FOR PRESSURE WASHING BUSINESS OWNERS
How to price a pressure washing job from the work underneath
Build the selling price from crew-hours, chemicals, water or fuel, equipment wear, travel, overhead and the margin the business needs.
1. Estimate crew-hours before area rates
Area is useful for checking consistency, but access, surface condition, treatment requirements, setup and rinse-down can change production time. Start with the paid crew-hours the job is likely to consume.
2. Recover the direct job costs
Include detergents, treatments, water or generator cost, equipment wear and any job-specific consumables. These should not disappear inside the labour rate.
3. Add travel and overhead
Vehicle cost, paid travel and a realistic allocation of fixed overhead still need to be funded by completed jobs. Use a realistic paid-job volume rather than theoretical maximum capacity.
4. Protect a minimum call-out
Small jobs can still require the same journey, setup and pack-down as larger work. A minimum charge protects the time slot when the calculated job price would otherwise be too low.
5. Solve for margin, then check price per area
Once the required selling price is known, divide it by the job area as a consistency check. Do not let an arbitrary square-foot or square-metre rate replace the underlying job economics.