A Question For Hugh

Hugh,
In your gutter cleaning business what kind of pricing scale do you use for various jobs.

Thanks,

Kyle

Kyle,

Typically, gutter cleaning is priced by the linear foot. What you can actually get for it probably varies widely depending on where you live.

I'm in the Los Angeles area, and it's no problem to get anywhere from $ .50 to $1.00 or even more per foot. The higher the linear footage, the lower the price per foot (usually), and visa versa.

Also, the price depends on (a) how much dirt, leaves, debris, etc. is in the gutter, (b) whether the gutters can be cleaned working from the roof or if you have to continually go up and down a ladder to clean them (like where there is a tile roof that can't be walked on or the roof is too steep), (c) if there are trees or other obstacles in the way (making the gutters hard to reach and clean),(d) how high the gutters are (one, two or even three stories --- or how about a hillside home, where a house is built on what essentially amounts to a cliff!), and (e) whether or not the downspouts are completely plugged (normally, you can simply shoot a stream of water down a downsout to clear it out).

In any case, you should have a minimum price. Here in the LA area, I'd say it would be $125 or $150 to clean out the gutters of a home where the price per foot doesn't add up to at least that much. Could be much lower in other areas, I don't know.

My rule of thumb for gutter cleaning in the LA area is this: I should be able to make $50 or $60 per hour on a gutter cleaning job if I do it myself. In other words, a $125 job shouldn't take much longer than a couple of hours from start to finish. (By the way, never tell a homeowner how much you make per hour. If they ask, just say "I bid by the job, not by the hour.")

Regarding pricing, one advantage of using flyers to get business is that you are the only one talking to the person (homeowner). It's not like they called three compaines out of the yellow pages to get competing estimates. Often they respond to the flyer because they don't have a clue how to find someone to clean or repair their gutters. They KNOW they need the work done, and you're IT!

In other words, as long as you're not in the stratosphere with your pricing (relative to your area), you'll find it's pretty easy to get the job when someone responds to a flyer.

Hope that helps!

--- Hugh