no swing stages, and no closed sidewalk or entrance. Years of Coral Gables salt haze and biofilm came off the stone, glass, and concrete with a soft-wash and pure-water rinse — no pressure-etching the concrete, and no chemical runoff on the landscaping. Detail passes ran after hours, so daytime life at the building never changed, and the building’s management told us they were very happy with the result.
It’s the same drone-first approach we take on towers across Miami and South Florida — see the Brickell high-rise case study for a downtown Miami example.
See the Coral Gables project
Real photos from the Belmont Village project — the finished entrance, before-and-after surfaces, high-rise glass, and the concrete roof deck & parapet — plus drone footage from Vista’s Coral Gables high-rise cleaning.
Before & after
The same front entrance — before the clean and after. Soft-wash and a pure-water rinse lift years of Coral Gables salt haze and biofilm off the stone, glass, and concrete without pressure-etching a thing.
Watch the cleaning drone in flight
Vista’s tethered soft-wash drone at work on Coral Gables high-rises — including Belmont Village and neighboring Class-A towers. Every clip is the drone in flight, filmed on site. Tap any clip to play.
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers on process, safety, pricing, and scheduling — pulled from the questions South Florida property managers actually ask.
Keep exploring
Related services, pricing, and answers — all in one click.
Looking for alternatives to scaffolding?
See how commercial properties across Miami are cleaned without scaffolding, boom lifts, or rope access — safer, faster, and 30–60% more cost-efficient.
See what your building would cost
Most Coral Gables, Miami, and South Florida high-rise quotes come back within 24 hours — a fixed per-square-foot price, not a daily lift rental.