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Pressure Washing Business Guide

By Harry S.

sampleAbout The Author:

I started pressure washing just by chance. I was working for a contractor who was re-furbishing a large 20,000 square foot steel building. The previous owners had a silk screening business and they had made a mess of the floors. There was 20 years of ink built up on the concrete floors that the contractor wanted to remove. He went out and purchased a 3500 PSI pressure washer from Home Depot and gave me the job of removing the ink. It took days to get it removed but I found out I liked the work. I researched pressure washing on the internet and talking to other pressure washing companies I would see out working and decided to give it a try.

I asked my boss if I could use the pressure washer on the weekends until I could get one myself and he said it was ok. One thing led to another and the next thing you know I was in the pressure washing business full time. I did learn a lot from starting from scratch and I definitely made my share of mistakes. I hope you can learn a few things from me to help you minimize your problems getting started.

This is your first step towards a successful business. Owning a Pressure Washing Business is a great if you enjoy doing something different every day. The money is good and the freedom is great. A lot of times you will get asked to redo what the home owner tried to do themselves. The main focus you need is to keep it simple, one man jobs, no helpers or major jobs. As a one man business you fall into a little niche that can be very profitable. You will hear over and over that no one will come out for the small jobs; they don't even return my calls.

Because the pressure washing business is a cash business you need vary little office support. You get paid cash when the job is done period, no billing or accounts receivable to deal with. Because you are a one man show you do not need an estimator, receptionist, bookkeeper to run your business. This is why you can do the same job that a large business does for less money.

Who would you rather call a one man small business owner at 1/2 the price who you have known for years and are on a first name basis or a franchise who sends a new worker out each time you call. Trust me you will be extremely satisfied with quitting that 9 to 5 job and being your own boss where your time is your own. I am not saying you won't have to work hard because you will but it is not the same as working hard for someone else.

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Qualifications:

  1. Care about your work.

  2. You don't have to already know everything. There are plenty of excellent "How to" books and help at home centers.  Besides, you only need to take on jobs which you are comfortable doing.

  3. The willingness to do physical work and be productive.   In this business results are what matter.

  4. The ability to stay focused on your objectives.   Patience while getting started.

  5. Be able to do basic math to figure jobs and take care of bookkeeping.

  6. Organization is very important.

  7. You need to be able to see how you are doing in your business at a glance.

  8. Dependable - show up on time.

  9. Be able to say no to jobs you do not want to do.

  10. Not afraid of heights.

When starting out don't be afraid to try something you are completely sure how to do. Just be up front with your customer about your skills. Explain to them that it will look great when you’re done but it may take a little longer because you have not done this particular project before. Just make sure you give them a break on your hours you charge. If you get asked to do something that is either too difficult for you or they could save money by using someone that specializes in that field let them know. Always be honest.

When starting out the biggest problem you will have is turning down jobs that are too big and time consuming. You will not be able to afford to take on a 1 month project and loose all the small jobs. In the long run the small jobs will be your business and if you keep putting clients off they will find another person to do it. Then once you finish you big job you will be starting all over again trying to build up a client base. Now there are seasons that business may be slow. Once you know when these times are you can take on that bigger project.

Getting Started in Your Pressure Washing Business:

Starting, owning, and operating your own pressure washing business can be a complicated process. The process is filled with decisions from everything from choosing what types and shares of stock to issue for a corporation to choosing a name for the business. All of these decisions must be made in the backdrop of a multitude of legal and practical considerations.

One of the first decisions an entrepreneur must make is to determine the legal structure i.e. sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, etc. that is right for the objectives of the business and all of those involved. I will touch base on the differences of each of these business types in the section on Licensing Issues.

The next step in starting your pressure washing business is choosing the right name. This can be a lot more difficult than it sounds. I have gone over what considerations you should make in choosing your name in the section on the Name Your Biz.

Now that you have begun the process of starting your pressure washing business I would highly suggest you look into your necessary insurance requirements. I did my best in trying to explain your different options in the section Insurance.

Most people starting out in business for the first time have little to no idea what is needed for their bookkeeping. This is an extremely important part of doing business; however it is not as difficult as it looks. 

 Look professional, Printed shirts or printed hat. Put together a uniform of sorts. Same color shirt with logo on it. Wear the same color jeans. Now you are ready to start letting people know you are in the pressure washing business. Start with friends, relatives, business people you already know. After you exhaust all of your own contacts and their contacts it will be time to start your plan for advertising.

Business Entity & Choosing a Name:

Naming Your Business:

I only have a few suggestions for you. One try and pick a pressure washing business name that will let you expand. For instance don’t choose Joe’s Driveway Cleaning instead maybe Joe’s Exterior Home Cleaning. You may think that you will only offer one service but I can guarantee that will change.

Business Entity:

When I started out I had nothing to lose so I did not feel the need to incorporate. I open a simple pressure washing business and kept it simple. I was a sole proprietor. In my opinion you want to spend most of your time making money not doing paperwork. So incorporating was not an option for me.

If you keep the pressure washing business simple you can do your own taxes which will save you money. You won’t need a lawyer which will save you a lot of money. Some states now require you to carry workman’s compensation even if you are the owner. In these states Florida being one of them it pays to incorporate because then you can opt out of the workman’s comp insurance. So that is what I think about incorporating.

Licensing:

Now that you have chosen your pressure washing business name, let’s make sure it is available for licensing in your state. One of the first things you need to do is go down to your local municipality and find out their requirements. Businesses that use a name other than the owner's must register the fictitious name with the county as required by the Trade Name Registration Act. This does not apply to corporations doing business under their corporate name or to those practicing any profession under a partnership name. 

If you are going to form some type of corporation you will also want to search the database to make sure it is not taken. You can go here Incorporate Online with American Incorporators, Ltd  to get the ball rolling on starting a corporation and find out if your name is available.     
You also will need to apply for your federal employer identification number. You can apply online here http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss4.pdf .  

Until you receive the (Fein) number, the federal government will let you use your social security number. Every state issues a sales tax number to anyone who will be reselling goods and merchandise at the retail level. Some states will also have you charge sales tax on services rendered. This is something you will have to look into with your state's department of revenue.

A great place to go for state and local information is your local SBA (small business association). They are always willing to help and they offer a lot of valuable information and discounts on different aspects of owning a small business.

Business Licenses by State

Alabama -
 http://www.ador.state.al.us/licenses/authrity.html
Alaska -
 http://www.dced.state.ak.us/occ/buslic.htm
Arizona -
http://www.revenue.state.az.us/license.htm
Arkansas -
http://www.state.ar.us/online_business.php
California -
 http://www.calgold.ca.gov/
Colorado -
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/obd/blid.htm
Connecticut -
http://www.state.ct.us/
Delaware -
http://www.state.de.us/revenue/obt/obtmain.htm
District of Columbia -
http://www.dcra.dc.gov/
Florida -
http://sun6.dms.state.fl.us/dor/businesses/
Georgia -
http://www.sos.state.ga.us/corporations/regforms.htm
Hawaii -
http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/start/starting.html
Idaho -
http://www.idoc.state.id.us/Pages/BUSINESSPAGE.html
Illinois-
http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/business_services/business.html
Indiana -
http://www.state.in.us/sic/owners/ia.html
Iowa -
http://www.iowasmart.com/blic/
Kentucky -
http://www.thinkkentucky.com/kyedc/ebpermits.asp
Maine -
http://www.econdevmaine.com/biz-develop.htm
Maryland -
http://www.dllr.state.md.us/
Massachusetts -
http://www.state.ma.us/sec/cor/coridx.htm
Michigan -
http://medc.michigan.org/services/startups/index2.asp
Minnesota -
http://www.dted.state.mn.uss
Mississippi -
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/mssbdc/going_intobus.html
Missouri -
http://www.ded.state.mo.us/business/businesscenter/
Montana -
http://www.state.mt.us/sos/biz.htm
New Hampshire -
http://www.nhsbdc.org/startup.htm
New Jersey -
http://www.state.nj.us/njbiz/s_lic_and_cert.shtml
New York -
http://www.dos.state.ny.us/lcns/licensing.html
North Carolina -
http://www.secstate.state.nc.us/secstate/blio/default.htm
North Dakota -
http://www.state.nd.us/sec/
Ohio -
http://www.state.oh.us/sos/business_services_information.htm
Oklahoma -
http://www.okonestop.com/
Oregon -
http://www.filinginoregon.com
Pennsylvania -
http://www.paopenforbusiness.state.pa.us
Rhode Island -
http://www.corps.state.ri.us/firststop/index.asp
South Carolina -
http://www.state.sd.us/STATE/sitecategory.cfm?mp=Licenses/Occupations
Texas -
http://www.tded.state.tx.us/guide/
Utah -
http://www.commerce.state.ut.us/web/commerce/admin/licen.htm
Vermont -
http://www.sec.state.vt.us/
Virginia -
http://www.dba.state.va.us/licenses/
Washington -
http://www.wa.gov/dol/bpd/limsnet.htm
West Virginia -
http://www.state.wv.us/taxrev/busreg.html
Wisconsin -
http://www.wdfi.org/corporations/forms/
Wyoming -
http://soswy.state.wy.us/corporat/corporat.htm

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Insurances:

You will find many pressure washing companies do not carry insurance. This is a big mistake. The cost of the insurance will be offset by the quality of the customers you will end up doing work for because you have insurance. Always put licensed and insured on all of your business stationary, advertising and signs. I will go over the basic insurances you will need or should purchase for your pressure washing business.

Liability Insurance

Liability coverage will compensate others for their losses if you're responsible for injuring another person or if you're responsible for damaging another person's property. Liability coverage also helps you pay the costs of related lawsuits. Imagine if you had to pay for all this without insurance! I suggest getting a minimum of $300,000 dollar worth of liability insurance. If you can afford to purchase $1,000,000 of general liability would be ideal. My understanding is that Net Quote is giving the best rates at this time. It only takes a few minutes to fill out their quote request form. I would take care of it now so when you get ready you will know what it is going to cost you.    

Workman's Comp

You will not need this in most states unless you hire employees. I highly recommend if you start to hire employees look into using a payroll leasing company.

What they do is act as the employer, because of this they will do all your payroll handle the taxes and any audits, stay up on all the insurances and so on. You will pay them and they will pay everyone who works for you. They do this for many businesses so they get a huge break on insurances. This usually in itself will justify the cost of using them. You will also be able to offer your employees the option of purchasing health and life insurances along with setting up retirement accounts through the payroll leasing company.

Health Insurance

If your spouse can not add you to her policy, then you will have to check around because this can get costly. Check with your small business association in your area, many times they have good deals because they get a group rate. I shop my health insurance every year and so far no one has been able to beat the quotes I get from Assurant Health and Net Quote they also offer business insurance so you mine as well check their rates also. I pay $225.00 per month for me and my wife's health insurance and that is good deal.

Life Insurance

Do your spouse a favor get some life insurance. The cost is cheap for a term policy and it is well worth the money. I mean it is like $15.00 for 250,000 dollars. While you are at Net Quote filling out for the business insurance take 1 minute and answer like 5 questions and get a quote. When you live on two incomes just think how your spouse will get by if you are not around to help out.

Depending on the structure of your business and the type of services you will be providing, insurance needs will vary greatly. Some people starting out are already wealthy people and therefore will have more to lose and require more insurance. The largest amount you could possibly be sued for is the amount of insurance coverage to obtain, not what your business is worth. These are only suggestions and I wouldn't presume to dictate what you need. It is best to discuss your individual needs with a professional insurance agent.

Advertising:

My best advice is to pass out a lot of business cards. Make sure everyone you know has a handful of your pressure washing business cards and ask them to please pass them out. You can also go into a neighborhood where everyone has a stockade fence or dirty roof.

Pick out the house that is the most noticeable on the main street of the neighborhood. Offer to clean their fence or roof at a very small profit if they will let you put a sign up with your company information. Take your time cleaning it so people see you. Do a great job and you will soon start getting calls from other residents. Make sure you tell the customer the actual price so they can pass it on to neighbors who ask. Also I recommend advertising in the coupon books. Either give a discount or a free extra service. Make them redeem the coupon for the special offer so you can track how you did with the AD. Make sure you have signs on your trailer and truck. Wear a uniform or at least shirts with your business name on them.

Website:

You need a website. I always had a website and I would hear all the time from customers that they went to the site to read about me and my company. I also always ran a special on the site, similar if not the same as the coupon books. If you plan on doing the website yourself I use HODI Hosting they have great support and I never have had any problems.

  1. To provide basic information that establishes credibility - just as a listing in the Yellow Pages shows you are serious about your business, having your own company domain reinforces your legitimacy as a serious business.

  2. To make business information available to customers and clients 24/7.

  3. To allow you to update your information as frequently or infrequently as you choose.

  4. To reach your local market. The web reaches the world, but customers shop it for local information as well.

  5. Many times people will remember your website when they see it on the side of your truck, but not your phone number.

  6. To reduce costs, use your site to answer your most frequently asked questions.

  7. To reduce costs, show your services over the web instead of printing brochures.

  8. To obtain feedback from customers. It is easy to see what your customers respond to on the website.

  9. To enhance your business relationships. Tell your clients about related businesses they might be interested in, and maybe get a referral fee for it!

  10. This is one of the best hosting companies on the web HODI Hosting they have a great support team and great prices.

Bookkeeping & Billing:

I used DOME Simple Bookkeeping Perfect cash record keeping system for small and home-based businesses. Features calendar of important dates, filled in specimen page and monthly record of income and expenses. Also contains payroll section for up to 6 employees and detachable summary sheet. Not dated - start any time. Good for a full year. I also used their Auto mileage book very simple & straight forward. I highly recommend for all vehicles used for business purposes. Contains record of miles, parking and tolls. Has a detachable year-end summary for tax advisor. Space provided for essential automobile data. This is the easiest way I know of to start your bookkeeping. The books are inexpensive I believe $12.00.

Making out the Bill:

I do small pressure washing jobs for homeowners and get paid when I finish.  For my commercial customers, I collect once a month. I don’t have any problems collecting or with bounced checks.  A lot of time the person paying the bill has no idea as to the amount of work that was done. So, I spend a few minutes and try to list what was involved on each project and justify my bills.

For example, I would not give a bill like this:

 
XYZ Office Complex  

Pressure Washed Hallway. 

Total=$93.00  

The bill would look more like this:


XYZ Office Complex

1.Met with property manager and tenant to discuss required cleaning.

2.Moved ash trays and welcome mats.

3.Chemically treated tough stains.

4.Pressure Washed halls and walls in north and west sides of building.

5.Cleaned welcome mats.

6.Swept out any standing water.

7.Replaced welcome mats and ash trays.  

 
Materials= $18.00
Labor = 3 hours @ $35.00 per. hr. 

Total = $123.00
Keeping Your Customers:

I did the best pressure washing job I was capable of. I was fair with my pressure washing pricing. I always cleaned up after I was finished or picked up most of the mess when I left if I was coming back the next day to finish. When a customer calls make sure you answer the phone or at least call them back as soon as possible. If they have a problem with a job you did, go out that day at the end of the job or on your way out the next morning before your job. You can always set a time to come back and take care of it if you can’t do it then.

If I cleaned a roof or some stockade fence for example I know that it will need to be done in about two years so in two years from the date I did the job I will drive by the house and check it out. If it needs to be done again I will stop in and say hi and explain it is time to clean your fence or roof again. Also look around as you drive by the house they may need their house cleaned or the driveway. Have a price ready to give them when you talk to them. Just do the things you would appreciate someone doing for you.

Hiring Help:

I never have put on full time help. There is way too much paperwork and headaches to deal with. Either turn the job down if it is too big or use a family member or friend. I have also used a high school kid in my neighborhood for a weekend. I paid them cash and was done with it. Some of my friends in business would go down to the day labor places, they felt it was safer because they are insured. I would imagine this is the best thing to do to protect you.

Equipment I Started With:

As a handyman or home owner a pressure washer from Home Depot or Lowe's will work great, but to specialize in just pressure washing you will want to get a professional setup. NorthernTool.com  has a great selection of pressure washers for the home owner to the professional. Look at their trailer type or skid type that you put in your own truck. I would look into the Honda hot water setups this is the type unit you want to get to start a professional pressure washing business.

 

You want to purchase an x-jet at NorthernTool.com when you purchase your washer setup. This is the best way to spray on chemicals and will give you a 40' spray to help you clean at a height you would not be able to do with your standard wand. 

Other Tools Needed

1.Good quality low pressure hose
2.100' of high pressure hose and reel
3.Turbo nozzle
4.Push squeegee and a hand squeegee
5.Good brooms
6.Ladders 12' 16' extensions 8' step
7.Good rubber boots
8.Gutter washing wand
9.Water broom
10.Extension wand for your washer
11.Surface cleaner
12.Plastic drop clothes to cover plants etc..
13.5 gallon buckets
14.Rags
115.Change of clothes
Services & What to Charge:

Services To Offer:

  1. Pressure clean houses for painting
  2. Clean patios
  3. Clean pool decks
  4. Clean driveways
  5. Clean pool enclosures
  6. Clean sidewalks and walkways
  7. Clean mobile homes
  8. Clean boats
  9. Clean cars

Using Chemicals 

  1. Clean roofs
  2. Clean vinyl siding
  3. Clean brick and stucco
  4. Clean decks wood or synthetic
  5. Clean privacy fences
  6. Clean patio furniture

Gutter Cleaning

  1. Clean out gutters and downspouts
  2. Repair joints and any supports that need to be fixed
  3. Clean roof valleys

What to Charge

Residential Services

Houses

  1. $90 - $275 flat price
  2. $0.45 - $1.75 per linear foot.
  3. $0.10 - $.20 per Sq. Ft.

Gutters

I’ve seen prices as low as $35 for a small house (way to low). More in line are these prices.

  1. $100 for a single story
  2. $125 for two floors
  3. $175 for three floors.

Wood gutters, some Victorian style homes, and multi levels, will have higher prices.

The longer you work at it the better idea how long specific jobs will take and what you need to get out of them to make your goal.

Use all these same facts and to sell your service to commercial customers also. The commercial clients usually want to get the job done quickly and are less concerned with the minor points. You’ll be able to bill the commercial accounts a little more per foot than the residential customers.

Estimating these jobs is very straight forward. Of course this will slightly depend on the equipment you have, but you have to stay competitive and cannot penalize the customer if you don’t have the proper equipment to expedite the job properly. 
You can charge between $10.00 and $8.00 per linear ft.

Roofs

To figure sq. footage of a roof take your length time’s width then multiply it by 1.33 this will let you know the actual sq. footage to bid. 

It will cost you about $40 to $60 in chemical to clean a 2000 sq. ft. roof.  It will take approximately 5 hours if you are starting out with a pump up sprayer to spray the chemical on with,  then rinsing the chemical off, to set up, clean,  and load the truck up to leave. So,  I would charge $400.00. Keep in mind if you invest in some equipment you can clean the same roof in 3 hours. So you can bid the job at 20 cents a sq. ft.  Keep in mind if the roof has a high pitch, either pass on the job or charge 4 times the normal charge so you can afford to rent the necessary equipment.

Estimating fence, decks and siding is basically the same - just take your sq. footage and multiply it by .20 cents. The chemical won't go as far but your time will be cut drastically because you do not have to go up on the roof.

Driveways & Sidewalks

  1. $60 - $150 flat price
  2. $.07 - $.14 per Sq. Roofs  

Mobile Homes

  1. Single Wide - $50 - $75
  2. Double Wide - $75 - $95
Commercial Services

New Construction

  1. Surface cleaning - $.03 - .05 Sq. Ft.

Parking Lots, Sidewalks & Drive-Thru's

  1. Banks / Restaurant Drive-Thurs - $10- $50 per lane.
  2. Parking Lots, Garage Floors - $.05 - $.25 per Sq Ft.
  3. Parking Spaces - $10 - $20 each
Helpful Tips:

The fastest and easiest way to control the pressure is to hold the nozzle at different distances from the surface you are cleaning.

  1. If you hold it away at approximately 2 feet, the cleaning impact will increase three times and your coverage will decrease three times.
  2. At 3 feet your cleaning impact will increase two times and the coverage will decrease two times.
  3. At 4 Feet away there is a 1 to 1 ratio.  This is the distance the nozzles are designed for and how they rate them.

Deck Cleaning

  1. Use a 40 degree head and I highly recommend using Deck Cleaner.
  2. Grasp the wand with two hands and hold it away 4 to 5 feet away from the surface to be cleaned. Always test it in  an inconspicuous area.
  3. Move the nozzle closer until it cleans the surface, then stop and make sure you are not damaging the wood.  Now that you know approximately how far you need to stay back, maintain that distance and start cleaning the deck.
  4. If you do not use a good enough cleaner you will be tempted to apply more pressure to clean and most likely damage the wood.

Vinyl and Brick and Wood Siding

  1. Always spray your detergent from the bottom up to the top of the wall.  This will keep you from having streaks.
  2. Always rinse the cleaner from the top down.
  3. Keep the spray pattern within the width of  two boards.
  4. A 25 or 40 degree nozzle should work great.  If you need to spray an area out of reach use a 0 or 15 degree head so that the pressure will stay strong enough by the time it reaches the surface.
  5. Brick will sometimes require some brushing.

Roof Cleaning

  1. There is an on-going argument as to how to clean a roof.
  2. The basic argument is "do I start from the top down or from the bottom up?"
  3. There are arguments for both sides of this issue and I will try to address them here.
  4. First: Clean from the top down. Contractors say that any runoff or excess cleaner goes down the roof and continues cleaning. The other contractor would say that he does not want to walk thru the cleaner.
  5. Second: Clean from the bottom up. Contractor’s main reason is that they are not walking thru the cleaner. They clean an area, rinse it off and move up. "We agree with this technique.
  6. To summarize, we suggest that you clean a small area, on the lower part of the roof. Clean a small area at a time, such as 4' wide by 20' long.
  7. Then you would wait about 10 minutes and then rinse off this small area. This is a good starting technique until you learn what you are doing.
  8. Then move up the roof with the same approx. area applying the roof cleaner. Repeat this over and over.
  9. Rinsing: Start from the highest point that you have applied product to and work down. (Again, use this technique until you have experience and learn how to do your own way)
  10. The rinsing part is an on-going argument also, like the roof cleaner application part. Try a few different techniques and see what works best for you.
  11.  Let's speak for a moment about how to apply the product. The best way to apply the roof cleaner is to use a simple garden sprayer, pest sprayer, in the beginning.   You would simply mix the product up and pour it into the pump-up garden sprayer. Then you would walk along and soak the shingles from about 2' from the surface of the roof. When the shingles are soaked, there is enough material applied. When it starts to run, you have put on enough material and need to move on. Excess material does not necessarily mean a better cleaning. After the recommended drying time (as per manufacturer's specs) rinse the area with a garden hose.

Chemicals

I highly recommend using chemicals along with your pressure washing. I used to use only Contractor Grade safe chemicals. I have now started using mostly

Oxy Clean it is inexpensive and works great. It has the same active ingredients as the chemicals they try to sell you for 30.00 per pound and Oxy Clean costs 1.00 per pound.

You will see many different products on the market but Oxi Clean works great and is a tenth of the cost of other products. (This tip will save you a fortune on your jobs.)  With being able to offer a complete line of exterior home cleaning you will increase your profit. The more items you can sell one person the less jobs you will have to do each day to make a living. This will cut down your travel time. 

  1. Keep children and pets away from leaking or spilled chemicals.
  2. Do not combine chemicals from leaking or damaged containers, because doing so might produce dangerous reactions.
  3. Do not dump chemicals down drains, storm sewers, or toilets.
  4. Do not try to burn household chemicals.   Clearly mark and set aside unbroken containers until they can be properly disposed.
  5. Leave damaged or unlabeled chemical containers undisturbed whenever possible.

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