Baltimore, MD
PRESSURE WASHING / WINDOW CLEANING ESTIMATING.

## Bidding Pressure Washing Work in Baltimore Is Its Own Problem Baltimore's housing stock is not like most cities. You're working on 19th-century brick row homes in Fells Point, painted formstone facades in Hampden, marble stoops in Bolton Hill, and algae-covered concrete retaining walls in the county suburbs — sometimes all in the same week. Each surface type carries a different PSI requirement, dwell time, and chemical cost. A flat-rate estimate sheet built for vinyl siding in the suburbs will leave money on the table here or price you out of jobs where you should win. Estimate.Pro is built for exactly this kind of variation. You log the surface, footage, and condition on your walkthrough. The AI scope engine generates a line-item scope of work — soft wash vs. pressure wash, degreaser call-outs, rinse passes, window count for residential window cleaning add-ons — and a priced estimate is ready to send in a median of 8 minutes from the time you start the walkthrough. ## What Drives Estimate Complexity in Baltimore **Brick and formstone** — Much of the city's residential stock has brick or formstone exteriors. Formstone, the faux-stone cladding that covers thousands of Baltimore row homes, requires low-pressure application to avoid water intrusion behind the panels. If you're bidding it the same as poured concrete, you're either underpricing the caution required or you're quoting off-service entirely. The app lets you tag surface type and applies the appropriate method to the scope. **Marble stoops** — Baltimore's white marble stoops are a cultural landmark and a surface liability. Homeowners are protective of them, and city buyers expect them clean at sale. Stoop cleaning is a frequent add-on to residential window cleaning jobs. Build it into your estimate template once, and the app pulls it forward on every row-home bid. **Commercial and waterfront facades** — The Inner Harbor, Fells Point, and Canton commercial corridors have constant pressure washing demand from restaurant owners, property managers, and BIDs keeping storefronts presentable. Commercial bids require separate line items for access equipment, chemical dwell, wastewater containment (required under Baltimore City stormwater ordinance), and sometimes coordinated off-hours scheduling. Estimate.Pro handles multi-phase commercial scopes without flattening them into a single number. **Seasonal algae and mold load** — The Chesapeake Bay climate delivers a humid summer that accelerates biological growth on north-facing brick, wood decks, and concrete flatwork. Fall cleanup after leaf tannin staining is a second demand peak. Your estimate volume will not be flat across the year, and your material costs (surfactants, biocides) shift with the season. The app's saved material cost workspace lets you update unit costs once and reprice your active templates immediately. ## How the Estimate Build Works 1. Walk the property. Use AR measurement on supported devices to capture linear footage and surface area. Photos and manual entries are marked as estimates so the client knows the basis. 2. The AI reads your walkthrough data and drafts a scope of work: surface prep, method, chemical spec, pass count, window unit count, any exclusions. 3. You review, adjust, and price. Labor rates, material costs, and markup are yours to set — Estimate.Pro stores them in your workspace and applies them automatically. 4. Send the bid. On Pro and Elite tiers, you can collect payment through Stripe Connect at 0% platform fee. ## Licensing and Insurance Context for Baltimore Maryland does not require a state contractor license for pressure washing, but Baltimore City does require a Home Improvement License from the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC) for residential exterior cleaning contracts above $500. If you're operating without it, you're exposed on collections and liability. Estimate.Pro does not file your license, but the scope-of-work output documents the contract terms in a format consistent with MHIC written contract requirements — job description, materials, price, timeline. For commercial work near storm drains, Baltimore City enforces MS4 stormwater permit requirements. Wastewater containment and recovery for commercial flatwork cleaning should be a line item in your bid, not absorbed into overhead. Build it in once as a template item. ## Pricing Tiers That Fit a Growing Pressure Washing Operation The Free tier costs nothing and requires no credit card. It covers the core walkthrough-to-bid workflow. When your volume grows, Pro at $39 per seat per month adds full Stripe Connect invoicing at 0% platform fee. Elite at $79 per seat per month adds invoice exports and advanced workflows for operators running multiple crews. Crew at $399 flat per month covers unlimited seats — built for larger operations dispatching multiple trucks across Baltimore City and the surrounding counties.