Illustration for a washer deciding how to pay for damaged concrete

Which route fits the damage

If… Choose Because
The rinse water turns milky or gray while you work Stop and show the customer One washer who stopped and showed the customer ended up refunding the $50 driveway line after lower pressure still lifted cream.
The damage is cosmetic and a credit or skim coat will settle it Pay it yourself, in writing A patio line runs $75 to $150 on one Jacksonville menu, and one 40-lb resurfacer bag covers about 65 sq ft at a skim coat.
The slab needs full resurfacing or replacement Call your agent before you promise anything The standard liability form says voluntary payments made without the insurer’s consent are at your own cost.

How do you know the finish came off? A concrete association’s fact sheet describes scaling as surface paste that can be picked off while the aggregate bond underneath may still look sound. It says durability depends on finishing and curing as much as the mix, so a slab that was finished with bleed water on it may have been weak before you arrived. The same sheet says never to finish while bleed water is still visible, and never to add water to the surface during finishing. That doesn’t move the bill: a reply in one trade-forum thread told the washer he was still liable because he caused the damage.

The break-even, worked out

Input Figure
Patio area 300 sq ft
Resurfacer coverage at a 1/16-in skim coat about 65 sq ft per 40-lb bag
Bags needed 300 ÷ 65 = 4.6, so 5 bags, before labor
What a credit costs instead the patio line, $75 to $150 on one menu

The standard commercial general liability form sets two separate conditions. You must see to it that the insurer is notified as soon as practicable of an occurrence that may result in a claim. And no insured will, except at its own cost, voluntarily make a payment or assume an obligation without the insurer’s consent. The SBA describes general liability as protection against financial loss from property damage, among other things, but your policy’s wording decides what it pays. Ask your agent whether to report the occurrence even if you plan to pay.

When neither fits

Go back once before calling it damage. In the same thread, a reply suggested another pass first, because part of what looked like damage looked like incomplete rinsing. Our guide to wash damage vs damage that was already there lists the tests, and stripes from an uneven pass are covered in driveway stripes after pressure washing. For insurance at setup, see starting a pressure washing business. This is general information, not legal or insurance advice. How we check sources: methodology.

Sources

Based on 7 sources · How we price