Pricing Guide For Deck Clean & Seal Jobs For Pressure Washers
This is the guideline we hand contractors at the counter when they ask what goes into a deck clean-and-seal bid. It is not a price list. It is the list of things that have to be in the number before the number can be right.
1. Measure everything that gets touched
Floor area is the starting point, not the job. Railings, spindles, steps and skirting add 45 to 65 percent to the surface you clean and stain. Measure the floor, then use the Ready Seal Coverage Calculator: it adds the railings and steps for you and tells you the gallons of stain to buy.
2. Price the materials first
- Cleaner and brightener. A two-step wood restoration (percarbonate cleaner or sodium hydroxide stripper, then oxalic or citric acid brightener) covers roughly 100 to 150 square feet per mixed gallon on weathered wood. See deck and wood cleaners.
- Stain or sealer. Gallons from the calculator, bought in 5-gallon pails. Leftover is touch-up stock for the callback you hopefully never get. See deck stains and sealers.
- Consumables. Plant protection, tape, plastic, pump-up sprayer parts, pads. Small money, but it is your money if it is not in the bid.
3. Count the hours, not the days
A clean-and-seal is two visits: wash and brighten on day one, stain on day two or three after the wood dries to 12 percent or less. Estimate crew-hours for each visit separately: setup and plant protection, wash, neutralize and rinse, drying-day check, stain application (spindles take longer than floors), cleanup and haul-out. Multiply by your loaded labor rate, the rate that already includes payroll taxes, insurance and the truck.
4. Add the overhead nobody sees
Travel both ways for two visits, equipment wear, the bid visit itself, and the share of your insurance, phone and marketing that this job has to carry. Most small companies underbid here, not on labor.
5. Then add profit
Profit is not what is left over. It is a line item. Decide the percentage before you look at the customer's driveway.
6. Check it against the market
Read How Much Should I Charge for Pressure Washing Services for regional ranges. If your number is far below the range, something above is missing. If it is far above, your hours are probably too high, not your rate.
Learn the whole process
The step-by-step technique, chemistry and business side of deck work is in the Deck Cleaning and Sealing Manual, and the bidding math is worked in full in the Marketing and Bidding Manual.
Disclaimer: We do not suggest wage rates, actual job pricing, profitability, or any other factor pertaining to pricing your work. We offer this as a simple guideline that you can use to compare our experiences with your current pricing model. We do not have access to information about your particular job conditions that might affect what you bid for doing any job, and we do not guarantee any results from the use of this guide. By using it you agree to assume any and all risk for your use or misuse of it.