When it comes to any business, pricing is key to your future success, profitability, and ability to invest in your business by hiring additional staff, running marketing campaigns, or purchasing new equipment.
In this article, we’ll break down a pressure washing service pricing guide for industry newcomers and seasoned professionals alike. Learn the different services you could offer, major pricing considerations, and real-world examples of businesses successfully navigating the world of pressure washing.
Types of pressure washing services
For nearly every homeowner, pressure washing is a semi-regular item on a home maintenance checklist. But, what specific services do your potential clients expect you to offer? Let’s explore a few specific types of pressure washing services to consider adding to your price list.
Pressure washing hardscapes
Hardscapes are, essentially, any non-living element of your outdoor environment—sidewalks, gravel paths, and wooden gazebos are all common examples of hardscape elements.
Flat surface hardscapes are particularly susceptible to mold, mildew, dirt, and debris buildup that can impact the aesthetic of the surface and create hazards. For example, mildew or algae growth can make outdoor tile surfaces slippery, creating a slip hazard in your backyard, covered patio, or pool deck.
Pressure washing can remove mold, mildew, dirt, and debris buildup from numerous outdoor surfaces, including:
- Pavers
- Sidewalks
- Outdoor tile and stone
- Driveways
- Wood decks
If a home or business owner in your neighborhood has a hardscape surface in their green space, they’re likely to need pressure washing services at some point.
Pressure washing roofs
As a pressure washing business owner, you’re likely to receive a request for roof pressure washing. While pressure washing asphalt shingles isn’t feasible, you’ll likely encounter roof cleaning and pressure washing for clients with:
- Mediterranean-style barrel tiles
- Clay or stone shingles
- Metal roofs
Clients seek roof pressure washing for two main reasons:
- General roof cleaning and aesthetic improvement
- Preparation for painting, caulking, or treatment application
But, when you’re creating your pressure washing pricing guide, remember the additional hazards of climbing onto a client’s roof—high-level falls account for a significant number of injuries and deaths in the construction and maintenance industry. Your price estimate should account for additional precautions, like costs associated with:
- Additional staff to monitor rooftop workers
- Harnesses, hard hats, and other safety equipment
- Equipment like ladders and scaffolding
When you price these services, make sure to be transparent with your customers about the associated costs—and risks—of working on roofs and other elevated structures.
Pressure washing exterior cladding
To prepare for painting, maintain cleanliness, or improve aesthetic appeal, many homes and business owners choose to pressure wash their exterior cladding components. Exterior cladding includes anything on the building envelope separating interior spaces from the outdoors, including:
- Stucco
- Brick walls
- Windows
- Doors (traditional and sliding glass)
- Siding
- Exterior asbestos paneling
- Concrete block
Unlike hardscapes and regular pressure washing, exterior cladding components are typically upright instead of flat. Spraying a high-powered water stream at an upright surface can increase pressure washing injury risks—so, if you need additional safety equipment to service exterior cladding components, remember to incorporate these into your price estimate.
Miscellaneous pressure washing services
People seek pressure washing for a variety of reasons, not all of which relate to living spaces. You may encounter requests for miscellaneous pressure washing jobs like:
- Boats – Boat owners will seek pressure washing for routine maintenance or to prepare for painting and finishing projects.
- Interior concrete floors – Polished concrete floors are becoming more prevalent in indoor spaces like bars, breweries, and art studios, and pressure washing is one of many maintenance methods for this type of surface.
- Landscaping features – Stone planters, lawn furniture, fountains, and other exterior features are just as susceptible to mold and mildew growth as hardscapes.
- Exterior ceilings – To prepare for repainting or refinishing, home or business owners may seek pressure washing for their exterior ceilings.
Determining pricing for pressure washing hardscapes, exterior cladding, or roofs may be straightforward, but it’s important for business owners to have a plan for pricing more miscellaneous projects like the ones listed above.
After all, smaller projects can serve as a springboard for future business. If a boat owner contracts your services before replacing their bottom paint, and they’re pleased with your work and price, they might ask you for an estimate for routine work or recommend your services to other boat owners.
How to price pressure washing services
Before you begin to advertise your pressure washing business, you should have at least a draft pricing guide in place for a pressure washing job. Let’s explore a few elements to consider while building your pricing and estimating documents for power washing services.
#1 By service
One potential pricing method for pressure washing costs is flat-rate or a la carte—charging per service instead of per square foot (we’ll explain this strategy in more depth in the next section). For example:
- You receive a request from a potential client for pressure washing their lanai and their driveway.
- The client’s lanai is a straightforward rectangular shape, but their driveway winds from the street to the garage area, making square footage more difficult to calculate.
- Instead of trying to parse out the square footage, you could provide each service at a flat-rate fee.
But, remember that your clients may want to negotiate the price—in which case, they’ll likely request justification for flat-rate pricing. You can calculate a flat rate based on a few different metrics:
- The estimated time it will take multiplied by an approximate hourly rate
- Square footage estimates, in the case of irregular shapes or surfaces
- Precedent pricing for a recent project similar in scope
#2 Per square foot
Pricing a project per square foot is a common method for pressure washing businesses. This tactic is especially useful for hardscapes, roofing, and exterior cladding.
But, the most difficult part of this method is determining a price per square foot that will apply to most of your clients seeking services. Like flat-rate pricing, there are a few ways to determine a potential square footage price:
- Hourly basis – Estimate how long a 1,000 square-foot rectangular driveway would take to pressure wash. Add in the materials and staffing costs it would take to complete the project and divide the total by 1,000 to determine a price per square foot.
- Market research – Ask around in your neighborhood to determine what other pressure washers are charging per square foot. This could help you establish a competitive price.
- A scaled approach – Consider charging different prices for square footage ranges to streamline your estimating process. Establish numerous size tiers and assign each one a price based on market rates or an hourly rate.
#3 Routine maintenance contracts
As you build your pressure washing pricing guide, consider how routine maintenance contracts could factor into your pricing:
- Will routine maintenance customers receive square footage or flat rate discount on their services?
- If a client signs a contract for a certain number of routine maintenance cleanings, will they receive a free or discount service as a reward?
- Could a routine maintenance structure be replaced by a loyalty program, or could these promotional strategies coexist?
In order to build a competitive pricing guide, you should explore your current market offerings and try to fill a niche that other providers are missing. Pressure washing business owners can research their competitors using Nextdoor’s Small Business database to determine how common routine maintenance contracts are in their local market.
#4 Location
Don’t forget to account for location in your pricing guide. Consider two major elements of location-based pricing:
- Project proximity to your headquarters – How far away is your client? Remember that you’ll spend more time and fuel reaching customers further away, and consider accounting for this in your estimates.
- The local market – What do pressure washing prices look like in your area? Service providers in New York City are likely offering significantly different prices than providers in Salt Lake City. Research going rates in your area to help you determine market tolerances.
Determining pricing is important for your business as it can ensure you’re successfully competitive, and various factors can help you estimate power washing job costs.
Nextdoor: A resource for pressure washing businesses
You have numerous factors to consider when learning how to price pressure washing jobs—the type of job, the size of the project, loyalty or routine maintenance programs, and location. Developing fair, competitive pricing will take hard work and market research.
Once you’ve developed your pricing guide, share your services on Nextdoor. Claim your free Business Page to advertise your small business and network with neighbors who could turn into potential clients.
