The risks this trade actually carries
Exterior cleaning looks low-risk and is not. The characteristic losses are not dramatic — they are quiet, expensive and often invisible on the day.
- Water inside a wall. Pressure behind lap siding, discovered months later as staining or rot.
- Surface damage. Etched concrete, furred timber, stripped shingle granules, hazed stamped concrete.
- Chemical damage. Burned planting, spotted paint, a neighbour’s car in overspray range.
- Height. Ladders on wet surfaces, on slopes, near power lines.
- Third parties. A hose across a footpath, a wet walkway, a passer-by.
The covers, and what each one does
| Cover | Responds to | Who asks for it |
|---|---|---|
| General liability | Injury to others, damage to their property generally | Every commercial client |
| Care, custody and control | Damage to the specific item you were working on | Property managers; the gap that matters most |
| Commercial auto | The truck and trailer, in use for work | Your personal policy will not cover work use |
| Inland marine / equipment | Machine and gear, stolen or damaged off-site | Nobody — but a stolen rig ends the season |
| Workers’ compensation | Employee injury | Legally required in most states once you hire |
This site publishes no premium figures. They depend on your state, your revenue, your claims history and what you actually do — roof work prices differently to driveways — and a number quoted here would be misleading within a month.
Care, custody and control
This is the one operators discover the hard way. A standard general-liability policy often excludes damage to the property in your care, custody or control — which, on a pressure-washing job, is the deck you are cleaning, the siding you are washing, the roof you are standing beside.
In other words: your liability policy may cover the neighbour’s fence and not the customer’s deck. Since damaging the thing you were hired to clean is the single most likely claim in this trade, ask about it explicitly and read the endorsement.
Ask the question in writing
The certificate, and who asks for it
A certificate of insurance is a one-page summary showing carrier, policy numbers, limits and dates. Property managers, HOAs, retail sites and municipalities will all ask for one, and some want to be named as an additional insured on the policy for the duration.
Attach it to commercial bids unasked. It removes a round trip, and it quietly separates you from whoever bid $200 less with no paperwork.
PSI & nozzle quick reference
- 0 degRed
- Spot jet. Etches most surfaces.4000 PSI
- 15 degYellow
- Stripping bare concrete.4000 PSI
- 25 degGreen
- General concrete and walkways.3500 PSI
- 40 degWhite
- Siding, wood, vehicles.1500 PSI
- ~65 degBlack
- Detergent draw, low pressure.500 PSI
Reducing the claim before it happens
Insurance is the backstop, not the plan. Almost every claim in this trade traces to something that was skipped in the twenty minutes before the machine started.
- Photograph everything before you touch it. The single most useful habit in the business.
- Name the pre-existing damage out loud, at the walkthrough, with the customer present.
- Put exclusions in writing on the estimate: rust, paint, battery acid, pre-existing cracks, permanent oil ghosting.
- Test patch on anything you have not cleaned before.
- Match the pressure to the surface, every time. Most surface-damage claims are one wrong tip.
- Wet the planting before, during and after.
Your checklist is a risk control