# Pressure washing business what to charge?



## SuperFreak (Sep 18, 2003)

Not an advertismnet-
I just picked up a used 13hp honda pressure washer with 3500 psi. Id like to hire out to recoup my cost. 
What would you pay to have your deck or driveway cleaned?
What is condsiered a deal or fair price?

I was thinking maybe a 16x16 deck for $30-40 bucks.
How about 12x50 driveway for $50?
I dont want to be to high but i dont want to be working for peanuts either.

Thanks


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

If I use my equipment, I charge $35 per hour but with your washer; it should not take long to get the job done.


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## bigl22 (Sep 16, 2003)

a co-worker of mine charges a 50$ minimum -- he goes by what he thinks it will take him according to time and varies it according to overall cost to him and customer -- plus any materials he uses up[ soaps etc.] = he says it is not easy to figure sometimes - most people wil not balk at a 50$ minimum he says because it will cost them at least that just to do it themselves -- and he figures he can charge what it would cost to rent a pressure washer for a few hours and the customer sees his effort as being free that way -- same price and they don't have to do it -- so -- what does it cost to rent one in your area? that is what he goes by as a basic price he says-- he claims he makes about 100$ per job on average --


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## Chris (Sep 15, 2003)

Prices are a little high for individual work. Just charge a fair price mostly by the hour with a minimum to protect your time and investment for the work/travel. Say $40/hr with 1 hour minimum or something. Might not sound appealing but after all you are using the customer's water source for free and you just have to go through less than a tank of gas plus any detergents or chemicals. I dont know but most people aren't going to call to have one small think pressure washed at a time. So I would guess a 2-4 hour stay would be routine. So there, you might do well and make an easy $100 each time. Sounds like a good plan. Assuming you just paid about $1000 for the pressure washer. It seems very attractive to meet payback rather quickly. Plus good time of the year with the spring cleaning coming around.

Hope you have good luck with it.

Andy


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## SuperFreak (Sep 18, 2003)

Thanks fellas, 
I think i will set minumum of $50 per hour minumum 1 hr. 
The cost to rent a machine of my size is $60 per 4 hours $80 per day.Thats the cheapest i found and there were higher out there.

Whats the best way to advertise, door to door, flyers, signs at the stop sign?

thanks


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## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

I have mixed feelings and ideas on using my equipment I buy to do work for others that pay me to do it so I can recoup my investment. I had tried things like that in the past, so I could justify buying a bigger or better quality item, and then hire it and myself out to make up for it, with mixed results. I usually wound up working more than I had wanted to, and put excessive hours and use on the machine, to the point that it would have had on it if it was used just for my use. Lots of times it cost me more in the long run in maintainence as well as it ran up the hours quicker. 

Just be aware of your warranty, as some have a different time frame for items in commercial use than they do in residentil use. My pressure washer had a 1 year warranty for residential but 90 days commercial. Pumps and engine parts especially Honda parts are not cheap, and $hit happens. Seems like most of thre larger commercial washers have Hondas or the 2 cylinder B&S engines.

Liability is another issue, make sure you have it covered, because as I stated before $hit happens.

Will you run into any problems with needing a business liscense or permit? These type of things can crop up if you physically advertise with flyers and the wrong person happens to get ahold of one. Thats a very common problem in my area. We have what is called the Bulletin Board, which is a weekly mag put out that lists items for sale, wanted,trade, and services offered. Its free to place an ad n the mag, and it costs 1.25 to buy it. Its a very hot mag around here, but city officials seem to like to also as it allows them to zero in on individuals engaging in business without the propper paperwork and permits etc. So if yo put it in writing in regards to flyers, etc it could be a total different ball game than just word of mouth.


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## SuperFreak (Sep 18, 2003)

Chipmaker, You make some very good points. I have decided not to mess with it at this time till i get Get the permit part of it figured out.Last thing i need is to get a tax lein on my house or something like that.


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## jbetts13 (Dec 28, 2003)

> _Originally posted by bigl22 _
> *a co-worker of mine charges a 50$ minimum -- he goes by what he thinks it will take him according to time and varies it according to overall cost to him and customer -- plus any materials he uses up[ soaps etc.] = he says it is not easy to figure sometimes - most people wil not balk at a 50$ minimum he says because it will cost them at least that just to do it themselves -- and he figures he can charge what it would cost to rent a pressure washer for a few hours and the customer sees his effort as being free that way -- same price and they don't have to do it -- so -- what does it cost to rent one in your area? that is what he goes by as a basic price he says-- he claims he makes about 100$ per job on average -- *


l think thats a little to high because he is useing you water any ways :wontshare


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