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Gutter cleaning price

Tom20

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Reading
Hi I’m in the south I went to quote a job the other day for gutter cleaning, it was a massive six bed house with a long extension ground floor I charge £3 a meter I add that altogether at the end it come to £575 But do people really pay this or would you discount it as I was quoting for doing the windows to and if you would discount it how much by ? Only not sure on this one because I haven’t had a quote a job this size only not sure on this one because I haven’t had to quote a job of job this size yet. Thanks 

 
Hi I’m in the south I went to quote a job the other day for gutter cleaning, it was a massive six bed house with a long extension ground floor I charge £3 a meter I add that altogether at the end it come to £575 But do people really pay this or would you discount it as I was quoting for doing the windows to and if you would discount it how much by ? Only not sure on this one because I haven’t had a quote a job this size only not sure on this one because I haven’t had to quote a job of job this size yet. Thanks 
evening Tom.

What is your gut instinct telling you? 

I wouldn't do it for any less. When you add the distance of gutter along with the windows which I'd consider as a first clean plus labour it all adds up

I'm guessing it's a new customer and you could retain them with windows and maintenance gutter cleans you could add a 5% welcome discount 

Are you using their electric or a generator as petrol isn't cheap.

The Gutter cleaning thread is always the best way to ask such questions in the future under the Other cleaning section 

https://windowcleaningforums.co.uk/forum/16-gutter-cleaning/

 
I'l assume you're doing it with a vac and I'll assume you're working on your own. I work on a minimum of £50 a man hour. I doubt a private resident would pay that kind of money, but I could be wrong. Have you looked in them to see what is in them? 

Try and work out how long it will take and then work on an hourly rate. If it's half a day I'd charge, minimum,£250. This is how I work and I always quote a price that if I don't get it I won't regret my price. Good luck

 
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We do jobs at that price and considerably more but you will find most won’t pay that kind of money  once you are competent with a gutter vac it doesn’t take long we do a nursing home that’s 300 meters of 6 inch industrial gutter every 12 weeks takes us a morning and we fill a small skip every time that’s a £300 job it’s to cheap but if I  priced it higher they wouldn’t pay it , Ime happy with that as it’s a change from the windows and it’s in a nice area and we have a rolling 2 year contract with them , I don’t Price per meter as there are so many variables , I look at a job and know roughly how long it will take but always add a bit for unforeseen things . We have just done a very large detached house with pine trees all around it took two of us 8:30- 13:30 solid work at a price of £525 I didn’t want the job so priced it high and we got it anyway I was  very surprised  customer now wants an annual job doing so more than happy with that but I would say this is the exception rather than the rule with a price like that . 

 
Just stick to your system. There will clients who pay whatever providing they buy into YOU.

we quote million £ plus homes all the time who get in touch because we’re uniformed and branded. They say stuff like you were highly recommend but then bend with shock and horror when you provide an estimate prior to visiting of like £120 for example. Mad complicated houses that do not look fun to clean.
 

Pjj said it before. Just quote according to your system. Some accept. Some don’t. Some will even email to relay their dissatisfaction of your pricing. Bless them  

just crack on and keep going. Don’t pay it too much mind. You can’t please everyone all of the time. 
 

if you are not closing enough sales then maybe the price is too high in relation to supply and demand. In the long run dictate your price because good service IS hard to find. 

 
evening Tom.

What is your gut instinct telling you? 

I wouldn't do it for any less. When you add the distance of gutter along with the windows which I'd consider as a first clean plus labour it all adds up

I'm guessing it's a new customer and you could retain them with windows and maintenance gutter cleans you could add a 5% welcome discount 

Are you using their electric or a generator as petrol isn't cheap.

The Gutter cleaning thread is always the best way to ask such questions in the future under the Other cleaning section 

https://windowcleaningforums.co.uk/forum/16-gutter-cleaning/
Hi yeah I will be using there electric and they will want the gutters done twice a year I like the idea of the welcome discount 

 
We do jobs at that price and considerably more but you will find most won’t pay that kind of money  once you are competent with a gutter vac it doesn’t take long we do a nursing home that’s 300 meters of 6 inch industrial gutter every 12 weeks takes us a morning and we fill a small skip every time that’s a £300 job it’s to cheap but if I  priced it higher they wouldn’t pay it , Ime happy with that as it’s a change from the windows and it’s in a nice area and we have a rolling 2 year contract with them , I don’t Price per meter as there are so many variables , I look at a job and know roughly how long it will take but always add a bit for unforeseen things . We have just done a very large detached house with pine trees all around it took two of us 8:30- 13:30 solid work at a price of £525 I didn’t want the job so priced it high and we got it anyway I was  very surprised  customer now wants an annual job doing so more than happy with that but I would say this is the exception rather than the rule with a price like that . 
Ok thanks that’s a great help, I know some of the gutters are full and some not as bad I did go in at £300 as I was thinking will people pay £575 and they excepted. but was thinking to my self after did I do the right thing but I wanted the job and for the monthly window cleaning and gutter cleaning twice a year didn’t want to lose it 

 
I'l assume you're doing it with a vac and I'll assume you're working on your own. I work on a minimum of £50 a man hour. I doubt a private resident would pay that kind of money, but I could be wrong. Have you looked in them to see what is in them? 

Try and work out how long it will take and then work on an hourly rate. If it's half a day I'd charge, minimum,£250. This is how I work and I always quote a price that if I don't get it I won't regret my price. Good luck
Hi I am using a vac and working on my own, I haven’t looked in them yet but can see some are blocked up. Thanks for the advise 

 
Hi I am using a vac and working on my own, I haven’t looked in them yet but can see some are blocked up. Thanks for the advise 
We work as a two man team in our vans but most gutter work can be done on your own and obviously will be more profitable 

 
We work as a two man team in our vans but most gutter work can be done on your own and obviously will be more profitable 
That is true, I have annoyingly realised I have under priced the monthly window clean price to as it’s the 1st job of this size I have had to quote so probably best to do the job at the price agreed then say the monthly price will be more going forward I will leave the gutter price as it is tho for the future as long as it doesn’t take a lot longer than I thought

 
That is true, I have annoyingly realised I have under priced the monthly window clean price to as it’s the 1st job of this size I have had to quote so probably best to do the job at the price agreed then say the monthly price will be more going forward I will leave the gutter price as it is tho for the future as long as it doesn’t take a lot longer than I thought
View it as getting paid to learn something is better than nothing and it’s all experience that’s what I did , learn from your mistakes 

 
That is true, I have annoyingly realised I have under priced the monthly window clean price to as it’s the 1st job of this size I have had to quote so probably best to do the job at the price agreed then say the monthly price will be more going forward I will leave the gutter price as it is tho for the future as long as it doesn’t take a lot longer than I thought
I'd look at it as a yearly job and see if the job works on average over the year. I have a multi site, care home, contract. Individually some don't work but over all it pays the rate  I'm happy at.

 
I price gutters using the same formula, £3 per metre and that works quite well. You do need a bit of flexibility though, if it's an exceptionally large house £3 will become very expensive (well north of £100 per hour and conversely a very small house could end up worth less than £30 per hour.

If the client wants the gutters emptying and cleaning along with washing the outsides, fascias, soffits and barge boards I work on the basis of £10 per metre and clean down all the downpipes and lower porch plastics for free. Works out much more lucrative than window cleaning.

 
I have very little pricing flexibility in truth. I work on the principle that if someone lives in a very big house, that's their choice and privilege. They likely do, or did get very well paid, to be in that position. Either that or they probably inherited or married in to it. It's not for me to feel sorry and subsidise them for their good fortune. The rate is the rate. I have a business to maintain and I have to risk my neck on a ladder. They have two choices.

I don't have a vac and I have no plans to get one in the near future. I may one day.

For emptying we charge a minimum of £25 a run for first floor front on a semi. Same again for the back. The ladder doesn't generally come off the van for less. Larger houses are charged at the rates per metre that I said in my previous post.

We've recently started to up the minimum price to £30 a run on a lot of empties to see if we still get them. No one has batted an eyelid at my gutter empty prices in a long time.

I'm a lot less mercenary if I think someone is genuinely in a struggle. Someone down on their luck, widowed, ill or retired on a low income for instance. All bets are off then and I'll do my best to take care of them with gentle pricing.

Soapwashes are a separate phase entirely and are priced accordingly, after a good look and a mental rehearsal of doing the job.

 
I price gutters using the same formula, £3 per metre and that works quite well. You do need a bit of flexibility though, if it's an exceptionally large house £3 will become very expensive (well north of £100 per hour and conversely a very small house could end up worth less than £30 per hour.

If the client wants the gutters emptying and cleaning along with washing the outsides, fascias, soffits and barge boards I work on the basis of £10 per metre and clean down all the downpipes and lower porch plastics for free. Works out much more lucrative than window cleaning.
£10 per meter !,,,, I should be a billionaire 

 
£10 per meter !,,,, I should be a billionaire 
When I get agreement for this pricing formula they are getting everything done. I wash down the downpipes, any lower plastics, bargeboard if their a semi detached etc. Most places are about 7 metres wide so £140. If the gutters are full it's a decent amount of work, then the gutter vac gets washed through at the end of my working day.

I'd settle for millionaire but even at my rate it's not going to happen.

 
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