Once you’ve decided to start a gutter cleaning business, you need to understand how much to charge for gutter cleaning and how to give an estimate. There are four key ways to estimate a gutter cleaning job:
The first two methods will be most useful if you are just starting your business and aren’t really sure how long it may take, or what makes a job more difficult.
The first method is to charge based on the total square footage of the house. Essentially, you charge 4 to 6 cents per square foot. This would make a 2,500 square foot home cost between $100 and $150, and a 3,000 square foot home cost between $120 and $180. Generally speaking, the larger the home, the more likely it is to have multiple stories, which take longer to clean and are often more dangerous.
The second method is to charge a set fee for showing up and then charge a rate per linear foot of gutter. For example, you may charge a $50 appointment fee, and then $0.50 per foot of gutter you clean. For a house with 200 feet of gutter, it would cost a $50 appointment fee + $100, for a total of $150. This method of estimate does not take into account multiple stories or roof lines, or the steepness of the roof.
The next two methods of estimating may be more appropriate once you have cleaned several gutters and have a better idea of how long it takes you and the types of things that you want to charge extra for.
One way to give an estimate is to have a set price that you can adjust minimally either up or down based on the difficulty or size of the job. For example, you can begin with $120 average price and then deduct down to $70 for smaller houses with a single roof line, or increase up to $170 for larger homes or those with steep roofs or multiple roof lines.
The final method is to charge per hour. The standard rate is between $30 and $50 per hour, and most jobs take between 1 and 4 hours. This may be the most accurate and fair way of charging, since it takes into account not only the size of the house but also any anomalies or elements that may make the job more difficult or dangerous. However, this method is really only appropriate once you have been cleaning gutters for a while. If you are going to charge an hourly rate, you need to be sure that you not only know how long a job will take, but that you can complete that job in a reasonable amount of time.
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