Pressure Washing & Driveway Cleaning

Higher ceiling than lawn mowing, higher barrier to do it right. The driveway/path work is cheap to enter and visually addictive to sell (before/ after content prints itself). The house soft-wash work pays better per hour. The roof work is where amateurs get hurt, get sued, or blow a stormwater compliance notice. This blueprint draws that line early and tells you where it sits, because the line IS the business plan for your first year.

1 · Overview & demand

What the business is. Exterior surface cleaning for residential and light-commercial clients, split into three tiers of the same trade:

• Hard-surface washing (driveways, paths, pavers, decks, fences): the entry product, mechanical, no chemicals required to start.
• House soft-washing (weatherboard, render, brick, colorbond, low- pressure + biodegradable detergent/sodium hypochlorite mix to kill mould and lichen without stripping paint or forcing water under cladding): the margin product once you can do it without streaking or killing garden beds.
• Roof cleaning: the highest-margin, highest-risk tier. Flag this now: roof + heights is where "handyman with a pressure washer" ends and licensed trade begins (§3). Many operators refer 100% of roof work out in year one and take the referral fee instead, a legitimate strategy, not a cop-out.

Why demand is durable. Pre-sale/pre-rental presentation (real estate agents are a repeatable B2B channel, not just homeowners), strata/body- corporate common-property cleaning cycles, mould and grime buildup in humid or shaded blocks, solar panel cleaning as an attach-on, and, unlike mowing, house-wash demand skews toward the cooler months in many regions because homeowners want the exterior presentable before spring selling season and mould is more visible after a wet winter. Driveway/path demand is comparatively flat year-round. Run both tiers and you smooth the seasonality that a mowing-only or wash-only operator doesn't have.

How to measure demand in YOUR area (do this, don't trust averages):

• Search "pressure washing [your suburb]" and "driveway cleaning [your suburb]", count real operators with recent reviews, read complaints (no-shows, patchy soft-wash jobs, and "left my garden dead" are common, each is your opening).
• Call 3 to 5 local real estate agencies and ask who they currently refer exterior cleaning to for vendor presentation jobs: an empty answer is a channel waiting for you.
• Check your council's strata/body-corporate directory or drive 2 to 3 nearby complexes for visibly green/black common-area paths: that's a warm lead list, not a cold one. verify locally, don't door-knock strata without going through the manager

Who this suits. Solo starter with a ute or trailer, a second van under an existing trade (roofers, painters, and landscapers already have half the gear), or a natural pairing with a lawn-mowing round (§6).

2 · Startup costs (AUD, indicative, verify locally all prices at purchase time)

Recurring monthly: fuel/power (~$100 to 250), chemicals for soft-wash (~$50 to 150), insurance (~$70 to 150, soft-wash chemical use typically costs more to insure than mechanical-only, ask explicitly, §3), water (see §3, budget for it, don't assume tap access is free or unlimited), maintenance sinking fund (pump seals and unloader valves fail: put aside $2/job).

3 · Legal & licensing (AU)

• ABN: free, abr.gov.au, day one.
• Business name: ASIC (~$45/1yr verify locally) only if trading beyond your own name.
• Public liability insurance $5 to 10M: before your first paid job. Declare chemical/soft-wash use explicitly on the policy; a generic "handyman" policy may exclude chemical application or water damage claims. A soft- wash job gone wrong (chemical drift onto a neighbour's car, stripped paint, a dead garden bed) is a when, not an if, at this trade.
• GST: register only past $75k turnover (or voluntarily earlier if input credits on equipment purchases make sense, ask an accountant once revenue is real).
• Wastewater and runoff: the compliance line most amateurs blow. In most Australian councils, washing detergent/chemical-laden or oil-and- grime runoff into the stormwater system (gutters, drains) is illegal: stormwater goes to waterways untreated, sewer does not. Practical requirements vary by council/state EPA but commonly include: containing and diverting wash water away from stormwater drains, using biodegradable detergents at driveway-only jobs, and for soft-wash/ chemical jobs either capturing runoff (vacuum recovery, bunding) or confirming trade waste/sewer discharge is permitted. verify your state EPA and local council trade-waste rules before your first chemical job. This is not optional and fines are real
• Water restrictions: some councils/water authorities restrict use of mains drinking water for washing during drought stages, or require permits for high-volume commercial use. Some jobs may require you to supply your own water (tank) rather than use the client's tap. verify current restriction level for your water authority
• Roof work and working at heights: the licence/safety line. Cleaning a single-storey roof from a properly footed ladder is a different risk category to walking a pitched roof, working above ~2m without fall protection, or working near powerlines. Once a job requires sustained work at height, WHS "working at heights" obligations and, in some states, specific licensing/competency requirements apply. This is where many legitimate operators either invest in proper fall-arrest training and gear or refer the job to a licensed roof-cleaning/restoration specialist and take a referral margin instead. Decide which side of that line you're on before you quote a roof job, not after you're standing on one. verify current WHS working-at-heights requirements for your state
• Chemical handling: sodium hypochlorite and other soft-wash chemicals need correct dilution, storage, and PPE per the manufacturer SDS. No blanket commercial licence is required to use them for exterior cleaning in most states, but check yours. verify per state
• If hiring: workers' comp (state scheme), super, Fair Work award rates (Cleaning Services award verify current rates).

4 · Certifications & standards

Mechanical driveway/path washing has no mandatory certification: same moat-less starting point as lawn mowing, so standards are self-imposed:

• White Card ($100ish, one day) unlocks commercial/strata/construction- adjacent sites.
• Working-at-heights / fall-protection training: get this before you take any roof or multi-storey job, not after you've said yes (§3).
• Chemical handling training for soft-wash: even where not legally mandatory, it protects you from the two most common soft-wash disasters: stripped paint and dead landscaping.
• DLUSN standard: photo before/during/after on every job, written confirmation of surface type and expected outcome before starting (sets the "this stain may not fully lift" expectation up front), and a stated runoff-management approach on every quote. Say out loud that you don't send chemicals down the stormwater drain. That sentence alone differentiates you from most competitors.

5 · Equipment & suppliers (starting list, unvetted)

These are starting points, not vetted or rated. Check reviews, ABN and terms yourself before you pay anyone.

Buy order (never buy ahead of revenue): domestic/entry pressure washer → surface cleaner attachment → soft-wash chemical injector + tank → belt-drive commercial unit → water tank/trailer setup → hot-water unit. Commercial brands with national parts/service: Kärcher, Honda-engine (Gerni, Kränzle), V-TUF [affiliate-slot each]. Soft-wash chemical suppliers and dosing equipment [affiliate-slot]. Used market: trade auctions and landscaper upgrades are the value pocket for belt-drive units: check pump hours, not just engine hours.

Consumables kept in van: surface cleaner replacement jets, hose fittings (these fail constantly), chemical concentrate + dosing jugs, tarps/plastic sheeting to protect garden beds and cars from overspray, PPE (goggles, gloves, chemical-rated where relevant) × spares for a helper.

Software: start with a shared calendar + invoicing app (Wave/free tier), add a quoting app with photo attachments once quote volume climbs: before/ after photos belong in every quote and every invoice, this trade sells on visual proof [affiliate-slot]. Don't buy software before you have a pipeline.

6 · Pricing & packages

Price per m² for open, uniform surfaces (driveways, paths), price per job for everything else (house washes, roofs, decks with edges/furniture to work around). Quoting a whole house or roof by m² invites disputes over measurement; quoting a driveway per job invites disputes over "but it's a long driveway." Match the pricing unit to the surface. verify all figures against 3 local quotes before you set your own

Quote the outcome, not the hour: "driveway back to original colour, photo guarantee" sells better than "$X per hour." Winter/cooler-month push: lead with house soft-wash and mould removal when mowing demand and daylight both drop: this is your off-season revenue, not a slow patch.

7 · 30 / 60 / 90 launch checklist

Days 1 to 30: first ten jobs. ABN + insurance (confirm chemical use is covered, §3) + kit (low tier) · confirm your council's wastewater/runoff rules before your first chemical job (§3) · service area = your suburb + 2 adjacent · 500 flyers targeting visibly dirty driveways, that's the qualifying filter · Google Business Profile live with 10 real before/after photos · call 5 local real estate agencies to introduce yourself as a vendor-presentation cleaner · target: 10 completed driveway/path jobs, all reviewed with before/after photos.

Days 31 to 60: add the margin product. Soft-wash kit added once mechanical work is steady · practice soft-wash on your own property or a mate's first, not a paying client's · every job: photo pair + review ask · first real estate agency referral relationship active · target: 5 soft-wash jobs completed cleanly, 10 reviews, one strata/body-corporate manager contacted.

Days 61 to 90: decide the shape. Either stay hard-surface + soft-wash only and optimize solo margin, or commit to the roof-work decision in writing: invest in height-safety training/gear, or formalize a referral partnership with a licensed roof specialist and take the margin either way (§3) · books: hour with an accountant before Q2 BAS if GST-registered · target: 25+ completed jobs, one repeatable B2B channel (agency or strata) live, model in §11 checked against real numbers.

8 · Marketing kit

• Before/after content is the entire marketing budget of this trade for year one. A satisfying driveway strip-clean or mould-removal reveal outperforms almost any paid ad: post one a week, suburb-tagged, and it cross-feeds the same audience as DLUSN Crew's visual taste.
• Google Business Profile = your real website: weekly before/after photo uploads, every review answered, service area set honestly.
• Real estate agency relationships: a one-page flyer to 10 local agencies offering vendor-presentation cleaning at a standard rate, with your insurance certificate attached: agents refer repeatedly once one job goes well, and it's B2B revenue with no ad spend.
• Review engine: laminated QR card or SMS link at job completion. 25 Google reviews with photos in a suburb is local dominance.
• Vehicle: magnetic signs beat wraps at this stage ($150 vs $3k).
• What NOT to buy yet: SEO retainers, paid lead-gen directories that resell the same job to five operators, roof-cleaning marketing before you've made the licensing decision in §3/§7, and a hot-water rig before you have the booked pipeline to justify it.

9 · Acquisition scripts

Door-knock (neighbouring an active job, same density economics as mowing): "Hi, I'm just cleaning the driveway at number 12. While the gear's set up I can do yours for $X instead of $Y. Fifteen minutes, no travel charge." Honest mechanics, stated out loud.

Real estate agency pitch (call or drop-in): "Hi, I run [biz], exterior cleaning for driveways and house washes. I do vendor-presentation jobs before photos/open homes. Fixed pricing, same-week turnaround, before/after photos you can use in the listing. Who handles that at the moment?"

Quote follow-up (48h, SMS): "Hi [name], [you] from [biz]. That quote for [job] still stands at $X. Happy to send before/after examples from a similar job nearby if that helps you decide."

Strata/body-corporate cold email: "We clean common-property paths and driveways on a quarterly cycle for [nearby complex], happy to send a quote and our insurance details for [complex name]." Always lead with insurance for B2B/strata leads: it's the first thing a manager checks.

Referral (bundled with lawn-mowing round, §6): "I already mow here fortnightly. Want me to add a quarterly driveway wash for $X while I'm on-site? No extra call-out." Attach-on pricing beats cold acquisition every time.

10 · Daily SOPs

Night before: route check · confirm water source for each job (client tap vs your own tank, §3) · chemical dilution premixed for soft-wash jobs · weather call: rain within a few hours after a soft-wash chemical application can wash it away or into garden beds/drains before it's finished working, reschedule rather than risk it.

On site: photo before · walk for hazards and surfaces to protect (cars, garden beds, pet areas, power points) · confirm and set up runoff containment BEFORE starting, not as an afterthought (§3) · test mechanical pressure on an inconspicuous patch first: old mortar, soft render, and worn pavers can be damaged by pressure that's fine on concrete · soft-wash: low pressure only, chemical dwell time per product label, rinse thoroughly, protect and pre-wet any garden beds within drift range · never point pressure at roof tiles, aged sealant, or window seals without checking they'll hold · photo after → sent with the invoice.

Weekly: pump/unloader valve check · hose and fitting inspection · chemical stock and SDS sheets current · invoice run · review-ask count (target 2/wk).

Never: chemical job without confirming your council's runoff rules first (§3) · roof/height work you haven't made a deliberate licensing decision about (§3, §7) · quote "cheap to win it" on a job with real damage risk · leave without the after-photo: the photo is the product's receipt, and in this trade it's also your defence if a client claims pre-existing damage was your fault.

11 · Financial model (solo, indicative, rebuild with YOUR numbers)

Assumptions all verify: driveway avg $220/job, house soft-wash avg $500/job · realistic solo pace 2 driveway jobs/day OR 1 house soft-wash/day (soft-wash takes longer per dollar but pays better per hour once you're fast) · fuel/chemicals/consumables ~$25/job · insurance+phone+software ~$220/mo (chemical-use cover costs more than mowing-equivalent) · maintenance fund $2/job.

The uncomfortable rows on purpose: weather cancels or reschedules chemical jobs far more than a mow (§10), the domestic-tier machine in §2 will not survive full-time use and the mid-tier upgrade is a real cost you must plan for, and every soft-wash job carries a non-zero damage-claim tail risk that the conservative model above doesn't price in: insurance and the "test a patch first" SOP (§10) are what keep that tail from becoming the whole story. Upside sits in the two channels most solo operators never build: real estate agency repeat referrals (zero acquisition cost per job) and the roof-referral margin (§3, §7) if you choose the refer-out path instead of doing the work yourself.

12 · Ekoni handoff

When this outgrows the notebook: job quoting with photo attachments, before/after proof storage, invoicing, and real-estate/strata client records are exactly what Ekoni Solutions runs for service businesses. The visual-proof-heavy nature of this trade (photo pairs on every quote and invoice, §4/§10) maps directly onto Ekoni's records model. Handoff is an import, not a migration. [Ekoni funnel copy slot, final wording owned by Ekoni CEO project.]

DLUSN Blueprint standard v0.1, 12 sections, this order, every blueprint. Drafted by Onyx. Not published until owner + expert review boxes tick (§frontmatter).