How to Start a Pressure Washing Business

7 Things to know before buying a pressure washer on the Internet
7 Things To Know Before Buying a Pressure Washer
1 Beware Internet Only Operation
2 Don't Buy 12 Volt Burner Units
3 Think Twice Before Buying from a Franchised Dealer
4 Buy A Machine Engineered for Easy Service
5 Always Get A Written Warranty
6 Cheapest Is Not Always the Best
7 Don't Undersize Your Equipment

BUYING FROM A P.O. BOX OR WEB ONLY OPERATION!!
This is obvious with most any purchase, especially when buying expensive wash equipment. A company with a P.O. Box has very little investment. Where will they be tomorrow, come warranty time? You want to deal with a company that has experience, parts and service personnel. Before you buy, ask yourself the question: Will this company take care of my future needs?

DON'T BUY 12 VOLT POWERED BURNER UNITS!!
Before you buy, ask how the burner is powered. Yes, perhaps you will save money on the initial purchase of a 12 volt system, but you will need the money you saved for the future repairs! 12 volt units draw their power to run the burner system from the battery. The engines diodes recharge the battery. The problem is that the diodes do not generate enough amps to keep up with the burner. As a result the fan motor slows down and the heating coils soot up from the lack of air flow. This huge engineering problem creates a mess and requires the coils to be cleaned more often. Vibration, operator controls, elevation, engine RPM all affect the engine diodes and we haven't seen any other system that is reliable! The pressure wash equipment we build all have their own separate generators - producing 115 volts to power the burner system! Obviously a 115 volt system with its own generator has 10 times the voltage and therefore is 10 times more reliable in operation.

BUYING FROM A FRANCHISED BIG NAME DEALER!!
Are franchised brands the best?

Unlike Powerline Industries, most major brands are owned by foreign companies. Ask your local dealer where their equipment is manufactured? If it is made outside the United States, do you really want to buy a foreign made machine???

When you buy from Power Line, (1) we build with components that are non-proprietary, meaning they are not private labeled (2) our components are readily available in the market, therefore you can obtain service and parts nearly anywhere, rather than being "tied -up" to a dealer.

The bottom line is: we are not a franchised company paying franchise fees or offering one line of proprietary equipment. We are a U.S. based/owned company and when you buy from Power Line, you deal directly with the factory and distributor.

BUY A MACHINE THAT IS ENGINEERED FOR EASY SERVICE!!
If it's not engineered for easy service - don't buy it! Most units are poorly engineered - they might look fancy, but what about changing oil on the motor and pump? Rebuilding a pump? Changing belts? Access to burners? etc. Every machine needs service! Beware of the poor engineering!

KNOW THE WARRANTY!!
Ask your dealer for a written warranty.

CHEAPEST IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST!!
Don't buy cheap if you want quality!

DON'T UNDERSIZE YOUR EQUIPMENT!!
If you are using your Pressure Washer for heavy duty cleaning, say at a construction site, or most commercial applications, don't buy a light duty consumer pressure washer it just won't hold up. Make sure you purchase a pressure washer that will fit your needs and application.

First of the reason your looking at this is probably due to the fact that you are looking to start up a pressure washing business With that being said your also probably trying to do so with as little money as possible.
Trailer units run from about $7,000.00 dollars to over $50,000.00 if you get a fully environmental trailer system.
Pros: Some great things about a single axle trailer system is that they are much easier to tow. They can be towed by a lot of different types of vehicles. They give you the ability to take on commercial work right away. They also provide heated water which works way better for cleaning almost anything. A single axle trailer is very mobile and can fit almost wherever your vehicle can go.
Cons: Single Axle trailers are limited in there water supply. You need water to do the job.
Usually the power plant is smaller than that of larger trailers. Less power more time to do the job. Single axle trailers are very limited with storage space as opposed to large trailer pressure wash systems.