How to Estimate a Window Cleaning Job: A Contractor's Method

Count the glass first

Window cleaning estimates live or die on the count. Walk the building and count every window, and write down what kind it is. A single-hung window is one job; a set of French panes is a different one, because each small pane takes its own pass. Skylights, storm windows, and glass doors all count separately, and so does the choice between exterior only, interior only, or both sides.

Decide your pricing unit while you walk. Most window cleaners price per pane, per window, or flat per visit, and any of the three works if the number behind it comes from your time and costs. The count is what makes all three honest.

• Total panes by type: standard, French, sliders, picture windows, skylights
• Interior, exterior, or both sides
• Screens and tracks, cleaned or skipped
• Storm windows, which roughly double the handling
• Glass condition: hard-water spots, paint, construction debris, sticker residue

Height, access, and the time killers

The second story is not the same job at a different altitude. Ladder moves, water-fed pole work, and the slower pace that comes with height all add minutes per window, and minutes are money. Note what you can reach with a pole from the ground and what genuinely needs ladder time, and check the obstacles: shrubs, fences, steep grades, furniture against interior glass, and blinds you will have to work around.

Condition matters as much as height. Hard-water staining, paint overspray, and construction residue are restoration work, not washing, and they belong on the estimate as separate lines with their own price. If you quote them in with plain washing, you have agreed to do two jobs for one price.

Build the price from your own costs

Start with supplies: solution, scraper blades, steel wool, towels, and pole filters are small but real, and they scale with the pane count. Then the labor: estimate your minutes per window by type, multiply by the count, add setup and teardown, and multiply the total hours by a rate built from your wage, overhead, and profit. If you have not built that rate yet, the method is in how to price contractor jobs.

Overhead for a window cleaning outfit is the vehicle, insurance, ladders and poles, and the hours spent quoting jobs you do not win. Spread it across your billable hours. Whatever unit you quote in, per pane or flat, this math underneath is what keeps a full route profitable.

Where window cleaning estimates go wrong

Most losses in this trade come from quoting before counting. A standard house with forty windows is a different job from one with ninety, and the customer rarely knows which one they have.

• Quoting a flat house price without counting panes or checking the window types
• Charging washing prices for restoration work like hard-water stain removal
• Forgetting screens and tracks, then doing them free to avoid the argument
• Ignoring ladder and access time on second and third stories
• No minimum charge, so a six-window job pays less than the drive

What the estimate should show

Itemize by area and type: exterior first floor, exterior second floor, interior, screens, and any restoration lines. If the job is recurring, show the first visit and the maintenance visit price separately, because the first clean is almost always heavier. State exclusions plainly: paint and sticker removal only if listed, and window repair is not part of cleaning.

Add how long the estimate is valid and send it while the walkthrough is fresh. EstimateBook runs on iOS and Android, applies regional tax presets for US states and Canadian provinces, and shares a polished PDF through Messages, Mail, or WhatsApp. You review every line of the draft before the customer sees it. The fundamentals of the document itself are in how to write an estimate.