What rates are you charging for residential window cleaning? (for a normal window, no storm windows)

I stopped cleaning windows last year because I could not make enough money doing it. I did not want to raise my prices, because when you raise your prices, you also raise expectations. I dont need that hassle.

Also, window cleaning was the only service I offered that involved going into the customer's home. Now, I dont have to worry about scheduling issues and I dont have to worry about employees being in someone's home.

Thanks



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Mike Hughes
Everclear
Souderton, PA

Hey Kevin'

1.00 to 1.50 per window per side. Casement not storms. You could not pay me to do storms.

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Dan Flynn
Flynn Service Pro
www.powerwash.net
708/715-4206

I don't make less than $45 hr one person or $70 -90 hr two people. Do you have anyexperiance cleaning windows? If you do and know how long it takes you to so many windows Price accordingly. Also you might want to find out what other window cleaners in your area charge for residential service even have them come and bid your house or your friends etc... you get the idea.

I always like to work with a partner. For a varierty of reasons. Number 1 I am extremely fast window cleaner and the faster I can get to the window to do the cleaning thenthe more I can make per hour. Secondly i hate moving furniture and cleaning screens so it makes sense to pay somebody $6.00 hr to do this. It allows me to go from $45 to $70 to $90 an hour so look at the numbers and i think that it is worth considering. Anyway I hope that I helped out in some way. If you have any questions feel free to email me. Hope things work outfor you.

Brett

Mike I charge $1.00 per window normal size window one side and no screens or storms.I had no problem with this price as a matter of fact she asked me to do her resturant,but now I have a problem with that because there are less windows but bigger than house ones.Hope this helps.
John

Hi Mike,

Listen to Brett. Home-owners can be VERY picky, epecially the old "spinsters" who have nothing better to do but fallow you around and make sure you are doing your job right etc.

You must be VERY careful not to break anything, slosh water about on the inside, they tend to be dirtier than commercial shop-fronts as they only get cleaned once per year. (if that)

Alot of hard work, which there is nothing wrong with, but dont feel guilty about CHARGING them !

Sure, you can count the wndows, but make sure to factor in all the other variables to match up with the bottom line of what you need to make an hour. $40.00 is decent, you can go as low as $25.00 BUT...Make sure you advertise it as a "Introductory" offer. That way, as your business grows, next year, when you have (if you do it right) more business than you can handle at $40.00 per hour, when these people call you back,(the $25.00 people) you can charge more without it looking like you have raised your prices, although I still might offer these people a significant discount, especially if (and you should) get many referals from them, plus the job is usually easier the next time, as you know the lay-out, exactly whats expected etc.

Oh....I always do a "cursory" wipe of the tracks as part of cleaning up after myself, of course, BUT...if those tracks havnt been cleaned on a regular (sometimes NEVER) basis,and they want them "pristine", I charge at LEAST $1.00 per, and as much as $2.00 per track, and I dont feel guilty about it.

I never cleaned a "track" in my life till I came to California, and 3 jobs in a row demanded that I include that as part of the "service." (after I had already made the bid and was working at the job-site)
Yes, it may seem arrogant on my part, but check it out...it can take longer to clean the tracks than it did to clean the rest of the windows.

I NEVER discuss my method of giving estimates (I.E. $1.00 per pane, so much $$'s per hour, etc) unless I am REALLY pressed.This just seems to work best for me.I just hand over my estimate, and if they ask how I arrived at that $$ amount, I say "Years of experience". <g> If they press me, in the same breath I will suggest that they are encouraged to get other estimates, that will be similar to mine (and this has proven to be the case) BUT...Then I am quick to let them know why they should ultimtely hire ME, and what I can do for them,that someone else might not. In short...Offer what you mght call "Free Consumer Information" regarding what to look for in a window cleaner,what should be included, what questions to ask etc.

The motivation for every consumer is "Whats In It For ME" ? I let them know that yes, I appreciate the business, but in the long run, as a member of the IWCA, (sounds more important than it really is) I just want to make sure that they are taken care of, and if not by me, I still want them to get the best, most honest deal they can. I know it sounds crazy, but 99.99 % of the time, they'll just hire you, right then, without getting another estimate.

One more thing...."DITTO" ON THE STORM WINDOWS !!!!!

I must not be the only one who feels this way, because a few years back, I decided I had enough, but didnt want to come right out and say "I dont DO storm windows", I decided on a $300.00 MINIMUM for storm windows, and albeit not many, I STILL got calls :-(

Anyway....

Thats a whole "nuther" topic.

God Bless you all, God Bless WINDOW CLEANING !!!!!! <g>

Chris / Shiner

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Chris-Shiner Window Co. Sacto Ca.

hey guys, wondering if you could help me out on a little (big) bidding question. I'm new to the business and I was asked to give a bid for an entire condo complex. here's the scoop: 23 buildings, (276 units) each building is 3 stories tall, about 9 windows per unit, with an average size of 5 feet tall, and 2.5 feet wide. Comes out to 2,484 windows.... Wow, where do I start? How long would something like this take? oh, and screens on about half of the windows... I would extremely appreciate any input... thanks again...

First question you have to have answered is what are their needs? Do they need someone to come in at the time of a move out to do the windows, or do they just want the whole exterior of every building done. (I can't imagine they want int/ext of every building.)

You might be able to pitch them something like a semi-annual exterior cleaning (APR & OCT), with the flexibility of being on call to do move outs (if you can do so).

If that's the case, I would consider charging about small house rates (assuming that you bid things per window & as long as you're not into the price gouging I've seen some companies do) and doing slightly less than 1/2 of that for the whole exterior... as long as they're not security screens, or anything over 2-3 stories.

If they have security screens (or screens that only come out from the inside), forget about doing the exterior. Period.

I don't know how AZ prices go... but if you can work it out like I suggested, I'd say total combined for the year could work out somewhere in the ballpark of $7.5k-$10k (gestimating your price range, I'm in CA).

thanks man. Yeah, they are 3 story buildings. and there is about 1,100 screens that I would have to do as well. and yes, this is exterior only, and they want the entire complex done. So given the circumstances, how much per window would something like this go for? thanks again...

So what do you bid per window on a house? $3-4 in AZ, or something close to that? So I would say that since it's ext only, and you're talkin about 2500 windows, $4000-5000 give or take and it'll probably take a 3 man team a couple days to do. But this is just a guess cos I have no idea what the prices are like in AZ.

thanks guys, appreciate it. I did however call around and get some bids from some other company's in the area, all had over 10 years expierience, and their bids were coming in from $14,000 all the way to $20,000. wow, I had no idea it would be that much...