[J M Herbert]

We've just got ourselves a petrol pressure washer as we have been getting asked to do patio and decking cleaning from a number of established window customers.  What is the going rate for this work, we were thinking along the lines of £25 per hour? Is this too much?  Or would we be better doing it by pricing per square metre?  Anyone who's currently doing this I would really value your input. We not looking at sealing or repairs, just pressure washing the dirt off. (We have a round patio head cleaner too)

[Carl@Cwc]

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?board=6.0

[Total shine cleaning services]

hi mate if it's a decent size pressure washer, ( not a b&q special ) aim for £50 minimum
driveways £2.50 a square metre-wash and re sand
large patio areas £1.50 -£2 a square metre for washing

you definately need a minimum charge tho as takes a while to set up and put away

Graham

[J M Herbert]

Thanks Graham. Appreciate that.  It's a 5hp Karcher, made a superb job of my patio!

[PoleKing]

Indian stone is quite easy, blocking is a pita and decking is too.
As been said, minimum charge + a sqm price.
I charge £3.50 sqm blocking + sand.
From what I gather that's fairly expensive but I don't really want the work anyway.
£2.50-£3.50 sqm should do you on most surfaces.
And minimum £50 just for the ag.
Get some decent waterproofs and (where possible) save it for rainy days.

[Smurf]

There is always money to be made from upselling to new and existing customers by offering add on services bud.

Pricing can be the diffucult bit as all depends on what you want out of the job less overheads and what the customer is happy to pay.

Good luck


 

[wpclean]

You will struggle  cleaning with that model, you need to be looking at a machine that delivers 15 lpm 300psi.
Try, and get some safety training, as you can be really hurt using these machines !

[PoleKing]

You will struggle  cleaning with that model, you need to be looking at a machine that delivers 15 lpm 300psi.
Try, and get some safety training, as you can be really hurt using these machines !

Lol-not with the Karcher

[Ian101]

all sounds great on paper but it will distract you from core job of window cleaning if u have a full round.

you can make extra money from it but looking back at last year I should have concentrated my time on canvasing more window cleaning customers.
 
will go back to it next year as a totally seperate enterprise when ive got the window van out running along without me doing the actual window cleaning.

if you do go for it you need a min charge of at least £100  

[Smurf]

Myself I started with a simular lower spec petrol washer (example before & after pics below) for the odd domestic patio and driveway job and it did a reasonalbe job for what it was even on block paving using a turbo nozzle.

I think what samson is trying to say is if you use a better spec washer with a higher psi and flow rate will defo make the job much easier and quicker to do. After saying that the one you have should do just fine for starters on small domestic jobs.

[J M Herbert]

Thanks for all the replies, it really is just for a small number of requests. I just put a note on the bottom of our invoices 3 months ago.   If it means an employee can go out and cover his wages for the day on a heavy rain day it's a bonus.  All the customers that have enquired I've said it's something we'll do on a day we can't clean windows. So will just work our way through the list as and when. 

[Smurf]

Yep you can work in the rain well of sorts but also need to take into consideration any drainage issues on the type of surface you are atempting to clean. As when using a washer the water needs to drain away somewhere like soaking into grass, block paver joints etc so the water runs off the surface without pooling. Like at the mo when the ground is so sodden I don't do much pressue washing as would be a nightmare to do unless maybe was a driveway that slops towards the road.