How to price window cleaning by the pane, the story and the setup

Window cleaning has a clean unit (the pane) and a lot of variation hiding inside it. One customer's 20 windows might be simple double-hungs on one floor. Another's might include French doors with a dozen small lites each, a two-story foyer window, and sliding doors with tracks packed with dirt. The count of "windows" is the same; the hours are not. This guide covers how to count panes, how to time each type, how stories and access change the price, and how to set up recurring residential and storefront pricing. The basics of cost per hour and margin are in how to price service jobs.

Counting panes for a window cleaning quote

A pane is one piece of glass, cleaned on one side. A standard double-hung window has two panes per side, so cleaning it inside and out is four panes of work. Decide on your counting convention, write it on your quote form, and use it every time so your time standards stay consistent.

Sort panes into types, since a grid door and a picture window never take the same minutes:

• Standard panes: double-hung, sliders and casements of normal size.
• Divided lites: windows or doors with grids that split the glass into many small pieces. Count each lite, or count the window and apply a lite multiplier.
• Large fixed panes: picture windows and glass walls. Fewer panes but more glass per pane.
• Specialty glass: skylights, transoms above doors, glass railings, sunrooms, mirrors.
• Doors: sliding doors, storm doors and French doors, each with their own handling.

How do stories, ladders and poles change the price?

First-floor exteriors can usually be reached from the ground. Second-story and higher panes need ladder work or a water-fed pole system. Both add time: ladder moves, footing on uneven ground, working around landscaping, or setting up hose and pure-water equipment for the pole.

Give each story its own time per pane. Track ladder moves separately on jobs where the layout is cut up by bump-outs, decks or bushes, because those moves can take longer than the cleaning.

If you have employees, ladder work also falls under OSHA rules. The general industry ladder standard (29 CFR 1910.23) requires, among other things, that ladders be inspected before first use in each work shift, that no ladder be moved, shifted or extended while an employee is on it, that portable ladders used on slippery surfaces be secured and stabilized, and that workers face the ladder when climbing up or down. In practice every reposition means climbing down first, which is one more reason upper-story panes need their own time standard. Time for safe setup and inspection belongs in your standard; skipping it to hit a price is the wrong trade. This is a summary, not legal advice, so read the full standard and any state plan rules that apply to you.

Screens, tracks, sills and restoration work

These are where window cleaning quotes leak money. Price them as separate lines:

• Screens: removal, wash or brush, and reinstall. Count them and time them. Damaged or stuck screens slow things down; note them before you start.
• Tracks and sills: vacuuming and wiping tracks on sliders and casements. Heavily packed tracks can take longer than the glass.
• Hard water stains: mineral deposits from sprinklers or well water. Removal is slow and uses special products. Price by time, test a small area first, and set expectations in writing because some etching is permanent.
• Post-construction cleaning: paint, stucco, labels and adhesive on new glass. Scraping takes care and time and carries risk of scratching tempered glass. Price it as its own job.

A worked example: exterior cleaning on a two-story home

This is a hypothetical exterior-only job by one technician. Pane counts, minutes per pane, the $28 labor cost per hour (wage plus payroll costs), $18 overhead per labor hour and $6 in supplies are illustrative numbers, not benchmarks.

Notice where the time went. The 16 second-story panes took more minutes than the 20 on the ground floor, and screens alone were 15% of the job in this example. A flat per-window rate would have hidden both. Interior cleaning would be a separate line built the same way, plus time for moving furniture and protecting floors. Use the job price calculator to run your own minutes, and check that the result clears your floor from the hourly rate calculator.

How do you price recurring and storefront routes?

Residential recurring plans (exterior two to four times a year, interior once or twice) give customers a reason to stay and give you booked work in slower months. Repeat cleans usually go faster because there's less buildup and you already know the house. Set the plan price from your logged time on repeat visits, not the first one.

Storefront routes are a different model: many short stops, often monthly or every two weeks, ground-level glass, and a price per visit per storefront. Here the drive between stops matters as much as the cleaning. Build routes block by block, and price each storefront from glass area or pane count plus a share of the walk between doors. A new storefront across town costs far more to serve than one next door to an existing customer.

Commercial and multi-story buildings beyond ladder or pole reach require specialized access equipment and training. Price them only if you are equipped and insured for that work. Our guide to getting commercial window cleaning contracts covers how those accounts are won.

Recurring customers belong on automatic billing. The recurring service billing guide explains how to set that up.

Can you quote window cleaning from photos?

Exterior counts can often be done remotely. Street view and customer photos of each side of the house show window count, grid patterns and stories. Ask about screens, interior access, hard water, and anything unusual like skylights or a sunroom. Quote with a pane count on the estimate so the customer can confirm it, and note that the price adjusts if the count is off.

Interior work, large homes, and any job with possible hard water or construction residue are worth a short visit. You will see furniture in front of windows, the condition of tracks, and whether the glass is etched.

Some customers will ask for a per-window price over the phone before you have seen anything. Give a range built from your standards for a typical window of that type, explain that the final number comes from the pane count, and send the written quote once you have photos. A range anchored to real time standards protects you better than a guess.

Put the pane counts and types in the customer record so the next quote is instant. A CRM with line-item quotes can hold per-pane prices by type and story, so anyone in your office produces the same number from the same count.

Window cleaning pricing mistakes

• Counting windows, not panes. Divided lites and double-hungs multiply the work.
• One rate for all stories. Upper floors need their own time standard.
• Screens and tracks included for free. They can be a large share of the job.
• Restoration priced as cleaning. Hard water and construction residue are slow work with damage risk.
• Interior time underestimated. Moving furniture, protecting floors and working around household items slow everything.
• Storefront stops scattered across town. Price for drive time or build density before you add the stop.

For websites, phones and booking in this trade, see the window cleaning industry page. Licensing, insurance and equipment are covered in how to start a window cleaning business. If you offer gutter work alongside windows, the gutter cleaning pricing guide uses a similar story-by-story approach.

Frequently asked questions