With a little elbow grease and a lot of water, Councilman Johnny Khamis’ office and a group of Almaden Valley residents have been refreshing some of the nastiest sections of area soundwalls.

The latest cleaning happened several weeks ago at the Orchard Creek neighborhood entrance on Almaden Expressway and McIntosh Creek Drive. The group spent several hours one Saturday afternoon power washing, repairing and repainting a section of soundwall measuring approximately 5 feet high and 2,100 feet long.

Neighbors like Dan and Mia Burnham, who own a local construction company and real estate business, have volunteered their time over the past several years to wipe out graffiti and beautify their neighborhood. And they have helped maintain several other soundwalls in District 10, including one at Redmond and Meridian avenues.

Their collaboration with Khamis’ office to clean up the soundwall at Orchard Creek started several months ago when the councilman approached them about rounding up resources. Khamis had been looking into sprucing up the soundwalls for a while and thought the project could be tackled without dipping into public funds.

“He just asked us very politely if there was anything we might be able to help with,” Mia Burnham said in an interview. She knew Khamis for several years through nonprofit work, and doing another cleanup project seemed natural.

“We care about Almaden, the community and Johnny. We’re kind of entrenched here,” she said.

A local Orchard Supply Hardware donated brushes and rollers, and Khamis staff aide Michele Dexter organized a fundraiser to pay for the 75 gallons of paint used. There was still a hefty tab, even after using the Burnhams’ 30 percent industry discount, but not as steep as the water bill the Burnhams received.

After being scolded by their water company, they were shocked to discover they had unwittingly “used enough water for a month,” Dan Burnham said.

“I didn’t know what to say,” he added. “They wanted to know if we had a special permit used because it was home water.”

Despite the sticker shock of their last water bill, they said the savings to taxpayers is significant. Dan Burnham estimated a construction company would typically charge about $10,000 for the work done at Orchard Creek.

It took several months to pull it all together, but Mia Burnham said, “The payoff and reward is definitely there.

“The impact is people live in a nice area,” she said. “There’s no tagging visible; it just looks really nice driving down the road.”

Several other soundwalls around the Campton Chase neighborhood on Almaden Expressway and McAbee Road are slated for a deep cleaning next month, according to Dexter. The Burnhams, who assign the work and oversee the volunteers, said they should have enough manpower but could use a little help with one vital resource.

“If anybody wants to volunteer for water…,” said Mia Burnham.

Julia Baum can be reached at jbaum@bayareanewsgroup.com