Pressure Washing Price List: Build a Cost-Based Service Menu

A national table cannot know your wage burden, crew production, route, water plan, equipment, insurance, overhead, correction rate, property mix, or service standard. Copying its numbers makes the menu look complete while hiding whether any line works.

Build two related documents instead:

1. an internal price book that helps an owner produce consistent, cost-supported quotes; and
2. a public service guide that helps a customer understand scope and request the right quote without mistaking a teaser for a promise.

Design the internal service record

One row per service name is not enough. Use a structured record:

Create separate records when the material, method, controls, production, or result differs materially. “Exterior cleaning” is too broad to price responsibly.

Choose a unit that follows the work

A unit is a measurement convention, not a customer price. Most residential customers benefit from one fixed option total after the internal takeoff is complete.

Build the cost engine

For each service class, estimate:

Direct job cost = loaded crew labor + mobilization/travel + product/material + water + equipment + site/environmental controls + payment/procurement + expected correction

Then apply the company's overhead and required-profit method. Keep contribution dollars and margin percentage visible.

Loaded labor

Use a documented internal loaded-labor model that may include wages, employer payroll burden, workers' compensation, benefits/leave, and appropriate payroll/training allocation. Do not confuse a costing allocation with what an employee is legally owed.

Production

Use median and range from comparable completed work. Capture setup, protection, production, detail, rinse, closeout, and drive separately. Do not price from the fastest operator's best day or from equipment marketing throughput.

Product and material

Use the named product's current landed cost and job-specific quantity under manufacturer instructions. Never insert a universal chemical mix, sealer coverage, or stain-treatment allowance into a public menu.

Equipment and water

Include ownership/rental, fuel/energy, maintenance, wear, consumables, payload/fill burden, recovery/disposal, and downtime under a consistent allocation. Do not call customer water free or pretend a larger machine halves every job.

Correction

Use your comparable callback/correction history and, more importantly, eligibility gates that keep unknown high-downside work out of the base line. Margin is not insurance against a scope the company cannot control.

Build one line from actuals: a driveway example

Do not start with a dollar range. Start with a definition:

Service D-CON-01: Clean mapped, sound, uncoated residential concrete driveway zones in ordinary accessible condition under the approved site and washwater plan. Ordinary loose/organic soil included. Oil, rust, paint, fertilizer, efflorescence, unknown stains, coating, repair, joint/crack work, and inaccessible zones excluded or assessed separately.

Then create a worksheet:

The resulting project total becomes the quote. Divide by square feet afterward to compare with genuinely similar jobs. Do not force the total down because a consumer guide shows a lower number.

Use condition branches, not vague surcharges

“Heavy = +30%” hides the actual work. Use a decision branch:

Never sell a “first-clean multiplier” based only on the customer saying the property has never been professionally washed. Inspect condition and cost the actual difference.

Set minimums from complete mobilization economics

A service minimum can be appropriate when the smallest job still requires lead handling, travel, safe setup, equipment, customer communication, proof, payment, and return-risk capacity.

Calculate:

Minimum viable project price = complete minimum-job cost under the company's overhead/profit method

Test different territory and service-day cases. One company may use a single minimum inside a tight zone; another may use scheduled geographic service days or decline isolated work. Do not publish “$150–$200 is standard.” Your minimum must come from your operation.

Build territory rules transparently

Options include:

• core service zone with normal minimum;
• outer zone with a higher project minimum based on travel/capacity;
• named neighborhood service days;
• multi-site or compatible grouped work;
• referral or decline outside the viable territory.

Measure origin-to-job and job-to-job travel appropriately. Straight-line distance can help screen but does not equal road time, access, toll, congestion, or customer promise.

Add options only when they are relevant and profitable

An option record needs its own material eligibility, result, phase hours, product, return visit, controls, capacity, and correction. Same-address travel may be shared; the work is not “pure margin.”

Examples of possible relationships—not automatic packages:

• driveway cleaning and separately assessed sealing;
• house exterior cleaning and tested gutter-face restoration;
• trough cleanout and separately scoped exterior face;
• commercial entrance and condition-triggered gum/spot treatment;
• fleet exterior and separately approved cab/interior or specialized contaminant scope.

Offer only what the property needs and the authorized crew can deliver.

Decide what to publish

A public page can show:

• service name and who it fits;
• included surfaces/result and common exclusions;
• inspection/qualification process;
• a genuine “starting at” price only when a real eligible scope can be purchased at that price;
• a range only when current representative quotes/jobs support it and the assumptions are stated;
• minimum and service area where useful;
• what changes price;
• one clear quote-request action;
• when a site visit is required.

Do not publish a low teaser that no real customer can buy, a hard price for an unbounded variable service, fake crossed-out savings, or a claim that a range is “local” without relevant data. If evidence is insufficient, publish the pricing method and a fast qualification flow instead of invented dollars.

A simple public service card

Driveway concrete cleaning
For inspected, sound, eligible residential concrete in our service area. Includes the mapped driveway zones and ordinary surface soil under the approved site plan. Stain restoration, coating, repairs, inaccessible areas, and other surfaces are separate. Send the address and current photos; we will confirm whether we can quote remotely or need a visit. Your proposal shows one fixed total before acceptance.

That is useful even without a universal price.

Control discounts and changes

Write:

• who may approve a discount or price override;
• permitted reason codes;
• required scope change or commercial basis;
• maximum authority and escalation;
• whether promotional terms have real eligibility/end dates;
• how changes appear on the quote and crew card;
• how exceptions are audited.

If budget is lower, remove/defer scope and explain the resulting outcome. Do not keep the full promise below the floor or let field staff invent adders after work begins.

Version and distribute the price book

For every release:

1. update cost and production evidence;
2. review service definitions, stop triggers, options, and terms;
3. test representative jobs across condition and territory;
4. approve owner/manager version and effective date;
5. update quoting tools, website, templates, training examples, and saved drafts;
6. archive the prior version and honor accepted proposals under their terms;
7. train with scenario quotes and require teach-back;
8. audit first quotes under the release.

Crew members need accepted scope and change authority, not necessarily the entire margin model. Sales/estimating roles need the correct decision tree and escalation path.

Reconcile every service line

Review estimated versus actual by comparable service class:

• quantity and measurement error;
• crew-hours by phase;
• travel and access;
• product/material, water, equipment, controls, and fees;
• corrections/callbacks and cause;
• discounts/changes and authority;
• collected price, direct cost, contribution dollars, and margin;
• close/decline reason and customer complaints.

Update the wrong variable, not the whole list by instinct. If labor runs long, determine whether production, scope, condition, training, equipment, or crew handoff caused it.

WashRoute Pro Costbook can store owner-entered service costs, quantities, floors, and target assumptions beside proposals. It does not read live supplier prices, measure every property, identify conditions, select methods, update itself, or guarantee actual margin. PhotoQuote can collect requested customer images for owner review but does not build or send the quote automatically.

The decision in one page

Create a versioned internal record for every real service class. Define scope, eligibility, unit, production, complete cost, minimum, territory, options, and authority. Use it to generate one clear customer total. Publish only supportable ranges or starting prices with assumptions—or explain the method and qualification path. Reconcile actual jobs and change the specific rule the evidence disproves.

Turn the price list into a quoting menu

A price list should help an owner make a consistent decision, not invite a customer to shop a single number. For each service, keep the base scope, condition adjustment, minimum, distance rule, common exclusions, and the next useful add-on. Show customers a flat project price after the internal math is complete.

Review the list by surface and production rate every quarter or after a major equipment change. Mark illustrative ranges as examples, not promises, and avoid publishing a rate that ignores access or condition. A customer who asks for a price per foot still needs a scope.

Give the crew and the owner the same version. Old screenshots and handwritten exceptions are how profitable rules disappear in a busy week.

Build two price lists, not one

The customer-facing list and the operating price card do different jobs.

• The customer list explains starting points, packages, or common project ranges in language a homeowner understands.
• The operating card contains production rates, minimums, condition tiers, labor assumptions, material allowances, and approval rules.

Publishing the operating card invites buyers to apply your lowest clean-condition rate to a property you have not inspected. Hiding every number, however, can make the customer expect a sales call just to learn whether the job is remotely affordable. A useful compromise is to publish honest starting points or representative ranges with the conditions they assume, then give a fixed proposal after intake.

Give every internal line an owner

For each service, assign a person and a review trigger. The line is reviewed when wages, chemical or material prices, insurance, card fees, or normal production time change. Put the last five comparable jobs beside the line. If the rate cannot support the normal trained crew and normal drive, it is not a business price.

Do a loss-leader check

Add-ons can be priced lower than standalone work because setup and travel are already covered. That does not make them free. Calculate the incremental labor, product, equipment, and payment cost. If the add-on delays the route or requires a different technician, include that opportunity cost too.

Then examine packages for accidental discounts. If three lines total $700 and the package is $520, the $180 reduction must come from real saved setup, travel, or selling cost. If it does not, the package is just a hidden price cut.

Turn the list into a learning system

When a quote is lost, tag the reason as price, timing, trust, scope, no decision, or unknown. “Lost” alone teaches nothing. When a job is completed, compare expected and actual crew time. Review the rate only after enough comparable evidence exists. The goal is not a perfectly stable list; it is a list that changes for a reason you can explain.

Localize a price list without copying the cheapest competitor

Start with your own costs and production, then use local quotes as a market check. Calling three companies and copying the lowest visible number builds a price list around somebody else's equipment, payroll, territory, quality standard, and appetite for risk.

Create one representative job for each core service. Use a real property type common in your market: a two-story vinyl house, a standard two-car driveway, a small roof, or a storefront walk. Estimate the normal crew time, drive, chemicals, fees, overhead allocation, and desired amount left. That becomes the internal base case.

Next, compare how local companies describe the same scope. Look for what the price includes, whether it is a starting point or fixed amount, and which conditions trigger inspection. Do not scrape or republish competitors' protected content. The useful insight is not their exact number; it is where buyers may be confused about service boundaries.

Publish only what you can honor. A “starting at” price should correspond to a property that really exists in the service area, not a bait number that no customer receives. A range should name the factors that move the price. A fixed online price needs intake rules strong enough to protect both parties.

Review the list with completed-job evidence. If a service repeatedly misses its labor assumption, diagnose scope and production before changing the number. If the rate works but the schedule is full, a capacity-based increase may be reasonable. The price book should tell the story of how the company actually works now—not how the owner guessed during the first month.