Why a wash job goes in as blocks of 1,000 sq ft
Square feet are how you already size a house wash or a slab, and the chemical mix scales with them. But typing 0.0014 hours a foot means nothing to anyone, so the calculator works in blocks of 1,000 sq ft. The example's 5,800 sq ft goes in as 5.8.
Each block carries 1.4 crew hours and $13.20 of chemicals, gas and covers at cost. Those hours are for the two-person crew together and include the trip there and back, the walk-around, covering outlets and lights, wetting plants, and pricing and writing up the quote. That makes the calculator's labour about $75.60 per 1,000 sq ft.
Siding against concrete: setting the hours per 1,000 sq ft
Siding and flatwork don't wash at the same speed. On the example, the soft wash keeps both washers busy for about an hour and a quarter, while one person surface cleans the driveway and walk in about an hour with pre-treat and post-treat on either side. The 1.4 hours is the blend of both on this job.
If a job is all concrete, the hours per 1,000 sq ft drop. If it is a three-storey house with heavy algae on the north wall, they climb. Time your next few jobs of each kind, divide by the blocks of 1,000 sq ft, and you have your own figures to type in.
The house alone, the driveway alone, and a small patio
Set the square feet to 3.4 for the house wash on its own and the price is $481.42, about 14 cents a foot. The driveway and walk on their own, at 2.4, come to $366.30, about 15 cents a foot. Together they cost less than separately because the $62 for the truck, trailer, washer and surface cleaner only gets paid once.
Go down to a 1,000 sq ft patio and the cost before profit is $164.10, so the $250 minimum sets the price. That is why washers who add a patio onto a house wash can afford to price it lower than the same patio on its own.
Rig hours and the $804.10 house wash in the spreadsheet
The $54 break-even rate is the example company's $54.31, rounded. It covers the crew's wages, the truck, insurance and the hours you spend quoting. The pressure washing hourly rate page builds the example's rate, and the free true hourly rate calculator builds yours.
The spreadsheet charges the washer, pump, surface cleaner and trailer each by their own running hour, prices every chemical from a list, adds a cushion, walks through the washing costs owners forget, prints a customer quote with your terms and logs each job. Its version of this job is $804.10. For per-foot rates owners use, read the pressure washing pricing guide.