Currently we rinse vehicles at car dealers, I have a Reverse osmosis system that puts out 1200 gallons per day if I ran it all day. On my trailer I carry 675 gallons as well as another 325 in the bed of my truck so I have about 1000 gallons of water on hand at the start of the day.

I hear that the money in pressure washing is in cleaning 18-wheelers. I have no experience in doing this and wondered what there is to it.

Another area I'm looking into is fences and decks. My unit can do 4000 at 4gpm so I can handle a lot of different jobs and if needed I will acquire a hot water unit as well. I have to look at a metal fence that is about 300 yards in legnth and about 10ft high later this weekend. The man has painted this fence with the wrong paint and the paint is chipping off it now. I know that the paint can be removed pretty easily with my unit along with a wire brush if needed, but my main question is what are others getting for a job of this size. I am hesitant to quote him per yard of sq.ft and more leaning towards a flat fee but I don't want to underbid myself on such a large job. This partictular gentleman was in a store that sells high end washers and was looking at spending 2500 on a unit so he could do it himself so I'm sure he won't hesitate to spend 1500-2000 for someone else to do this job but I don't want to over or underprice the job.


Any and all help is appreciated.

Over the years I have seen trucks equipped like yours doing residential business cleaning siding, decks, etc. but they never seem to stay around long. I am not saying it isn't a good idea but I rented a small pressure washer (attached to garden hose) and cleaned my deck and siding and it also did a pretty good job removing the ivy stains on my brickwork at the front of the house. I did almost everything I could think of with that unit, windows, trim, etc. I paid $40 for the day for that unit and I was so pleased with it. Canadian Tire here in Ontario sell similar units for no more then $l50. They were quite expensive two years ago.

This is is just my input for your consideration.

I don't know about the 18-wheeler thing. But, concerning wooden fences and decks, if that is what you are inquiring about concerning getting into as far as business, I have done extensive research concerning the prices in the United States of cleaning (or, pressure washing) and staining them. The prices will vary greatly depending on the location and might also within a specific location. From my research, there doesn't really seem to be much of a standard concerning the prices for pressure washing and staining wooden decks and fences, as there might be for house painting. House painting seems to be more standardized. But, even then, the prices charged will depend on the location.

If you're not really talking about wooden fences and decks, then please accept my apology.

What I found for the averages for cleaning (or, pressure washing) decks and fences as well as also staining them, is in the range of $1.50 per square foot to $3.50 per square foot. The higher prices might include the cost of the product used, whereas, the lower prices might not include the cost of the product used.

What I decided to use was the bottom figure of $1.50 per square foot for cleaning and staining with the application of the stain being two coats. That would not include the cost of the stain or any other supplies that might be used. That price seems fair to me and also the customer in the location around where I live.

In researching this locally concerning the prices, I found quite a disparateness in prices. For instance, doing the same job, one person wanted $1,600 and the other wanted $900. Go figure... I don't know why the prices vary so much concerning this.

The bottom line for me is though, if you want your business to grow, you need to be consistent in your pricing, qualify why you price what you do, be on time, have professional looking estimates as well as contracts and try to find ways that will give your customers a good deal, without compromising your own ability to make a living doing what you are doing.

Blanket estimates on really large jobs have the potential to get you in trouble when people discuss how much certain people charge. It's best to be charging according to some standard, like the square foot or maybe other standard. It's just really important to be consistent...

That's my two-cents worth. I hope that it has been helpful!

Thanks!

If you are going big rigs the hot units work a lot better

Here in Atlanta, the base price for a large truck ( the truck part) is 25 to 35 dollars, for the trailer they will get about 20 to 30 dollars a trailer.
And if you do the wash out of the inside of the trailer it goes from 5 to 15 dollars. Also it is not uncommon to ask to hook to the local water when doing cleaning at a place. Also most rigs would be plumbed so that you can switch from the tank to the washer with just a move of a valve.

I also hope you are not using the full 4000 PSI on a car, no car should have more than 2000 PSI unless you are risking damage. 4000 PSI is often used with hot water to take the decals off the larger semi trailers

Also all of the true commercial operators all use hot water units.

Also you will want a commercial flat surface cleaner to do side walks, driveways and places like gas station lots.

At least here the actual cleaning of flat surface areas go for about the 10 to 15 cents per sq foot for cleaning, As for decks, we almost never recommend a pressure washer to be used, and if it is, have it backed down to less than 1000 PSI not to let damage, and allow the chemical to do the real cleaning.

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Clough, I am entertaining the idea of moving into other fields of operation while still maintaing the car lots I already have and expanding in those areas as well. My plan is in the fall to start working on decks and other areas in the business to broden my capabilities. I have a deck at home as well as my parents and inlaws have one also so there is plenty of practice there. I am going to take the fence job this weekend and I gave him what I thought was a fair price on it, 650 for the metal half and 250 for the wooden part. On the metal its about 4.5 ft tall and about 500 ft long. Some of the paint will not come off it even with a wire brush and he decided that if I get as much as I possible can then that will be sufficient for him therefore the price became 650 instead of 1200 and having someone come behind me with a belt sander. As for the wodden section its about the same height and about 250 ft in long, all we will be doing is cleaning the alge and mold off it so he can paint it also, the reason he wants to get someone else to do this is because he cannot get water to that part of his property without spending 500 in hoses, therefore I can carry 1000 at a time and fill up at his house when I run out. Thanks for the input and hopefully I can come up with more questions to pick your brain on.

FR_chuck, If I move into the rigs then I planned on acquiring a hot unit to do them as well as concrete, I currently run about 3000 PSI and use a 40 or 45* tip and stand back off the cars about 2 foot sometimes 3, but if a car cannot be rinsed clean then we take the time to hand wash it with a mit then rinse it off so the next time were there its just a rinse and little chamois and were done. Were able to do about 500 cars in a day max and that's pushing it to the limit.

On the decks and fences I plan to do were going to rely more on the chemical were using then the amount or PSI of water were using. My understanding on it is you really need very little pressure but the more you fan it out (tip size) then the more area you can cover and faster you can move while still achieving the same results so the pressure would not be such an issue as long as its being used properly at a distance not right up on it, so basically what I'm saying is you would have more like a 80 to 90* spread instead of a true 45, how does this sound in your opinion, this is what I do with vehicles and that's why I'm able to do more than the competition here locally