Pressure Washing business guide
How to price a soft wash house wash
Price a house wash from the time it takes your rig plus the chemicals it uses, then express it the way your market understands, usually by home size or siding area. Many single-family house washes land somewhere around $250 to $600, with two stories, heavy mildew, stucco and tricky access pushing toward the top.
The house wash is the job that pays the bills for most residential pressure washing companies. It's also the easiest one to underprice, because the wash itself looks quick and the setup, plant watering, mixing and rinsing don't. Here's how to build a house wash price that holds up, with two worked examples.
Why a house wash is a soft wash job
You don't clean siding with pressure. You clean it with a sodium hypochlorite solution and surfactant applied at low pressure, a few minutes of dwell time, and a thorough rinse. The chemical kills the mildew and algae instead of blasting the top layer off and driving water behind the panels. The full reasoning, surface by surface, is in soft wash vs pressure wash.
That matters for pricing because your costs are mostly time and chemical, not pressure. A heavily grown house doesn't take more force. It takes a stronger mix, more product and sometimes a second application.
Three ways shops quote a house wash
- By living area. Easy, because the square footage is on the listing or the county record. It misses how tall the walls are and how bad the growth is.
- By siding area. Perimeter times wall height, minus big openings. More accurate, more work to measure.
- By size bracket. Flat prices for one-story under a set size, two-story under a set size, and so on. Fast to quote on the phone, and fine once you know your time per bracket.
All three work if the number underneath comes from your real time and chemical costs.
Worked example: two houses, one method
Example numbers
House A: two-story vinyl, about 2,400 square feet of living area, moderate mildew on the north side, easy access on all four sides.
Time: 20 minutes to set up, 10 minutes to soak the plants, about 100 minutes to apply, dwell and rinse, 20 minutes to pack up, and 30 minutes of driving. Call it 3 hours.
The owner's target for the rig and their own pay is $120 an hour. Chemicals come to about $25.
3 x $120 + $25 = $385, rounded to a $395 quote. That works out to about 16 cents per square foot of living area.
House B: one-story ranch, about 1,500 square feet, brick front and vinyl on three sides, light growth. About 1.5 hours on site plus the same 30-minute drive, so 2 hours, and $15 in chemicals.
2 x $120 + $15 = $255, which sits right around a typical minimum. If the shop's minimum is $250, House B is close to the floor, and any smaller house should still pay the minimum.
Notice that House A's per-foot price is nearly the same as House B's once you divide it out. That's why many owners quote by living area for speed but check it against time on anything unusual. Plug in your own hourly figure and chemical costs; the method is what carries over, not these numbers.
What to adjust after the walkaround
The walkaround is where a phone price becomes a real price. Look for these before you mix anything:
- Heavy growth on one side. Black or green streaks on a shaded wall can add half an hour and more product.
- Oxidized siding. Rub a hand on it. If it comes away chalky, tell the customer a house wash won't fix that, before they see streaks after the rinse.
- Stucco and painted wood. Porous or painted surfaces need gentler handling and more rinsing.
- Screened enclosures and lanais. Often priced separately, since screens and frames take their own time.
- Delicate landscaping. Tight beds against the foundation mean more watering before, during and after.
- Existing damage. Cracked panels, failed window seals and loose trim get photographed before you start.
If anything changes the price, say so before the first drop of mix hits the wall. For more on pricing a house you haven't seen yet, see quoting from photos.
What the price includes, in writing
Most house wash disputes aren't about the number. They're about what the customer thought they were getting. Put a short list on every quote: siding, trim, soffits, the outside face of gutters if you include it, and a rinse of the windows. Then list what's extra: gutter brightening, oxidation removal, rust stains, and the screen enclosure. A homeowner who reads "windows rinsed, not detailed" won't call you back about water spots.
Mixing safety: a house wash solution is sodium hypochlorite. Never blend it with ammonia or acidic cleaners, never let a customer's own products into your tank, and follow the label and safety data sheet for dilution and protective gear.
Check your number after ten houses
Write down the actual time and chemical use on your next ten house washes. If most of them run long, the problem is usually setup and plant care, not the wash itself, and your price needs to carry it. If you're finishing early and still winning most quotes, you have room to raise. For how the house wash fits alongside driveways and roofs on a single sheet, see the pressure washing hub, which walks through the calls that come in each season.
Questions owners ask
Does a house wash include the windows?
Most house washes rinse the windows along with the siding, but that isn't the same as a window cleaning. Spots and screen dirt can remain. Say that plainly in your quote, and offer proper window cleaning as a separate service if you do it, so nobody expects streak-free glass from a soft wash.
Can I soft wash brick and stucco the same way as vinyl?
The approach is similar, low pressure with a cleaning solution, but porous surfaces soak up more mix and need a more thorough rinse. Stucco can also hide cracks where water gets in. Look closely during the walkaround and follow your chemical supplier's guidance for each surface.
Will a house wash remove the chalky film on old siding?
No. That chalk is oxidation, the paint or vinyl breaking down, and a normal house wash won't remove it. Removing it is a separate, slower process with its own risks, and heavy oxidation may mean the siding needs paint. Point it out before you start so it isn't blamed on your wash.
How long does a house wash take?
For a typical one or two-story home, many crews spend somewhere between one and a half and three hours on site, including setup, plant watering, application, rinsing and pack-up. Heavy growth, a long hose run or a second application can stretch that. Time your own jobs to know your real number.
Should I charge more for houses near the water or under trees?
Not because of the location itself, but those homes often carry heavier mildew and algae, which means a stronger mix, longer dwell or a second pass. Price the growth you see, and note it in the quote so the customer understands why their neighbor's wash cost less.