Pressure washing price calculator: per sq ft rates, minimums and a worked job

Price pressure washing by the square foot: measure each surface, multiply by its rate (this calculator starts at $0.20 for driveways, $0.25 for fences, $0.30 for siding, $0.40 for decks and $0.50 for roof soft washing), add any prep, then charge your minimum if the total comes in below it. At the starting inputs, an 800 sq ft driveway is $160.

How much to charge for pressure washing

Charge per square foot of the surface you clean, with a different starting rate for each surface and one minimum for the visit. The table below is the calculator's own price sheet: five surfaces at the same 800 sq ft, using its starting rates and a $150 minimum. These are editable starting inputs, not a survey of what contractors in your town charge.

For a national reference point, Fixr's pressure washing cost guide (fetched 2026-10-16) lists $0.30 to $0.80 per sq ft for pressure washing, minimums between $100 and $350, and hourly rates of $50 to $150. The starting rates here sit at or below the bottom of that band on purpose. Set your own once you have a few jobs timed.

Pressure washing price sheet: 800 sq ft at the starting rates, $150 minimum

Change the surface, the area and the rate adjustment to match the job. An adjustment of 125 turns the $0.20 driveway rate into $0.25; 80 turns it into $0.16. The roof line is priced as a soft wash because it is a different method, not a high-pressure job at a higher rate.

How to measure each surface

The rate is only as good as the square feet under it. Most pricing mistakes are measuring mistakes, so take the tape out on every first visit.

Siding is where quotes go wrong most. A 2,000 sq ft house is floor area. You wash walls, and wall area depends on the perimeter and the height, not the rooms inside. A one-story ranch with a 40 x 50 ft footprint has a 180 ft perimeter. At an average wall height of 10 ft with the gable ends, that is about 1,800 sq ft of siding. A two-story house with the same floor area has less footprint but taller walls, so measure it rather than guessing.

Walk the job before you price it

Walk the whole job before you commit to a number. You are looking for anything that changes the time, not the area:

• Access: ladder work, stairs, slopes and a narrow side gate all slow you down.
• Water: where the spigot is and how much hose you need to reach it.
• Delicate surfaces: soft wood, old paint, plants against the wall and cars in the drive.
• Runoff: where the wash water will go.

Put each of these into the rate adjustment or the extra prep line, so the customer can see what they are paying for.

Runoff is not just a nice-to-have. Ohio EPA's fact sheet on mobile power washing treats power washing wastewater as industrial wastewater under the Clean Water Act and says it cannot go into storm drains. Rules differ by state and city, so check yours. If the job needs berms, a vacuum recovery mat or a trip to dump the water, that is prep time and it belongs on the quote.

Worked example: a two-car driveway, a house wash and a deck

Here is one real-sized residential stop at the calculator's starting rates. The customer wants the two-car driveway, the siding on a one-story 2,000 sq ft ranch and the 12 x 16 ft back deck. You add $40 of prep to cover the beds along the house and move the patio furniture.

Priced one surface at a time, the deck hits the $150 minimum and the stop totals $902.80. Priced as one visit, the minimum is checked once against the whole job and the stop is $829.60. That $73.20 gap is a second setup charge for a setup you only do once. Charge it and a careful customer will notice; drop it and you still clear the minimum several times over.

The minimum, not your rate, sets the price of every small job: at the starting $150 minimum and $0.20 driveway rate, any driveway under 750 sq ft costs the same $150. That flips how you should sell. Cutting your rate does nothing for a small driveway, while adding a second surface to the same stop is nearly all margin, because the drive, the setup and the cleanup are already paid for.

Where the $150 minimum stops mattering, at each starting rate

Below those sizes every job is a $150 job. Above them, the rate takes over. That is why a 12 x 12 ft deck and a 15 x 25 ft deck cost the customer the same as standalone jobs, and why the small one is worth far more to you as an add-on to a driveway.

What your rate per square foot has to cover

A rate per square foot is just a fast way to price your hour. It has to cover three things: your labor, the chemicals, fuel and water you use up, and the overhead behind the rig, including the van, the pump, insurance and the evenings you spend on the office stuff.

Check every quote against time. Suppose your own records say the two-car driveway takes 1.5 hours with setup and cleanup. $172.80 over 1.5 hours is $115.20 an hour before chemicals and fuel. If the house wash takes 3 hours, $580 is about $193 an hour. Fixr's $50 to $150 an hour band is a national reference, not your number. To find yours, run it through what an hour of your time really costs, then confirm the margin left after materials with the markup and margin calculator.

Solo operator or small crew: what changes

Crew size changes your cost per hour, not the customer's price per square foot. The customer pays for a clean driveway, not for how many people it took.

A helper makes a big house wash faster, which raises what you earn per hour of the stop, but your cost per hour goes up with every wage. Quote the same per-square-foot price either way, then check that the job still pays once two or three people are on the clock. If you are still deciding between going solo and hiring, the pressure washing startup guide covers equipment, insurance and finding the first customers.

Turn the number into a quote

On paper, this method works. Measure, multiply, apply the minimum, write it on a quote template and send it. The wall comes on the tenth quote, not the first: you retype the same five rates on every job, redo the minimum math at night, and chase the invoice a week after the driveway dried.

Driveway Desk keeps your price book, so the driveway, siding and deck rates fill in when you add a line. You build the quote on your phone in the driveway, review it and tap send. When the job is done, the invoice goes out in one tap and you get paid into your own Stripe or Square account. One flat price for the whole crew, no contract. If you are weighing it against bigger field service apps, here is how Jobber prices its plans for comparison.

Price it once, then start your first quote from the driveway next time.

How we calculate this

Effective rate = selected surface starting rate x rate adjustment / 100. Price = max(minimum job, measured area x effective rate + extra preparation). The starting rates are $0.20 per sq ft for driveways, $0.25 for fences, $0.30 for siding, $0.40 for decks and $0.50 for roof soft washing, with a $150 minimum and $0 extra prep. They are pricing inputs, not pressure settings: choosing a rate does not tell you a safe pressure, chemical mix or access method for the surface.

The rates are illustrative starting points, not quoted national averages. The Fixr cost guide linked above (fetched 2026-10-16) is the national reference for the per square foot, minimum and hourly ranges cited in this article. Replace every input with your own once you have timed a few jobs.

Review the job before you send it

Measure every surface, price each at its own rate, put prep on its own line and apply the minimum once per stop. Then divide by the hours and make sure the job pays. Selling the second surface on the same visit raises your take more than any rate change will.

If you run other services on the same route, the per-visit math works the same way in the house cleaning price calculator and the lawn mowing price calculator.