The Pressure Washing Minimum Charge
Why every truck roll needs a floor, how to calculate yours, and how to say it so customers say yes.
The minimum charge is the single highest-leverage pricing decision a small operator makes. It's one number, set once, that quietly deletes your worst jobs.
Every Job Starts $80 in the Hole
Before the wand touches concrete, a standalone job has already consumed: drive time both ways, fuel, setup and breakdown, and a slice of your insurance, equipment, and truck costs. For a typical solo rig, that fixed cost of showing up runs $60–$90 per trip.
That's what the minimum protects. It's not a fee for small jobs — it's the recognition that the trip itself has a cost, and the wash on top of it has to be worth making.
The math: trip cost + (on-site time × your hourly target) = your minimum. One hour on-site at a $100/hr target with a $70 trip cost lands at $170 — which is why most contractors' minimums settle between $125 and $175, whether they did this math or learned it the hard way.
Before overhead. After overhead (~$55/hr for most rigs), this job paid you to lose money. A $150 minimum turns the same trip into $81/hr — or filters it out entirely. Both outcomes win.
Typical Minimums by Service Type
Say "Covers Up To" — Not "Minimum"
The same number lands completely differently depending on the frame.
The fee frame ✗
"We have a $150 minimum charge."
The customer hears a penalty for having a small driveway. Now you're defending a fee instead of selling a service.
The coverage frame ✓
"Visits start at $150, which covers up to 1,000 sq ft — your driveway's about 650, so we could include the front walkway too."
The customer hears value and a free-feeling bonus. Your minimum just became an upsell engine — and you can only say this if you measured.
When to Hold, When to Flex
Flex — the trip cost is shared
- ✓Same-street neighbor books while you're set up
- ✓Add-on surface at a property you're already washing
- ✓Route-day fill in a neighborhood you're working anyway
- ✓Recurring seasonal customer on an established route
Hold — the economics haven't changed
- ✗“It's just a small patio, though” — the trip costs the same
- ✗“The other guy said $80” — let him have it
- ✗Slow week nerves — cheap jobs fill calendars, not bank accounts
- ✗“Maybe I'll get referrals” — underpriced work refers underpriced work
Minimum Charge Questions
Typical numbers, the customer conversation, and when to bend.
Most established residential contractors set minimums between $125 and $175 per visit, with $150 being the most common. Pool deck work often carries a higher minimum ($150–$250) because setup takes longer, and commercial visits typically start at $250–$500. If your minimum is under $100, you're almost certainly subsidizing small jobs with your profitable ones.
Frame it as coverage, not a fee: 'Our service visits start at $150, which covers up to 1,000 sq ft of concrete.' The customer hears value (a thousand square feet!) instead of a penalty. It also naturally invites the upsell — 'since the walkway would be included in that, want it done too?' — turning your minimum into a fuller job instead of an awkward conversation.
Yes. The minimum protects the cost of the trip plus setup, and those differ by job: a quick driveway rig-up differs from a pool deck with furniture handling and enclosure care, or a commercial night visit with a COI on file. Typical structure: flatwork $125–$150, pool decks $150–$250, commercial $250–$500.
Only when the economics that justify the minimum disappear: same-street neighbor add-ons (zero drive time), add-on surfaces while you're already on-site, or route-day fills in a neighborhood you're already working. Waiving it for 'a nice person who asked' teaches your market that the minimum is a suggestion. Flex the price only when the trip cost is genuinely shared.
Related Resources
The minimum is one layer of the pricing system.
"Covers Up To 1,000 Sq Ft" Only Works If You Know the Number
Measure the property from satellite before you quote — so your minimum comes with a measurement, and your upsell comes with proof.