Pressure washing pricing: driveways to decks

Pressure washing jobs are usually priced by the square foot for flat surfaces like driveways and patios, by house size or wall area for soft washing, and by the square foot plus extra time for decks and fences. Every quote should also clear a job minimum that covers setup, travel and teardown. The right rate per square foot is the one that hits your target hourly earnings on your own equipment.

Here is how to measure each type of job, turn your costs into rates, and avoid the most common pricing mistakes.

What should your pressure washing prices be based on?

Square-foot prices are a convenient way to quote, but your costs are really driven by time, chemicals and equipment wear. So start by knowing what an hour of work needs to earn.

Add up a year of costs:

Your pay, or your crew's wages with taxes and workers' comp
Truck or van, fuel and insurance
Equipment: pressure washer, surface cleaner, soft wash system, hoses, ladders, and their repair and replacement
Chemicals: sodium hypochlorite, surfactants, degreasers, rust removers
Insurance, including general liability
Marketing, software, phone, and your own salary as owner

Divide the yearly overhead by the hours you expect to spend actually washing, and add labor. Then add your profit target.

Worked example (made-up numbers for illustration):

Overhead, equipment and vehicle: $45,000 a year
1,000 hours of washing a year, after setup, travel, estimates and weather days
Overhead per working hour: $45
Labor cost for a one-person operation paying themselves $30 an hour: $30
Cost per working hour: $75
With 20 percent profit: $75 ÷ 0.8 = about $94 per working hour

Use your own numbers. A company that only works 700 hours a year needs a higher rate than one that works 1,200.

How do you price driveways and flat concrete?

Flat surfaces are the easiest jobs to price by the square foot.

Measure it: length × width for each section. Use a measuring wheel on site, or satellite maps for a rough estimate before you visit. Add walkways, patios and pool decks separately.

Know your production rate: with a surface cleaner, how many square feet do you clean per hour on normal concrete, including edges and post-treatment? Time yourself on a few jobs. Your production rate depends on your machine, your surface cleaner and the condition of the concrete.

Calculate your rate per square foot:

Rate per square foot = target hourly earnings ÷ square feet cleaned per hour

Example (illustration only): if you clean 800 square feet an hour and need $94 an hour, your base rate is about 12 cents a square foot. A 1,000 square foot driveway is about 1.25 hours of work, or around $118, before adjustments.

Adjust for:

Heavy oil stains, rust or gum, which need pretreatment and extra time
Sealing, if you offer it, priced as a separate service with its own material cost
Very large areas, where your setup time is spread over more square feet, so a slightly lower rate may still meet your target

How do you price a house wash?

Most siding is soft washed with low pressure and cleaning solution, rather than blasted, to avoid damage. Price it by wall area or by house size.

Measuring wall area: walk the perimeter and multiply by the wall height. A two-story home might be 18 to 20 feet tall at the eaves. Add gables. Subtract large garage doors only if you're not cleaning them.

Simpler method: price by the home's living square footage and number of stories, adjusted for siding type and access. This is less exact but fast, and many customers already know their square footage.

Things that add time:

Three-story walls or steep grades that need extra ladder work or reach
Heavy landscaping close to the walls that needs pre-wetting and rinsing to protect plants
Heavy mildew or algae on the shaded side
Gutters to brighten, which many companies offer as an add-on
Water access: if you need to bring water, factor in tank time

Track your time on the first few house washes to build an honest estimate of hours per thousand square feet of wall.

How do you price decks and fences?

Wood is slower and more delicate. You're typically applying cleaner, letting it dwell, washing at low pressure along the grain, and sometimes brightening.

Decks: price by square foot of deck surface, plus railings and stairs. Railings and stairs take far more time per square foot than open boards, so price them separately, for example per linear foot of railing and per step.
Fences: price by linear foot, adjusted for height and whether you clean one side or both.
Staining or sealing: quote as a separate service, often on a separate day after the wood dries. Include materials and the extra trip.

Also be honest about results. Old, gray wood may come up much brighter, but it won't look new. Damaged boards stay damaged. Say so on the quote.

Why do you need a job minimum?

Every job costs you the drive, setting up hoses and equipment, mixing chemicals, breaking down and cleaning up. On a small patio, that overhead can take longer than the washing itself.

Set a minimum job price that covers at least an hour of your target rate plus travel. Any quote that comes out below it is priced at the minimum. When a customer asks for something small, offer to add another surface to reach the minimum value, like a walkway or the front steps.

How can you package services to raise the average ticket?

Customers often call about one surface. Most homes have several. Packages make it easy to say yes to more:

Curb appeal package: driveway, front walk and front steps
Whole house package: house wash, driveway and walkways
Backyard package: patio, deck and fence

You can offer these as good, better and best options on one quote. Each option should be a fair price for the work involved, not padded to make the middle look cheaper.

Other add-ons that fit naturally: gutter brightening, window rinse, outdoor furniture, trash bin cleaning, and annual maintenance washes for repeat customers.

What about seasonal and commercial work?

Seasonal demand: spring and early summer are busy in most markets. Consider small discounts in your slow months for repeat customers, rather than cutting prices in peak season.
Commercial work: storefronts, dumpster pads, drive-thrus and parking areas are often done at night or early morning, and may need hot water and stronger degreasers. Price for the extra hours and chemicals, and get a written agreement on scope and frequency.
Wastewater rules: some cities and states regulate where wash water can go, especially on commercial jobs. Check your local rules before you quote that work.

FAQ

Should I quote over the phone or see the job first? For driveways and standard homes, satellite measurements usually get you close enough to give a price, confirmed on arrival. For decks, commercial jobs and anything with heavy staining, see it first.

What if the customer has a quote that's much cheaper? Explain what your price includes: insurance, proper soft washing on siding, plant protection and cleanup. Some customers will still choose on price alone.

Do I need a license to pressure wash? Requirements vary by state and city. Some places need a general business license, and some regulate chemical use or wastewater. Check locally before you start.

Should I charge for water? Most residential customers expect you to use their outdoor spigot. If you bring your own water, include that time and cost in the price.

How ServFlo helps

ServFlo lets you keep each service in a pricebook, with a unit and a price, then build quotes with good, better and best options that customers approve online. Quotes can ask for a deposit on approval, and invoices can be paid by card or bank from a link or a QR code on the spot. Recurring jobs make annual maintenance washes easy to keep on the calendar. See ServFlo for pressure washing companies and quotes and invoices. If you take deposits on bigger jobs, our guide to deposits for contractors can help.

Photo by Adrian Raudaschl on Unsplash.

Pressure washing pricing: how to quote driveways, houses and decks