How to price pressure washing jobs is a question of hours: the square feet of each surface, driveway, siding, deck, roof, converted through the company's own rate for that surface and that soiling into the hours on site, plus the setup, the rinse and the drive. Priced at an hourly rate that carries insurance, the rig, fuel, water and chemicals, with a minimum charge for the small job and the overhead and the markup on top, the number is one the company can keep. The estimate template on this site works it: chemicals and consumables as the material line, hours at the loaded rate, overhead and markup, printed as the quote's lines.
Measure the surface and convert it to hours
Measure each surface separately, because a driveway, a vinyl wall, a wood deck and an asphalt roof clean at different rates and with different methods. Convert the area through the company's own square feet per hour for that surface, soft wash or pressure, first clean or maintenance, and add the setup, the rinse, the plant protection and the drive. Ten measured jobs replace every rule of thumb; a job the record has not seen is priced with a margin and recorded when it closes.
The rate carries the rig, not just the operator
The hourly rate on the estimate carries insurance, the truck and the rig, the pump's wear, fuel, water where it is bought, the surfactants and the bleach by the job, and the unpaid hours of quoting and driving. Chemicals for a soft wash are a material line at cost with a markup. A rate built from the operator's wage is why a busy season ends with a worn pump and no money for the next one.
Minimums, add-ons and the quote
Set a minimum charge that makes the smallest job worth the drive, price add-ons such as gutters, windows and sealing as their own lines, and apply the overhead percentage and the markup. Quote the customer a job price by surface with the method named and the price validity, and keep the hours and the rate in the estimate. Pro on this site files each estimate against the customer and the property, so the same house next spring is priced from last year's hours.
Questions people ask about how to price pressure washing jobs
Should pressure washing be priced per square foot or per job?
Build it from square feet and hours internally and quote a job price per surface; a per-square-foot price to the customer hides the setup, the soiling and the method that change the cost.
How do I know my square feet per hour?
Time the crew on ten jobs by surface and method and keep the average; that rate, not a forum figure, is what the estimate should use.
What should the hourly rate include?
The operator's wage plus insurance, the rig and its wear, fuel, water, chemicals not charged separately and the unpaid quoting and driving hours.