How to Price Pressure Washing Jobs: The Complete Guide

Most pressure washers price jobs one of two ways: gut feel or what the last guy charged. Both get you into trouble — one leaves money on the table, the other costs you bids. This guide shows you how to price from actual numbers.

The goal is simple: know your costs, know the market, and quote a number you can defend. When you can explain why a job costs what it costs, you stop discounting and start closing.

The Three Inputs to Every Price

Every job price comes down to three things:

1. Direct costs — labor, chemicals, equipment wear
2. Overhead — insurance, truck, fuel, marketing, software
3. Profit margin — what you're actually taking home

If you're only thinking about chemical cost and time, you're leaving overhead and margin out of the equation. That's why solo operators who stay busy still aren't making money.

Per-Square-Foot Rates by Surface Type

Square footage pricing is the industry standard for a reason — it scales cleanly, it's easy to explain to customers, and it lets you quote fast without a site visit on most jobs.

Surface Type	Low End	Mid Market	Premium
Driveway / Concrete	$0.10–0.15/sqft	$0.15–0.25/sqft	$0.25–0.40/sqft
House Wash (soft wash)	$0.15–0.20/sqft	$0.20–0.35/sqft	$0.35–0.50/sqft
Roof Wash	$0.25–0.35/sqft	$0.35–0.50/sqft	$0.50–0.75/sqft
Deck / Wood	$0.25–0.35/sqft	$0.35–0.50/sqft	$0.50–0.80/sqft
Fence (per linear ft)	$1.00–1.50/lnft	$1.50–2.50/lnft	$2.50–4.00/lnft
Pavers	$0.20–0.30/sqft	$0.30–0.45/sqft	$0.45–0.65/sqft

These are retail residential rates in a mid-size US market. Coastal markets and affluent suburbs typically run 20–40% higher. Rural markets run lower. Adjust based on your local competitive landscape.

Calculating Your Minimum Job Price

Before you quote anything, you need a floor — the minimum price you can accept and still make money. Here's how to calculate it:

Step 1: Calculate Your Hourly Labor Cost

If it's just you: what do you want to pay yourself per hour? Don't use what you'd pay an employee — use the rate that makes this business worth running. Most owner-operators target $50–80/hr for their own time on the truck.

If you have employees: their wage + 15–20% for payroll taxes and workers comp.

Step 2: Calculate Your Overhead Rate

Add up your monthly fixed costs: truck payment, insurance (GL + commercial auto), fuel, equipment maintenance, software, marketing. Divide by the hours you're billable per month.

Example: $3,000/month overhead ÷ 120 billable hours = $25/hour overhead rate.

Step 3: Add Chemical Costs

Calculate actual chemical cost per job based on square footage and your mix ratios. A typical house wash runs $8–25 in chemical cost depending on home size and what you're applying. Use your actual cost per gallon — not what you "think" it costs.

Step 4: Apply Your Target Margin

Target 25–35% net margin after all costs. If your total cost for a job is $120, your price should be $160–185 to hit that margin range.

Minimum Job Charges

Every job needs a minimum regardless of size. Mobilizing your truck, driving to the job, setting up, and breaking down costs you time and fuel even on a 200 sqft driveway. Most operators set minimums at $150–250 depending on market.

Without a minimum, small jobs eat your schedule and cost you money. A 300 sqft driveway at $0.20/sqft is $60 — which doesn't cover your drive time plus setup. Minimum charge brings that to a number that actually works.

Add-On Pricing

Upsells are where the real margin is. Every base job is an opportunity to add:

• Gutter cleaning: $75–200 depending on linear footage and access
• Window cleaning (exterior): $4–8 per pane
• Sealer application (concrete/pavers): $0.35–0.75/sqft additional
• Rust or oil stain treatment: flat $75–150 charge
• Annual maintenance plan: 10–15% discount in exchange for recurring visits

Always walk the property with the customer and mention what else you see. You don't need a hard sell — just "while we're here, we could handle the gutters too" closes more often than you'd expect.

When to Price Higher

Square footage rates are a starting point, not a ceiling. Charge more when:

• Access is difficult — steep slopes, narrow gates, tight equipment clearance
• Staining is severe — oil, rust, heavy algae requiring multiple passes or specialty treatment
• Height increases risk — two-story roofs, commercial facades, ladders required
• Travel time exceeds 30 minutes — build in a fuel/travel surcharge
• Turnaround is urgent — next-day or same-week scheduling premium of 20–30%

Common Pricing Mistakes

Pricing to win instead of pricing to profit. If you're closing 90% of your bids, you're too cheap. A healthy close rate for a well-positioned pressure washing business is 50–70%. Closing everything just means you left money on every job.

Not factoring drive time. Two jobs 45 minutes apart aren't the same as two jobs back-to-back. If you have a booking system that stacks geographically, you can hit more jobs per day. If not, build drive time into your estimates or limit your service radius.

Using competitor prices as your floor. The operator down the street might be losing money on every job and not know it. Build from your own cost structure. If you can't compete at their price, you don't want their customers.

Forgetting equipment wear. Your surface cleaner, hoses, and pump aren't free to run. Budget 5–8% of revenue for equipment maintenance and replacement. It's a real cost that shows up when you ignore it.

Building a Rate Sheet

Once you've run the math, build a simple rate sheet you can reference on every quote. It doesn't need to be shared with customers — it's your internal tool for staying consistent.

Your rate sheet should include: per-sqft rate by surface, minimum job charge, add-on prices, any area-specific adjustments (travel surcharge, access premium), and your target margin. Keep it updated as your cost structure changes.

The best pressure washers I've talked to know their numbers cold. They can quote a job in 60 seconds because they've already done the math — they're just applying it to the square footage in front of them.

The Bottom Line on Pressure Washing Pricing

Price from your costs up, not from competitors down. Know your minimum, know your per-sqft rates, and charge premium prices when the job warrants it. The market will support good work at good prices — you just have to stop defaulting to the race to the bottom.

If you want to move faster on quotes, the SurfaceOps free estimator does the math for you. Enter the surface type, square footage, and your overhead — it builds the estimate in seconds. You can also check our full platform pricing if you want to automate your entire quoting workflow.

← Back to all guides