Pressure Washing Pricing Calculator
Quoting per square foot is how the industry talks. Costing per hour of run time is how you find out whether the quote was any good.
Pressure washers pricing calculator
Recommended selling price
$0.00
per unit, before sales tax
Where the price goes
- Costs $0.00 0%
- Fees $0.00 0%
- Profit $0.00 0%
| Line | Per unit | Order total |
|---|---|---|
| Materials / product | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Labor | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Other costs | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Overhead | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total cost | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Payment processing fee | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Profit | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Base selling price | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Sales tax | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Customer pays | $0.00 | $0.00 |
- Profit margin0%
- Markup on cost0%
- Cost per unit$0.00
- Quantity1
Show the math
Results are estimates based on the information you enter. Actual taxes, fees, and business expenses may vary.
How to price a washing job
Square footage sets the estimate, run time sets the cost
A rate per square foot is convenient and it is what customers expect to hear, but the surface decides everything. Smooth concrete cleans fast; textured pavers, heavy organic growth, oil staining and a roof that needs a soft wash at low pressure do not. Two thousand square feet can be ninety minutes or four hours. Use square footage for a ballpark over the phone, then look at the property, estimate the actual run time, and price that. Nearly every unprofitable wash was quoted sight-unseen from an area figure.
Chemicals are a real cost and a real liability
Sodium hypochlorite, surfactants, degreasers and rust removers cost money per job and vary enormously between a straightforward driveway and a heavily soiled roof. They also carry risk: damaged plants, discoloured render, a neighbour’s car. Price the chemical for the job rather than assuming an average, and price the care that goes with it — masking, plant protection, rinsing down — as time. Businesses that quote a flat driveway rate and then meet a roof job with three times the chemical cost discover the problem after the work, which is the worst time.
Water and machine hours are not free
A machine running for three hours burns fuel, consumes pump hours, wears nozzles and hoses, and uses a lot of water — from a tank you filled and hauled, or from a supply you may be charged for. Commercial machines have a finite life measured in hours, so every job spends some of it. Divide the realistic replacement cost of the machine, surface cleaner, hoses and reels by the jobs they will complete, and put that figure in overhead. It is usually a few dollars per hour of run time, and it is what funds the replacement rather than a loan.
Setup and pack-down are half a short job
Unreeling hoses, connecting, mixing chemicals, masking plants, moving furniture, then rinsing, packing and reeling back in can take forty-five minutes regardless of whether the wash itself took thirty minutes or three hours. On a small job that fixed time dominates, which is why a minimum charge is essential rather than optional. Set it at a level that makes a short job worth loading the trailer for, state it at enquiry, and encourage customers to combine a driveway, a patio and a fence into one visit.
The formula behind the calculator, including why the margin is divided rather than multiplied, is written out step by step on the pricing calculator.
What pressure washing businesses have to price in
Pressure washing is an equipment and consumables business with a labour component, and the equipment is the part most commonly priced at zero.
- Run time and working hours
- Actual time on the surfaces, at a real rate for you or a crew member.
- Setup and pack-down
- Hoses, connections, mixing, masking, rinsing and reeling. Close to fixed regardless of job size.
- Chemicals
- Hypochlorite, surfactants, degreasers and specialist removers, costed for this job rather than averaged.
- Water
- Tank fills and hauling, or a metered supply. Substantial on a long job.
- Fuel
- For the truck and separately for the machine, which drinks steadily for every hour it runs.
- Equipment replacement
- Machine, surface cleaner, hoses, reels and nozzles divided by the jobs they will complete.
- Nozzles, tips and hose wear
- Consumed steadily and replaced without ceremony. Real money across a season.
- Travel time and mileage
- Between jobs and back to base, plus trailer loading. Unpaid unless it is in the price.
- Insurance
- Liability cover that specifically contemplates chemical and pressure damage to property.
- Plant protection and masking
- Sheeting, tape and the time to protect what you are not cleaning.
- Waste water compliance
- Containment, recovery and disposal where local rules require it on commercial work.
- Callback allowance
- The return visit for a missed patch or a streak. A margin with no room for it means one callback costs the day.
A cost you leave out does not disappear — it comes out of your profit instead. Put every one of these into the calculator above, even the ones that feel too small to bother with.
A worked example: a driveway and patio wash
Two and a half hours including setup, the wash itself and pack-down, on a job combining a driveway and a patio. Chemicals are costed for this surface rather than averaged, and the overhead includes machine replacement and insurance.
| Chemicals | $18.00 | Hypochlorite, surfactant and degreaser for these surfaces. |
|---|---|---|
| Total time | 2.5 | Setup, wash and pack-down. Setup alone is close to forty-five minutes. |
| Water, fuel and travel | $22.00 | Tank water, machine and truck fuel, and the drive to and from. |
| Overhead share | $50.00 | Machine and hose replacement, insurance, licensing and marketing, per job. |
| Target margin | 25% | Enough to fund a callback and the off-season. |
| Card processing | 2.6% | Card on site. Bank transfer removes it. |
| Materials | $18.00 | What the physical inputs cost you. |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | $137.50 | Hours on the job at your own rate. Charge for it or fund it yourself. |
| Other job costs | $22.00 | Travel, consumables, subcontractors, anything bought for this job alone. |
| Overhead | $50.00 | The share of running the business that this job has to carry. |
| Total cost | $227.50 | What the job costs you before you have made a penny. |
| Payment processing | $8.17 | Taken off the top by the processor, so the price has to cover it. |
| Profit | $78.56 | What is actually left, at the margin you asked for. |
- Price per unit $314.23
- What the customer pays $314.23
- Profit margin 25%
- Equivalent markup 34.53%
The wash costs $227.50 to perform — $137.50 of that is time, and the remaining $18 of chemicals, $22 of water and fuel and $50 of machine and insurance are the part a square-foot rate card knows nothing about. The price is $314.23. Halve the job to a small driveway and most of that setup time and overhead stays exactly where it is, which is the entire argument for a minimum charge.
Run your own figures through the calculator above — the numbers here are an illustration, not a benchmark, and local rates vary enormously.
Pressure washers pricing questions
How much should I charge for pressure washing?
Estimate the run time including setup and pack-down, cost it at a real rate, add chemicals for the actual surface, water, fuel, travel and a share of machine replacement and insurance, then apply your margin. Published per-square-foot rates are a useful ballpark for a phone enquiry and nothing more, because the surface and its condition drive the time far more than the area does. Look at the property, or ask for photographs, before committing to a number.
Should I charge per square foot or per hour?
Quote the job, cost the hours. Customers want a single price and a flat quote stops you being penalised for having a faster machine or more experience. But the quote has to come from a time estimate rather than an area calculation: textured pavers, heavy organic growth, oil staining and soft-wash roof work all take much longer per square foot than clean concrete. Use area to get in the right region, then price the time you will actually spend. Keep an hourly rate for unusual work and for anything discovered on arrival.
Do I need a minimum charge?
Yes, and it matters more here than in most trades. Loading the trailer, driving, unreeling hoses, connecting, mixing chemicals, masking plants and then packing everything away is close to a fixed cost, and on a short job it is most of the work. A minimum of two hours of labour plus travel is common and easy to justify. State it when the enquiry comes in, and suggest the customer combine a driveway, patio, fence and walkway into one visit — they get far better value and you get a job worth doing.
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