Hourly vs. Square Foot Pricing
The honest comparison — and the conversion formula that makes the argument irrelevant.
This debate has a resolution: the two methods are the same number wearing different clothes. What matters is which one the customer sees, and which one you track.
Head to Head
The Bridge Formula: They're the Same Number
Hourly target ÷ production rate = per-square-foot rate. That's the whole conversion. Your per-foot rate isn't a market superstition — it's your hourly goal expressed through how fast your equipment actually cleans.
This is also why one rate can't serve every surface: your surface cleaner flies on smooth concrete and crawls on pavers, so hitting the same hourly target requires different per-foot rates. The formula prices that automatically.
Track your real production rates for two weeks — actual on-site square feet per hour, by surface — and you can derive a defensible rate card for every service you offer from one hourly target.
Four "different" rates. One hourly target. The market ranges in the pricing guide are just this math run across thousands of rigs.
The Hybrid System Top Contractors Run
Three numbers, three jobs. None of them argue.
Customer sees sq ft
“1,150 sq ft at $0.15” reads as measured and fair. It never invites clock-watching, and it scales from patios to parking lots.
You track hourly
Every completed job gets one line in a notebook: total price ÷ total hours. Two weeks of lines tells you more about your business than any pricing article.
Weird scopes go hourly + cap
Rust removal, graffiti, post-construction: “$140/hr, not to exceed $600.” The cap gives the customer certainty; the rate protects you from the unknown.
Pricing Method Questions
Which method, what rate, and what to tell the customer.
Quote per square foot, track per hour. Square-foot pricing wins with customers — it reads as calculated, scales to any property, and doesn't punish you for being fast. Hourly is the honest internal measure of profitability. The strongest system uses both: build the quote per square foot, then divide by realistic hours to confirm it clears your hourly target before sending.
Most established solo operators target $100–$175 per working hour residential and $125–$175 commercial. That range covers real overhead (typically $45–$70/hr for a solo rig), your wages, and profit. Newer operators often start near $80–$100/hr while building reviews — going below that usually means the business is paying you less than a job would.
Divide your hourly target by your production rate. If you clean 1,000 sq ft per hour with a surface cleaner and target $140/hr, your base rate is $0.14/sq ft. Slower surfaces change the math automatically: pavers at 650 sq ft/hr need $0.215/sq ft to hit the same target. This one formula is why different surfaces carry different rates.
Almost never on residential work. A homeowner who hears '$140 an hour' compares it to their salary and anchors on time instead of results — then watches the clock while you work. Quote the job or the square footage. The exception is genuinely unpredictable scopes (heavy rust removal, post-construction cleanup), where an hourly rate with a not-to-exceed cap protects both sides.
Related Resources
Both methods start from measured square footage.
Whichever Method You Pick, It Starts With Square Footage
Per-foot quotes need the area. Hourly estimates need the area to predict time. Measure it from satellite in under a minute — free.