How to Price a Pressure Washing Job (Without Guessing)

Most new operators price jobs the same way: they think of a number that feels fair, maybe check what a competitor charges, and hope it covers their time. That works right up until a job runs long, or a customer asks for a discount you can't actually afford to give.

Start from your real hourly cost, not your rate card

Before you can price a job, you need to know what an hour of your own time actually costs -- truck payment, fuel, insurance, chemicals, equipment wear, and yes, your own paycheck. Add those up per month and divide by billable hours, not total hours. Most operators are surprised their true cost is 30-40% higher than what they've been assuming.

Quote the square footage, not the vibe

A driveway that 'looks about the same size' as your last job is not a pricing method. Measure it, or use a consistent per-square-foot rate for your market and surface type, then adjust up for heavy staining, gum removal, or oil spots that need pretreatment. Consistency here is what makes your pricing defensible when a customer pushes back.

Build in the surprise before it happens

Every experienced washer has a story about a job that turned into two jobs once the pressure washer hit the surface. Price a buffer into every quote for the driveway that turns out to have three years of built-up algae, and say so on the quote itself: "final price may adjust if surface condition differs significantly from photos provided." That one sentence prevents most awkward conversations before they start.

This is exactly why a quote that lives in a real CRM instead of a text thread matters -- you can see exactly what you quoted, convert it straight into the job with the line items intact, and never have to reconstruct "what did I actually tell them" from memory.