What should you actually charge to clean a driveway in Australia?

Most new operators pick their price by looking at what someone on Facebook charges. That is how an entire market ends up working for wages.

The base numbers

Australian residential pressure cleaning generally sits between $1.50 and $5.00 per square metre, with smaller jobs at the top of that range. A standard double driveway of 40 to 60 m² lands somewhere around $180 to $350, and larger or heavily soiled driveways run $300 to $700.

Hourly, operators are typically targeting $120 to $165 of effective rate.

The multipliers nobody quotes

Area is the least interesting variable. What actually drives the cost:

• Condition. Light maintenance is 1.0. Moderate growth is about 1.2. Heavy lichen and black spot is 1.45. A neglected slab with fifteen years of oil is 1.75, because it needs a degreaser, a soak and several passes.
• Access. No tap, long hose runs, stairs, restricted hours. Up to 1.5.
• Travel. Anything past about 20 km round trip is a real cost.

Why $150 is worse than nothing

Travel there and back, 40 minutes. Setup and pack-down, 25 minutes. Cleaning, 35 minutes. Invoicing, 10 minutes. That is 1 hour 50 minutes for $150, less about $18 of fuel and chemicals.

$72 an hour — before tax, insurance, super and the machine's depreciation. And the slot was not available for a $600 house wash.

Set a minimum

$180 to $250 as a floor. Say it plainly: "Our minimum for a site visit is $220 — that covers getting the truck there and set up. Most people add the paths to make the visit worth it."

A surprising share of customers add work rather than decline.

The real fix

Stop quoting a driveway. Quote three options: driveway, front-of-house package, full exterior. The middle option gets chosen, your travel is unchanged, and your ticket goes from $290 to $380 for about twenty extra minutes on site.