Anyone do pressure washing as a side business?

Sounds like a bad idea to me

he said he would only want to do driveways out of fear of destroying a house. he would still need insurance though

I've done a lot of pressure washing over the years and have one in my shop right now to use when needed. I do my driveway, sidewalks, house at least once a year and have used it to hit my vehicle undercarriages from time to time.

You're right though, it is easy to do some damage to houses if you don't know what you're doing. My washer will cut through wood siding with the wrong nozzle on it or if getting even the proper tip too close to the woodwork.

I used to pressure wash concrete a lot working maintenance for a gas station company during the summer. I don't remember it fondly in the heat. frick people who chew gum.

That said I'd imagine it will depend on your ability to line up work, like any other side job whether it's yard work, carpentry, etc. Distance traveling to jobs and maintenance on equipment will eat away at that $100/hr you are envisioning, and it may turn out to be more trouble than it's worth, but if you're willing to put in the effort I'm sure you could put some cash in your pocket.

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someone is paying someone to pressure wash around their house, he will run into a "please do this and that real quick for me"... situations.

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TRUTH!

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but if you're willing to put in the effort I'm sure you could put some cash in your pocket.

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This is all it would be. Like literally buy a slightly nicer pressure washer than I'd buy for personal use since it would kind of pay for itself. Just do enough work to cover the machine and insurance and let me buy some toys on the side when I want to.

But at the same time, that's probably what would bite me. Not hustling would probably make it difficult to get my name out there and it'd be difficult to even get just a few clients here and there like I'd want to.

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he will run into a "please do this and that real quick for me"... situations.

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Been there more times than I want to recall. I don't know what it is with some folks who hire you to do a particular job and the next thing you know they are trying to add crap and expect you to stick to your quote because they think "It will only take a minute or so".

I found it was mostly women who did this.

It's what I do for a living. What do you want to know? There was a time when it was my "side business" like you're describing and then one thing lead to another and I went full time. I originally started right out of high school and did it all through college. Hung it up when I graduated, did the corporate thing and drifted back in.

It has become an extremely saturated industry. There's yard guys/handyman, the Craigslist clowns, the painters and then there's full blown services. All are very different.

There's a lot more to pressure washing than just going out there and blasting away.

What the end game is the most important decision initially in my mind now that im looking back. You have to decide if you want to eventually go full time or always keep it a side gig. Both have their own pros and cons obviously.

From 2009 until 2011 or 2012, I was part time, a "hustler." I was working for a major healthcare provider, doing the corporate thing. I was making 36 or 39k a year with benefits. After insurance, 401k, etc. I would bring home roughly 1000 bucks every other week. I was miserable in that cubicle and on top of that I was working pretty much every Saturday and Sunday pressure washing. I eventually got to the point where in my head I was like I could definitely make 500 a week pressure washing And go on my wife's insurance. You'll do that and have that mentality for a year or two, but eventually you have to scale, eventually you'll want to have help and then comes another can of worms. Eventually you'll want weekends back. And eventually what was once a cash business becomes one where you may operate at 50 percent in a good year. Have you seen the cost of workers comp, pay roll taxes, general liability and commercial auto in this state? At times I feel like I work to make payroll and chip away at my quarterly IRS tax payments. That's when I miss it being a side gig.

Mrs. Stella down the street whose driveway you cleaned for a hundred bucks 10 years ago doesn't grasp inflation and overhead.

Such a saturated business. Even lawncare guys and businesses are offering power washing as an additional service. You have to have commerial-grade equipment to knock out the work fast enough to make a profit. I've seen a small crew do the yard while one guy powerwashed the sidewalk and driveway, all finished together and the yard probably had less sq. footage than the concrete. 4000psi/4gpm pressure washer with a surface attachment. You'd have to figure out a niche or find good equipment cheap. Pressure washers are very easy to repair, my eye is looking out for one that's pretty much busted except a good frame to rebuild with.