Guides
Pressure washing services: package ideas
Explore pressure washing services package ideas: 17 options for shared setups, recurring schedules, triggers, scope, exclusions and runoff.
What to take away
- These seventeen packages for pressure washing services sound like seventeen decisions. They are three decisions repeated: which surfaces share a setup, how often the work recurs, and what triggers the call.
- A package earns its discount from shared drive time and shared setup. If it does not share those, it is a discount with no source.
- Write the exclusions before the inclusions. The exclusions are what prevent the dispute.
- None of these carries a price here, because a price that is not derived from your own production rate is a number somebody else made up.
The three axes every package is built from
Axis one, the setup group. Which surfaces can be cleaned on one visit with one setup? Ground-level mineral surfaces share a setup. Elevations share a different one. Roof work shares almost nothing with either.
Three Axes of Package Design
- Setup group: surfaces cleaned on one visit
- Interval: one-off, seasonal, twice yearly, quarterly, monthly
- Trigger: sale, inspection, lease turnover, season, complaint
Axis two, the interval. One-off, seasonal, twice yearly, quarterly, monthly. The interval is set by how fast the soil returns on that surface in that microclimate, not by what sounds sellable.
Axis three, the trigger. What makes the phone ring: a sale, an inspection, a lease turnover, a season, a complaint, a franchise standard, a landlord requirement.
Every package below is a coordinate in that space. Copy the structure, not the names.
Ground-level residential packages
- Driveway and walkway.One setup, mineral surfaces only, surface cleaner throughout. The entry package for most residential operators.
- Full flatwork.Driveway, walkway, patio, steps, and any pool deck that tolerates the method. Same setup, larger area, better hour.
- Flatwork with post-treatment.The above plus an organic-growth post-treatment where the surface and the manufacturer's directions allow it. Extends the interval, which is what the customer is actually buying.
- Curb appeal package.Flatwork plus the lower elevation of the house that can be reached from the ground. Sold against a listing date.
- Fence and gate.A soft-wash and light-rinse service, priced by linear measurement rather than area, and explicitly not a blasting service.
Elevation and soft-wash packages
- House wash.Siding soft wash by chemistry and dwell, with plant protection included and stated. Exclusions named on the estimate.
- House wash plus flatwork.Two setups, one drive, one invoice. The most common honest bundle in the trade.
- Roof soft wash.Sold only where the crew is trained for the access and the chemistry. Requires its own plant protection and its own runoff answer.
- Gutter exterior brightening.Separate from gutter cleaning, and the estimate must say so.
- Screened enclosure and lanai.Low pressure throughout, and a frame inspection before any work starts.
Recurring and contract packages
- Seasonal maintenance plan.One named surface at a stated interval for a year, invoiced on a schedule. This is the package that converts a customer into an asset.
- Twice yearly exterior refresh.House wash and flatwork on a spring and fall rotation.
- Property manager rotation.Multiple units on one route, one contact, one invoice. Priced on route density rather than per property.
- Storefront and entryway service.A short, frequent visit that trades area for reliability. Frequency is the product.
Commercial and triggered packages
- Dumpster pad and service area.Heat-assisted work with a containment answer agreed before the first visit.
- Fleet and equipment yard.Recurring, scheduled around the client's operations, and the package most likely to require reclaim.
- Turnover and pre-inspection package.Timed against a lease end, a sale, a health inspection or a franchise audit. The deadline is what is being sold.
What each package has to specify before it is sellable
- The surfaces included, named as surfaces rather than as areas of the property.
- The exclusions, in the customer's words.
- The access method, because that is what sets the risk and the time.
- The chemistry, and any plant protection it requires.
- The runoff answer for that surface on that property type, including any applicable permit or local stormwater requirements.
- The interval and what happens if the customer skips one.
- The evidence you will capturephotographs before and after, and any condition noted on arrival.
The runoff answer is the one operators skip. The EPA's overview of stormwater discharges from industrial activity explains that authorized states administer most of these programs. For discharges requiring a permit under the Clean Water Act, the permit framework is the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), administered by the EPA or an authorized state. Local stormwater controls may also apply where wash water enters a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). The applicable permit and authority depend on the location and discharge. Identify them before the package goes on the price list, not after a client asks.
Registration and any trade-specific permission sit alongside that; work through them using the pressure washing licensing and compliance guide for exterior cleaning firms.
Advertising a package without creating a problem
A package advertised as covering a house has to cover what a reasonable customer understands by a house. The FTC's advertising guidance for small businesses sets the standard: claims must be truthful, not misleading, and capable of being supported. Words like complete, full and total are the ones that create the exposure, because the customer supplies their own definition.
Keep the paper. Estimates, signed exclusions, photographs and job notes are business records. The IRS guidance on the records a business should keep describes a system that clearly shows income and expenses, with the documents behind each transaction.
Choosing which of the seventeen to actually offer
Offer the ones your crew is trained for and your equipment already serves. Each new mechanism means training, chemistry and exposure. The reasoning for that limit is set out in the pressure washing services and packages guide for this trade, and the staffing consequence in the pressure washing hiring and training guide for pressure washing crews.
For bundling rules, see the guide to packaging pressure washing services to decide whether a combination holds together. To assess the menu's margin, compare each package's production rate, costs and route density rather than treating the package name as a pricing method.
Common questions
Why are there no prices here?
Because a price is a function of your production rate, your cost per hour and your route density, and none of those transfer between businesses. A published national price would be a fabrication dressed as advice.
Is seventeen too many to offer?
For almost every operator, yes. The list is a menu of shapes to choose from, not a target to fill.
Do discounts on packages hurt margin?
Only when the discount has no source. A bundle that removes a drive and a setup has generated a real saving, and sharing part of it is a decision. A bundle that removes nothing and still discounts is just a lower price.
What is the strongest package for a new operator?
The seasonal plan on a surface you already do well. It is the only one that makes next spring predictable.
