Pressure washing is one of the easiest trades to start and one of the hardest to project. Most people arrive at it sideways — weekends first, then a van, then it is the whole income — and the marketplace application wants a confident annual number from someone who has never had a full year of it.
The First Full-Time Year Has No History
If you did $14,000 of weekend work last year and are now going full-time, last year's figure is useless as a forecast and next year's is a guess. That is genuinely difficult, and it is worth saying that the marketplace expects an estimate, not a certainty.
What it does expect is that you update the estimate when reality diverges. That obligation is the real answer to not knowing.
Down Here, Guessing Low Is the Cheaper Mistake
This is the opposite of the advice a high earner gets, and the reason is the repayment cap.
Take $34,000 of net profit — a plausible first full year. For a single filer that is roughly 217% of the 2026 poverty guideline of $15,650, comfortably inside subsidy range, with the benchmark Silver contribution capped at 9.96% of income.
Repayment if you underestimate — 2026
| Income band | Individual | Family |
|---|---|---|
| 200–300% of poverty | $950 | $1,900 |
| 300–400% of poverty | $1,550 | $3,100 |
| Above 400% of poverty | No cap | No cap |
At 200–300% of poverty, if you underestimate, repayment is capped at $950 as an individual. That is a bounded, survivable error. The unbounded repayment only exists above $62,600, which a first-year pressure washing business is nowhere near. So estimate honestly and stop losing sleep over it.
Underestimating Downward Has Its Own Cost
Estimate far too low and you may be routed toward Medicaid rather than a marketplace plan, which is a different enrolment process entirely and can leave you in limbo mid-application. Aim for the number you actually expect.
Subtract the Self-Employment Tax Before You Compare
At $34,000 net profit, self-employment tax is $34,000 × 0.9235 × 0.153, about $4,804. Half of that, roughly $2,402, comes off before you compare to the poverty table — and so do your premiums. Skipping these two subtractions makes you look richer than you are and shrinks your credit.
Ladder Work Changes Which Tier Makes Sense
Roof and second-storey work is where this trade's injuries come from, and a fall is not a cheap claim. At a subsidised income the gap between a Bronze and a Silver premium is often small — and below 250% of poverty, Silver plans carry cost-sharing reductions that lower your deductible and out-of-pocket maximum at no extra premium.
That is a genuinely large benefit that only exists on Silver, and it is invisible if you sort plans by premium alone. At $34,000 you are inside that band.
The Equipment Year Is Also a Deduction Year
The year you buy the trailer, the hot-water unit and the surface cleaner is the year your net profit is lowest and your credit largest. That is not a trick; it is what net profit means. Keep the receipts and let the equipment do its work on both numbers.
If you are going full-time this year and cannot settle on a figure, call (713) 575-9904 and we will work it out from your booking rate rather than a guess.