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gutter cleaning vs window cleaning

albatross

New member
Messages
23
Location
salford
Hello,

I am considering entering the world of window and or gutter cleaning.

I have a lot to read on this forum but I have some preliminary questions for those on this forum who do both window cleaning and gutter cleaning.

Is gutter cleaning a viable full time alternative to window cleaning or is mostly accounted for as an add on to the window cleaning side of the business?

Assuming one would be interested in doing either, do both strands have the same chance of being equally profitable?

Are both markets saturated in your areas?

Many thanks

 
We do both, to a degree gutter cleaning is seasonal , Ime not sure what you mean by gutter cleaning are you intending to vac them out or clean the outside surfaces if the gutter ?.. I think it would be difficult to just clean gutters all year you would need a lot of new customers every week , but as an add on tk a window cleaning round it’s very  lucrative work , where I am there certainly isn’t a glut of cleaners . 

 
i've just taken voluntary redundancy fron my job and I am looking at the gutter clean option as a possible business.

I would work on my own, with a vac and the odd ladder job when needed.

north west based, could this earn 30k per year if done right?

thanks

 
Your going to need to have a big budget for advertising. Most window cleaners offer gutter clearing, as do roofers and handymen.

 
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i've just taken voluntary redundancy fron my job and I am looking at the gutter clean option as a possible business.

I would work on my own, with a vac and the odd ladder job when needed.

north west based, could this earn 30k per year if done right?

thanks
I dont know your area but we do almost that per year as add ons to window cleaning so I would say yes it’s possible but still feel it’s seasonal to a degree although we do have a lot of regular repeat work . 

 
Your going to need to have a big budget for advertising. Most window cleaners offer gutter clearing, as do roofers and handymen.
I have my redundancy payment I could use to buy equipment and marketing.

I did toy with the idea of providing handyman services however I would like to concentrate on one job and a job that is at least partially Covid proof hence the gutter business idea.

I dont know your area but we do almost that per year as add ons to window cleaning so I would say yes it’s possible but still feel it’s seasonal to a degree although we do have a lot of regular repeat work . 
Are you some trader or a company?

 
I have my redundancy payment I could use to buy equipment and marketing.

I did toy with the idea of providing handyman services however I would like to concentrate on one job and a job that is at least partially Covid proof hence the gutter business idea.

Are you some trader or a company?
Company , our main business is window cleaning domestic and commercial, we also do a lot of soft washing , UPVC cleaning and gutter vaccing and some pressure washing , 

 
Company , our main business is window cleaning domestic and commercial, we also do a lot of soft washing , UPVC cleaning and gutter vaccing and some pressure washing , 
So in your opinion a sole trader would struggle to earn 30k just on guttering?

 
I have my redundancy payment I could use to buy equipment and marketing.

I did toy with the idea of providing handyman services however I would like to concentrate on one job and a job that is at least partially Covid proof hence the gutter business idea.

Are you some trader or a company?
Just be careful about spending all your redundancy money on kit and advertising, you need customers why not start a window cleaning round once  you have got customers it’s repeat work every 4-8 weeks or what ever frequency you choose but gutter work is at best an annual job  so it’s difficult to get established . 

 
So in your opinion a sole trader would struggle to earn 30k just on guttering?
Ime not saying it couldn’t be done but it would be far easier to build up a window cleaning round earning that that gutter cleaning , we sell that service to existing customers as an add on it’s a nice earner and a change from cleaning windows 

 
IMO gutter clearance/cleaning isn’t as lucrative as window cleaning, as it is typically done as an annual thing. Windows you will probably earn less per hour but it is regular repeat work so over the course of the year will earn more. I personally do mainly windows as repeat 4 and 8 weekly work and the gutter work is an add-on. Regular window cleaning leads to add-on jobs such as gutter clearance as people seem to expect window cleaners to provide this service. I personally find gutter work boring.

As far as saturation goes I live in a Hampshire town and there are 30 window cleaners on google here, and that doesn’t include people like me who aren’t on it, so you could look at it that my town is saturated....however there are a lot of window’s and something like 4 out of 10 households have a window cleaner so the work is out there if you want it.

 
i've just taken voluntary redundancy fron my job and I am looking at the gutter clean option as a possible business.

I would work on my own, with a vac and the odd ladder job when needed.

north west based, could this earn 30k per year if done right?

thanks
Have you considered a sizable 5kva generator for those jobs where an extension lead run may be impossible or jobs when customers aren't home, Public liability insurance etc  

You would struggle with just gutter vac jobs. Very seasonal 

 
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I work in the NE, similar type of financial limits  as far as I'm concerned gutter only won't work. I very much doubt gutter clears will be saturated in your area,  I doubt however you could charge big money to clean them.

 
When I started out I planned on just gutters but I quickly decided to focus on exterior cleaning - windows - gutter - fascia - pressure washing.

Windows provide financial stability - repeat monthly work.

Gutters/pressure wash you may do a job and that might be the last time you work for them..

If you do just go down the gutter route you need to push a scheduled yearly maintenance clean at a lower price than the original clear out.

 
So in your opinion a sole trader would struggle to earn 30k just on guttering?
Yes in the first few, very important, years. Possibly you will be able to build your business up to this but I push gutter work and I don't gross 40k a year, and I have some very big well paid jobs 

If you live in an area surrounded by many big trees you might be able to do better than I. Good luck but my advice would be build a window cleaning round and push gutters as a  add on 

 
Varied advice and opinions here I see.

Ultimately you can Make lots of money gutter cleaning. However you need to market yourself and your services well. As mentioned already, you’ll have less frequent repeat business so more marketing required in the initial stages. I would just leaflet all the time you’re not working  

you should be able to make better money per hour than window cleaning and being able to market as a gutter specialist can work in your favour.

the issue is that for washing you either use ladders which limits access without wfp.

using wfp cleaning for gutter washing means you’ll need to clean windows too.

getting a vac is not expensive. You don’t NEED one of the powerful units with big generator. The smallest size Skyvac works more than well enough and can be had with a 2kw inverter generator for within 1k and it will hold most value anyway so limited risk.

set each client up for an annual service where you offer a survey each year and advise whether a clearance is required could work.

we get heaps of gutter work because we operate a fixed price system which we keep to the majority of the time unless the property is very complex or large.

persoanlly, I think most gutter work is charged high in relation to other services when per hour rate is considered.

as a result we get loads of customers from other window cleaners who then later decide to switch window cleaning too. 
 

my take is that there is huge opportunity if done right. 
There is loads of window cleaners where we operate too but we gain perhaps 1/3 of our jobs from clients who express they would prefer us when they already have a window cleaner as a result of seeing us work and around or a recommendation. 
so the business if there regardless. 

 
Many thanks to all for taking their time to respond.

I see your point about window cleaning but my assumption was that it would take someone new quite a while to learn window cleaning properly whilst clearing gutter contents I would be more comfortable with at the start. The last thing I would want in my start-up would be to make my first customers unhappy as my standard would be less than that of a time served window cleaner.

My plan was to buy a vac and start from there in terms of guttering work.

However I do see the point of establishing a window round pretty early in the process. If I were to take up window cleaning it would be a wfp outfit not traditional. How quickly did you pick up learning how to use the wfp competently?

I live in a fairly affluent area of Greater Manchester so who  maybe a more  local advertisement strategy at the start would be more suitable at first?

 
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Yes in the first few, very important, years. Possibly you will be able to build your business up to this but I push gutter work and I don't gross 40k a year, and I have some very big well paid jobs 

If you live in an area surrounded by many big trees you might be able to do better than I. Good luck but my advice would be build a window cleaning round and push gutters as a  add on 
Hi do you work on your own or run a company?

Just asking because reading through the threads on the forum I have noticed that your figures are very good.

 
Many thanks to all for taking their time to respond.

I see your point about window cleaning but my assumption was that it would take someone new quite a while to learn window cleaning properly whilst clearing gutter contents I would be more comfortable with at the start. The last thing I would want in my start-up would be to make my first customers unhappy as my standard would be less than that of a time served window cleaner.

My plan was to buy a vac and start from there in terms of guttering work.

However I do see the point of establishing a window round pretty early in the process. If I were to take up window cleaning it would be a wfp outfit not traditional. How quickly did you pick up learning how to use the wfp competently?

I live in a fairly affluent area of Greater Manchester so who  maybe a more  local advertisement strategy at the start would be more suitable at first?
I think @dazmond is in your area and could probably advise you better on some of theses points as he will know the area but he’s away on one if his 5 star holidays at the moment ????? Ime sure he will see this and offer some comments . Building a round will differ in different areas and depend how much competition there is I started in November twenty odd years ago and by the following March had a full round , and I know others on hear that have grown very rapidly in a short period of time m it will also depend on your people skills when canvassing, I know some on hear use leaflets but I found door knocking was what got me results m others swear by Facebook so that might be an option to consider. 

 
There are 2 of us, my son and I, cleaning windows. I do gutters with someone else though. In my area you would struggle to get a price that I think is fair.

Most of my work is in the Cambridge area for a Property Management company. If you do decide to do gutters only I'd target them as more and more are doing regular maintenance cleans due to Insurance claims.

 
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