Large open parking lots and garage decks price at about $0.05–$0.10 per square foot on SurfaceMeasure's reference range, because a surface cleaner covers them fast; Housecall Pro publishes $0.08–$0.25 for lots. Anything that slows production, such as a garage's columns and ramps or heavy soil, raises the rate a bid needs. Measure the paved area (top deck × levels for a garage), divide by your production rate, and check the bid clears your crew-hour floor.
The wash
$0.861 a m². Site reference $0.05–$0.10, the volume end.
The crew
An example: set your own.
Site reference $125–$175.
Extra area on top of the lot, at 500 sq ft an hour.
Site reference $0.12–$0.20.
No published per-stain price was found. Enter yours.
Hauled water runs $50–$150 a visit.
Housecall Pro cites minimums of $100 and $250.
Enter the paved area to see the price, the crew-hours and whether the bid clears your floor.
Price the square feet, then divide the price by the hours it takes. A bid can look right per square foot and still pay the crew less than your floor; the hours show it.
A price per stall misses the aisles. It counts the painted boxes, and the surface cleaner also covers the drive aisles, the lanes at each end and the entrances. Measure the pavement itself: the parking lot square footage calculator shows how, zone by zone.
The proposal, the walkthrough and the rest of the bid process are in how to quote a property-wide wash. Production by cleaner size is in the surface cleaner size guide.
Satellite shows the roof deck only
Trace it. That trace is the garage's footprint, and every level below it shares that footprint.
Lower levels are footprint × levels
Confirm the level count against the owner's plans or on a walk. It is the one figure you cannot see from above.
Ramps are already counted
They sit inside the footprint, so a trace of the deck takes them in.
Ask where the water goes
The University of Kentucky's garage procedure allows three routes: the sanitary sewer, treatment before the storm drain, or a haul. Ask where the garage's drains run before you price; the answer sets the method and any haul line.
Four rules on where the water may go, from the agencies that publish them:
Capturing the water can add a disposal or haul line to the bid, and production is the other unknown. The size guide puts a 24-inch surface cleaner at 1,700 sq ft an hour on open pavement; Newpoint puts a standard walk-behind surface cleaner, the same class of machine, at 500–800 under ideal conditions. Tick “price at Newpoint's slower pace” in the calculator to see the hours change.
Rules are local. Call the city's stormwater office before you price, and ask where the water may go.
Absorb any pooled oil first. Then pre-soak with a degreaser and let it dwell 5–10 minutes, the dwell one degreaser seller gives for its product. The University of Kentucky's garage procedure starts with the same pre-soak. Price stains by the count, at your own price: no published per-stain price was found.
Kärcher, which makes hot-water machines, says hot water emulsifies grease and oil so it rinses away. Newpoint Services runs 180–200°F on parking garages.
Steam or hot water. The Dr Gum DR-1200 steam unit runs at 300°F or more, and its maker claims up to 700 pieces an hour. Heavy gum slows a crew to about 500 sq ft an hour, so entrances and storefront walks get their own zone in the calculator at $0.12–$0.20 a square foot.
Every spring
Once the salting ends, at least once a year.
ECS, on garage slab deterioration
Every six months
At least, for lots, ramps and garages.
Squeegee Squad
Quarterly
Preferred; coating manuals call for twice a year.
Western Specialty Contractors, in FMLink
Newpoint Services takes 15–30% off recurring garage work, so price a schedule below a one-time wash.
Sweep before you wash. The parking lot sweeping cost calculator prices that visit.
What each source publishes for washing a lot or a garage. The first six rows are SurfaceMeasure's reference bands, cross-checked against TBCC Corp and Housecall Pro; the rates for every other property type are on their own page.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Large open lots and garage decksSurfaceMeasure reference | $0.05–$0.10 a sq ft |
| Gum-heavy walks and entrancesSurfaceMeasure reference | $0.12–$0.20 a sq ft |
| Dumpster padsSurfaceMeasure reference | $75–$150 each |
| Per striped stall, maintenance contractSurfaceMeasure reference | $8–$20 |
| Water hauled to a site with no spigotSurfaceMeasure reference | $50–$150 a visit |
| Crew-hour floorSurfaceMeasure reference | $125–$175 |
| Parking lot cleaningHousecall Pro, March 2026 | $0.08–$0.25 a sq ft |
| Parking garagesNewpoint Services, 2023 | $0.08–$0.40 a sq ft; about $0.30 at 10,000 sq ft, $0.12 at 100,000 |
| Contractor quotes (forum anecdotes)Pressure Washing Resource forum | 5–9¢ a sq ft in one market, 2–25¢ seen, 1.5–2¢ more with a scrubber (2014); a seven-garage city bid won at $0.03 (2020-21); $0.20 on a 17,000 sq ft indoor garage (2025) |
SurfaceMeasure's band for lots and decks sits at the volume end of what is published. Newpoint's own garage figure falls from about $0.30 to $0.12 a square foot as the garage grows, and the second example below shows where the low end stops paying the crew.
Each at $0.08 a square foot to start, 1 crew-hour of setup, a crew of 2 and a $125 floor, the low end of the site's $125–$175 a crew-hour. Type any of them into the calculator and it returns the same numbers.
Example 1
1.38 acres, 5,574 m². A 24-inch cleaner, no add-ons.
On a big open lot the site's band pays the crew, because the cleaner covers ground fast.
Example 2
A 30,000 sq ft top deck traced, priced at Newpoint's walk-behind pace instead of open-pavement production.
At that pace the site's band stops paying the crew. $0.20 sits inside Newpoint's $0.08–$0.40 and matches the $0.20 a forum contractor quoted on a 17,000 sq ft indoor garage. With no spigot on site, add the water haul at $50–$150.
Example 3
Plus 400 m² of storefront walk and 10 oil stains at a price you set, here $10 each.
Raise the lot rate to $0.085 ($0.915 a m²): the lot becomes $4,574.66, the total $5,363.55, and the job pays $129.96 a crew-hour.
An open roof deck prices like a lot, at about $0.05–$0.10 a square foot on SurfaceMeasure's reference range. Published garage prices run higher: Newpoint Services publishes $0.08–$0.40 a square foot for garages, about $0.30 at 10,000 sq ft and about $0.12 at 100,000. Work it out from crew-hours. A four-level garage with a 30,000 sq ft top deck, priced at Newpoint's slower walk-behind pace, takes 185.62 crew-hours, so it needs $0.193 a square foot to clear $125 a crew-hour.
Trace the top deck on satellite imagery, multiply it by the number of parking levels, and confirm the level count against the owner's plans or a walk. Satellite shows only the roof, so the level count is the one figure you cannot measure from above. Ramps sit inside the footprint, so the trace already counts them.
No. EPA guidance for construction sites treats untreated wash water that reaches a storm drain as an illicit discharge. San Diego's municipal code (§43.0304) forbids it, the city's fact sheet tells crews to capture the water with a vacuum or a boom and send it to the sanitary sewer, and fines run up to $10,000 a day. The University of Kentucky's garage procedure lists three routes: the sanitary sewer, treatment before the storm drain, or hauling it away. Rules are local, so call the city's stormwater office before you price.
It helps, after a degreaser. Absorb any pooled oil first, then pre-soak with a degreaser and let it dwell 5–10 minutes, the dwell one degreaser seller gives for its product. Kärcher, which makes hot-water machines, says hot water emulsifies grease and oil so it rinses away; Newpoint Services runs 180–200°F on garages. Price stains as a count at your own price per stain: no published per-stain price was found.
Divide the area by your production rate and add setup. Newpoint Services reports 4–8 hours for a 50,000 sq ft garage by professional crews; that is a crew's time on site, not one machine's pace. For one machine, Newpoint puts a standard walk-behind surface cleaner at 500–800 sq ft an hour under ideal conditions, against 1,700 for a 24-inch surface cleaner in SurfaceMeasure's size guide. Priced cautiously at 650 sq ft an hour, a 120,000 sq ft garage is 185.62 crew-hours, or 92.8 hours on site for a crew of 2.
At least once a year, in spring once the salting stops, by ECS's advice on slab deterioration. Coating manuals call for twice a year, with quarterly preferred, according to Western Specialty Contractors in FMLink, and Squeegee Squad says at least every six months. Sweep before you wash.
With steam or hot water. A steam gum remover such as the Dr Gum DR-1200 runs at 300°F or more, and its maker claims up to 700 pieces an hour. Heavy gum slows a crew to about 500 sq ft an hour, by a contractor's bid on the Pressure Washing Resource forum, so price entrances and storefront walks as their own zone at $0.12–$0.20 a square foot.
Trace the real pavement and the top deck from the office, price it at your rate, and send the quote. Card required, cancel anytime.
Start 7-Day Free TrialGathered October 2026. Published prices are references; your own crew, water and overhead set your price.
