How To Price A Pressure Washing Job So You Actually Make Money
Pressure washing pricing breaks the moment you charge one flat rate for every surface — a driveway and a wood deck take the same square footage and completely different time, skill, and risk. A repeatable formula fixes this: a rate per 100 sq ft that varies by surface type, flat fees for specific add-ons, a discount for signed annual or biannual contracts, and a hard floor underneath.
Why surface type has to drive the rate, not just square footage
Concrete and hardscape can take standard high-pressure cleaning. Siding needs a lower-pressure, chemical-assisted soft wash to avoid damage. Wood decks and fences need more care and often sealing work after. Roofs carry the most risk and skill, and the highest liability if done wrong. Quoting all four off one "per square foot" number either overcharges the easy jobs or underprices the risky ones — usually both, depending which way the estimator was guessing that day.
The inputs that actually matter
- A rate per 100 sq ft, by surface. Concrete/driveway/hardscape, siding (soft wash), wood deck/fence, and roof (soft wash) each get their own rate — not a shared average.
- Flat add-on fees. Gutter cleaning, rust stain treatment, oil stain treatment, sealing (priced per 100 sq ft of the same area being washed), and a second-story or hard-to-reach surcharge.
- A recurring-contract discount. A signed annual or biannual (twice-yearly) contract is worth a fixed discount — one-time jobs get none.
- A hard minimum. No job goes out below your real cost of loading the rig, driving out, and setting up, regardless of area.
A worked example
Take a 400 sq ft wood deck, with sealing added on and a second-story surcharge because part of it is hard to reach, booked as a biannual (twice-yearly) contract. Using illustrative rates of $20/100 sq ft for wood and $25/100 sq ft for sealing:
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Base price (wood deck) | (400 / 100) × $20 | $80.00 |
| Sealing add-on | (400 / 100) × $25 | +$100.00 |
| Second-story surcharge | Flat fee | +$40.00 |
| Subtotal | $80 + $100 + $40 | $220.00 |
| Biannual discount (5%) | $220.00 × 0.05 | −$11.00 |
| Final quote per visit | $220.00 − $11.00 | $209.00 |
Every input in that table — base rate, add-on, surcharge, discount — is a fixed number decided once, not a judgment call made standing on the deck.
Why a hard minimum matters
A small 50 sq ft section of deck prices out at (50 / 100) × $20 = $10 under the formula above — far below what it costs to bring the rig and set up for a five-minute wash. A minimum job price (say, $150) means the formula is never allowed to quote below that, no matter how small the surface.
What not to do
- Don't use one blended rate across surface types — the risk and time difference is real, not cosmetic.
- Don't quote sealing as "included" when it's really a separate line — price it per 100 sq ft like the wash itself.
- Don't discount below your floor to win a small job — if the floor is right, it's right for a reason.
The rates used above are illustrative, not a claim about what your market should charge. Local pressure washing rates vary by region, surface condition, and competition — set your own numbers based on your actual market.