Mobile Pressure Washing Price Survey Last Updated: January, 2009 Pricing is more of an art than it is a science. Salesmanship plays a major role in the amount you can get for a particular job. Some Contract Cleaners can get 10% to 100% more for the same job than their competitors. Pricing becomes even more confusing because people are entering the business with consumer quality pressure washers (cheap depot unit) without insurance, workmen's compensation, office, or overhead expenses because they are operating from their homes on a part time basis. They do not have normal business expenses, but the customer liability is greater because a lack of insurance and workmen's compensation and often-poorer quality work. This price guide should be used only as a reference point. It is not a recipe that will guarantee that you will get every bid. It will have to be modified to fit the economic conditions of competition in your area. You will have to decide if you are going to bid on quality or price, or somewhere in between. The economic realities are that you cannot deliver a Cadillac for a Volkswagon Price. Companies that do end up in bankruptcy. Every time you lose a bid, ask the customer who they went with, what the price was, and why they did not use you. This will give you the information to start modifying this price guide to fit your market area. Often the customer will not give you this information but most people will give you some information. This is the start of your market survey so that you can adjust this price guide for you in your market area. If you are getting 100% of your bids, you are too low. You need to be rejected about 20% of the time to assure that you are getting for most for your time and effort (what your market will bare). After a competitor has completed a job go by and see what kind of work he did and if possible, the price he charged for it. Try to determine if your competitor has insurance, or workmen's compensation. You should include insurance and workmen's compensation certificates with your bids and explain the liability that people have if they choose a contractor that does not have this coverage. When a prospect calls, you need to determine how he got your phone number. Was it from: a referral, telephone yellow pages, saw your truck working, newspaper advertising, and recommendation from a present customer, etc? Yellow pages leads tend to be price shoppers and they call every one in the yellow pages. This needs to be taken into consideration when you bid. The best lead is a recommendation from a present customer. You may not have any competition with these bids. Track where business is coming from and direct future advertising based on this information. 1 of 22
The following schedule of Prices for vehicle washing is drawn upon our experiences using. ITEM WASHED TYPICAL WASH BAY PRICE ENVIRONMENTAL POWER WASHING LOW-----HIGH NON- ENVIRONMENTAL POWER WASH LOW-AVERAGE-HIGH Tractor, 1-axle, w/o sleeper $20.00 $6.00-----$20.00 $5.00----$8.00----$15.00 Tractor, 2-axle, w sleeper $25.00 $8.00-----$22.00 $8.00-----$15.00-----$20.00 Van Trailers, Reefers $25.00 $10.00-----$25.00 $8.00-----$15.00-----$18.00 Pups, 24 Ft Trailers $15.00 $8.00-----$20.00 $7.00-----$8.00----$12.00 Gasoline Tankers $30.00 $15.00-----$25.00 $8.00-----$17.00-----$20.00 Flat Bed Trailers $20.00 $8.00-----$20.00 $6.00-----$8.00-----$12.00 Gravel Trailers $25.00 $15.00-----$50.00 $12.00----$22.00----$40.00 Grain Trailers $25.00 $20.00-----$30.00 $8.00-----$16.00-----$20.00 Auto Carriers $25.00 $20.00-----$70.00 $20.00----$35.00-----$65.00 Grain Pups w hopper $16.00 $8.00-----$15.00 $6.00-----$10.00-----$12.00 Cattle Trailer $30.00 $20.00-----$60.00 $15.00----$30.00-----$45.00 Garbage Truck $45.00 $10.00-----$40.00 $6.00-----$12.00-----$35.00 School Buses $1.00 per ft. $10.00-----$25.00 $8.00-----$12.00-----$20.00 Cement Trucks $35.00 $30.00-----$80.00 $25.00----$40.00-----$75.00 Pickups & Cars $10.00 $3.00-----$10.00 $2.00------$5.00------$10.00 Vans (Telephone, Federal Express) $10.00 $3.00-----$15.00 $2.00------$5.00-----$10.00 Bob Tails $25.00 $8.00-------$25.00 $8.00-----$14.00-----$20.00 Furniture Van $30.00 $10.00------$30.00 $10.00----$18.00-----$35.00 Step Vans (UPS) $21.00 $5.00-----$20.00 $4.00------$6.00-----$10.00 Jeeps (Post Office) $10.00 $3.00-----$15.00 $2.00------$5.00-----$10.00 Dump Trucks $30.00 $25.00-----$50.00 $15.00-----$25.00---$30.00 Motor Homes (RV's) $1.00 per foot $25.00-----$50.00 $10.00-----$20.00----$25.00 Passenger Buss $30.00 $25.00-----$45.00 $10.00-----$18.00----$35.00 Inside Wash Van Trailers $20.00 $10.00-----$30.00 $5.00-----$12.00----$20.00 Inside Van Trailer Steam Out $25.00 $15.00-----$25.00 $10.00----$15.00----$25.00 Road Tractor Engine Steam $25.00 $15.00-----$40.00 $5.00-----$15.00----$25.00 Tractors ready to paint $130.00 $60.00-----$250.00 $45.00--$130.00---$200.00 5th Wheel Wash $25.00 $5.00-----$30.00 $2.00-----$15.00----$25.00 Tractor Rear Frame $25.00 $5.00-----$65.00 $2.00-----$10.00-----$50.00 Aluminum Brightening Van Trailers (Extra Charge) $25.00 $25.00-----$45.00 $15.00----$25.00-----$40.00 2 of 22
Aluminum Brightening Gravel Trailers (Extra Charge) $30.00 $15.00-----$40.00 $10.00----$20.00-----$35.00 Tractor Fuel Tanks Brighten $15.00 $3.00-----$6.00 $1.50-----$4.00-----$6.00 Tractor Wheels Brighten $15.00 $3.00-----$7.50 $1.50-----$4.00-----$5.00 Headache Rack Brighten $5.00 $3.00-----$6.00 $1.50-----$5.00-----$6.00 Bumper Brighten $2.00 $1.00-----$4.00 $1.00-----$2.00-----$3.00 Road Tractor Detailing: $25.00 per unit to clean them out and prep for a new driver. Time spent 20 to 30 minutes, armour all everything, scrub floor, and remove trash. Note about Environmental Power Washing: In many parts of the country where the wash water can be captured easily and discharged to sanitary sewer on site there is no extra charge for Environmental Power Washing. Examples are where the wash water flows to a common collection point and water can be picked up with "vacuboom" or drain blockers, portable dams and a sump pump then discharged on site to sanitary sewer. This takes only about an extra 15 minutes and most Contract Cleaners in Metropolitan area cannot charge extra for it because of competition. You need to read "Environmental Pressure Power Washing, Reality of Enforcement". Terms Many small companies bite the cash flow bullet on bids for large corporations and the government. They do not have a clear understanding of how they are going to be paid. They are overwhelmed by the name of a Blue Chip Company and are embarrassed about discussing when they will be paid. The problem is that many of these customers regularly pay in 60, 90, and 120 days as a regular business practice and sometimes longer unless you ask for payment sooner. You need to start your collections before you start the job. Find out who is responsible for authorization of your invoice and who will actually process or write your check (it may be from another corporate office in another state). Ask when they normally pay their vendors. Be honest and tell them you are not a large contractor and cannot afford to wait 60 to 90 days for your payment. Find out what their procedures are. Sometime a 2% discount in 10 days will assure payment in a timely manner. For large corporations and the government find out who the Accounts Payable Clerk or Manager is. This information should be collected before you start the job and not after the payments are 90 to 120 days late. If you expect payment when the job is, finished this should be stated along with the price. Do not assume that you will automatically receive payment when the job is finished! On larger jobs, that last over 30 days it is normal to receive draws against the total bid based on the percentage of the work completed. Sometime you can get a deposit before you start the job. On medium size jobs 25% down, 50% upon completion, and 25% net 30 days is common. In the construction, industry is normal for the General Contractor to hold back a 10% retainer from all subcontractors until the entire job is completed. That means that you may not get the final 10% job payment until several months after you have finished your portion of the project. 3 of 22
Travel Most contractors do not charge extra for travel within a 30-minute to a 1-hour drive of their shop. However, they have a minimum charge of $65.00 to $125.00 to make small unprofitable jobs profitable. This covers of the fixed costs required in dispatching a crew and wash rig. Some contractors charge a small fee of $25.00 to $40.00 for the time it takes to get a wash crew ready for travel and include it in the bid price. Some travel rates are: A. 50% to 100% of your normal hourly rate. B. 50 cents to $1.00 per mile. C. 30 cents per mile plus $35.00 per hour. D. No charge on regular service jobs. Water Most Commercial Customers do not question the use of their water, but Residential Customer often complains about you using their water. This is often because they perceive 500 to 1,000 gallons of water being very expensive. You need to check the water rates for your area. In most areas of the U.S. water cost is about 80 cents to $3.00 per thousand gallons. As you can see this is a minor expense. However, if you have to haul water to the job site water can become a significant expense. Most contractors charge the regularly hourly rate to go get water and haul it to the job site. Some contractors doing residential work will add $45.00 for water if they do not use the customer's water. I would suggest that you explain to the customer the water is a job cost and the less you have to pay for water the cheaper you can do the job. If he increases the cost of water than the price will have to go up. Minimum Charge Most companies will have a minimum charge to cover the cost of showing up at a job location. It is not profitable to spend 30 minutes driving to $25.00 job. Method 1: $45.00 to $150.00 Method 2: $75.00 to $150.00 for the first hour then your regular hourly rate. Method 3: Minimum of charge of one or two hours at your regular hourly rate. Insurance: 1. Get several bids starting with: 4 of 22
Bidding: 1. Hourly Rate: Commercial Contractors with Insurance and Workmen's Compensation: These numbers below applies to average pressure cleaning equipment, ICES offer pressure cleaning systems that can clean up to three times more area per hour then the national average, so you can normally charge more per hour since you can complete most jobs on a fraction of the time. ICES have hot water pressure cleaning systems that can clean up to 10,000 square feet of concrete per hour. A normal 13 hp power cold water pressure washer pressure cleaning the same 10,000 square foot area using a standard trigger gun and wand may take around 10 hour to clean the square footage that only took one hour. $45.00/hr to $95.00/hr, Average-$65.00 to $75.00/hr- non-environmental $60.00/hr to $150.00/hr, average $75.00 to $85.00/hr- environmental Part Timers without Insurance and Workmen's Compensation: $35.00/hr to $65.00/hr, Average-$45.00 to $55.00/hr- non-environmental $40.00/hr to $95.00/hr, average $50.00 to $70.00/hr- environmental You should never be making less than $45.00/hr for a one man rig. $45.00 per hour is about break even for a one-man rig and you are losing money if it is a two-man rig. Some contractors will reduce the above hourly rates $5.00 to $10.00 per hour if heat is not required and for cold-water washers. Most Contract Cleaners will charge less when starting out until they gain experience. Once experience is acquired and reputation is established pricing goes up. Normally after you have been in business for over a year there will be jobs that you no longer consider profitable and will not except. However, when you first started out you would have dearly loved to have the job. When you are bidding a work you are not familiar with you can always fall back on bidding by the hour with a "not to exceed" amount. In addition, you will find that when bidding by the hour the customer is not nearly as meticulous as when you are doing the job at a fixed price. Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether to bid by the job or by the hour. Normally if you bid by the hour then your customer is taking the risk on how long the job will take. If you bid by the job then you are taking the risk for how long the job will take. Therefore, most contract cleaners will expect a higher hourly rate for bid jobs than for jobs by the hour to cover their risk for jobs they miss bid. In a perfect world, there would not be a price difference between bid jobs and an hourly job When estimating jobs it is best to figure the price several different ways. For example if you were, bidding a parking lot figure the price based on a cost per square foot. Then figure the price based on a time estimate times your hourly rate. Again, in perfect world these two figures would the same. If there is a large price difference then you had better study the situation some more. If you are bidding by the job, you should be aware of what hourly rate you are earning and adjust future pricing (bids) accordingly. Also during a job if your earnings are too low you should start adjusting your work accordingly and start looking for ways to speed the job up. 5 of 22
This sounds too simple but come contractors will ask the customer what they are willing to pay for a job. In addition, if the price is one you can live with you have the job! Be aware of the "perceived value" of Power Washing. Normally it is between $50.00 to $150.00 per hour. When doing bid jobs and your earnings substantially exceeded these figures, expect problems from being paid to the customer accepting the quality of your work. I had one instance where a trucking company was extremely satisfied with the quality of the work from a High School Student Mobile Power Wash Contractor Cleaner washing their trucks for over a year. The trucks were washed on the weekends and he employed other students to help with the work. They thought he was a shinning example of what all young men should be. The Student was abruptly fired when the Terminal Manager checked the time sheets from the Guard Shack and discovered that the Student was earning over $300.00 per hour! The quality of his work no longer mattered. His "perceived value" of a High School Student doing Truck Washing was not $300.00 per hour. Many Contract Cleaners have learned this lesson the hard way! 6 of 22
UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES IN THE PERFORMANCE OF A PRESSURE CLEANING SYSTEMS BY COMPARING THEM TO THE PERFORMANCE OF LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT 2600 NW 55th Court Suite #230 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 7 of 22