What a washing crew hour really costs
Each billable hour on a property has to pay for the hours that aren't: driving, loading the trailer, measuring from satellite photos, writing up quotes and fixing pumps. The owner bills the least, because the owner also runs the phone and the quotes, so the owner's hours cost the business far more than the owner's wage. Put payroll taxes, workers' comp and that unbillable time on top of every wage, add overhead, divide by the hours actually spent washing, and the sample lands at $54.31. The method, step by step, is in the true hourly rate guide.
The pieces are easy to list and easy to forget: workers' comp, wear and tear on the washer and pump, fuel for the truck and the machines, and a share of overhead. Leave any one of them out and the rate looks better than it is.
In the sample, marketing, storage and insurance are the biggest overhead pieces, followed by software, an answering service and the hose, tips and O-rings you replace all season. Only the total, $23,200 a year, goes into the rate.
Truck, trailer, washer and surface cleaner: charged by the running hour
Equipment sits outside the $54.31, priced by the hours each machine runs on a job. The truck and trailer cost the most per hour and the surface cleaner the least. Work out what each one costs you a year (payment or wear, plus upkeep) and divide by the hours it really runs.
That's why the sample job earns $79.93 per labour hour, not $54.31: the gap pays for the truck, washer, soft wash pump and profit. With the rig running, a two-person crew costs well over $100 an hour before a gallon of SH.
A simple example: a washer that costs you $1,400 a year in payments and repairs and runs 280 hours costs $5 for every hour it runs. On a house wash where it runs two hours, that is $10 that belongs on the quote. Skip it on every job and the washer ends up paid for out of your profit.
Hourly figures heard from washing owners
These are single sources' numbers, not averages:
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Figure | Amount | Where it comes from |
| 2 | Two-tech crew, true cost | $80 to $90 an hour | One commercial source, with techs at about $20 an hour |
| 3 | Crew break-even range | $90 to $150 an hour | Same commercial source |
| 4 | Two-tech billable rate with profit | $120 to $130 an hour | Same commercial source |
| 5 | New owner starting rate | $50 an hour, $250 for a 5-hour job | A working owner's beginner advice |
| 6 | Sample job earnings | $79.93 per labour hour, about $160 per crew hour | Our sample quote |
The commercial range fits the sample: $108 to break even, about $160 billed. The $50 an hour is a beginner's number and is described that way; in the sample business it is under break-even before chemicals are paid for.
Is a 25% markup a 25% margin on a wash job?
No: markup is added on top of cost, and margin is the share of the price you keep, so a 25% margin takes about a 33% markup. On the sample house wash and driveway, with $596.55 of cost:
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Markup on $596.55 cost | Price | Margin kept |
| 2 | 25% | $745.69 | 20.0% |
| 3 | 34.8% (the sample) | $804.10 | 25.8% |
| 4 | 50% | $894.83 | 33.3% |
The sample keeps $207.54, and that is after the owner's wage, so it's the business's money, not the owner's pay. It pays for a new pump when the old one dies, a slow month in winter and growth. The full explanation is in markup vs margin.
From an hourly number to cents per square foot
Divide your crew's hourly cost by the square feet it cleans in an hour and you have the lowest per-foot rate that pays for the crew. Typical production speeds are 1,500 to 3,000 sq ft an hour on sidewalks and 500 to 1,000 sq ft an hour on vertical washing.
At the sample crew's $108 an hour, that works out to about 3.6 to 7.2 cents a foot for flatwork and about 11 to 22 cents for vertical walls, for crew time and overhead alone. Chemicals, equipment hours, the drive and profit all sit on top. That's why 12 cents on concrete usually leaves room, and why a slow, detailed house can eat a 15-cent rate.
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Surface | Speed per hour | Crew cost per sq ft at $108/hr |
| 2 | Driveway or sidewalk, fast | 3,000 sq ft | 3.6 cents |
| 3 | Driveway or sidewalk, slow | 1,500 sq ft | 7.2 cents |
| 4 | House siding, fast | 1,000 sq ft | 10.8 cents |
| 5 | House siding, slow | 500 sq ft | 21.6 cents |
Why washers keep the hourly number off the quote
The hourly rate is for you, not the customer. Work out the job in hours at your rate, then hand over one total. An hourly price invites the customer to argue about each hour, and it pays you less for getting faster with a better surface cleaner.
On commercial work the same rule holds. Your hourly figure is an internal gauge that tells you whether a square-foot price still covers your crew and your margin. The property manager only sees the per-foot rate or the flat price.
Put your crew's numbers in
The Pressure Washing Estimate Calculator works out your break-even rate from your own wages, overhead and equipment, then prices every quote from it and shows the cents per square foot. The worked house wash, the rates owners quote and the costs that slip off the quote are in how much to charge for pressure washing. For a quick number first, try the free true hourly rate calculator.