7 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Pressure Washing Company

There is a low barrier to entry in this business. A machine, a trailer, and a Facebook page is enough to start taking money, and plenty of people do exactly that.

Most of them are fine. Some are not, and the difference is not visible from a website. These seven questions will tell you which one you are talking to, and they are worth asking of us too.

1. Are you insured, and can I see the certificate?

The only question with a right answer.

General liability covers damage to your property. Ask for the certificate rather than taking the word for it. Any company that carries it can produce it in a few minutes, because it is a normal thing to be asked for.

If somebody hedges, gets annoyed, or says they are insured but the paperwork is complicated, that is the end of the conversation.

2. What method will you use on each surface?

You are checking whether they think in terms of surfaces or in terms of the machine.

A good answer sounds like: surface cleaner on the concrete, low pressure and a solution on the siding, hand work on the edges and the rails.

A bad answer sounds like: we will pressure wash it.

3. Have you cleaned this material before?

Especially for anything that is not concrete or vinyl. Stamped concrete, pavers, cedar, stucco, older brick with soft mortar, painted surfaces, and composite decking all have specific failure modes.

“I have not done many of those” is a completely acceptable answer if it comes with what they intend to do about it, like testing an area first. “It is all the same” is not.

4. How do you protect the landscaping and everything around the work?

Listen for pre-wetting. Wetting the beds down before starting is what actually protects plants, and it is the step that separates people who have thought about it from people who have not.

Also worth asking where the runoff is going to go, particularly if you have a slope, a pool, or a neighbor downhill.

5. What is not going to come out?

This is the one that separates most companies.

Everybody will tell you what they can clean. The honest answer to this question involves specifics: deep oil, old rust, red clay in porous concrete, oxidized siding, embedded staining, damage from the original pour.

If somebody tells you everything will come out and it will look brand new, they are either inexperienced or they are planning to have a different conversation once the work is done and the invoice is due.

6. What exactly is included in the price?

On a driveway: does that include the walkway, the apron, the curb, the edges, and the joints? Pretreatment?

On a house: all four sides? Soffits? Gutter faces? Windows rinsed afterward?

Most quote disputes are scope disputes. Getting it specific in writing before the day takes two minutes.

7. What happens if something goes wrong?

Not an accusation, just a fair question. Things happen: a screen gets torn, a light fixture takes water, a bad section of mortar washes out.

What you want to hear is a straightforward answer about being insured and about making it right. What you do not want is a company that has clearly never considered the possibility.

The one nobody asks

Will you walk it with me before you leave?

The answer should be yes without hesitation. Everything is easier to address while the equipment is still on your property, and any company confident in their work wants you to look at it while they are standing there.

Our answers

Insured, certificate available on request. Surface cleaner and hand-finished edges on concrete, low pressure and a cleaning solution on anything that can be damaged by force. Beds wet down before and rinsed after. We tell you what will not come out during the estimate, not after. Scope written out before the day. And yes, we walk it with you.

Ask the same of whoever else you are considering. If their answers are better than ours, hire them.