How Much to Charge for Gutter Cleaning: Derive Your Price Per Linear Foot

How to charge for cleaning out gutters

Charge from the hours the job takes, not from a number someone quoted on a forum. Measure the linear feet, convert to hours at your own speed, then price the hours.

1. Hours = linear feet ÷ feet per hour (a different rate for each storey height) + setup and drive time.
2. Labour = hours × workers × loaded rate (wage × (1 + burden %)).
3. Overhead share = hours × workers × (yearly overhead ÷ sellable hours).
4. Break-even = labour + bags, disposal and consumables + overhead share.
5. Price = break-even ÷ (1 − margin).

The pages that rank for this question are mostly forum threads ("a lady asked me to clean her gutters, what do I charge?") and cost pages written for homeowners. They report what other people paid somewhere else. This page derives a price from your inputs, and every figure shows its working so you can check it.

Assumptions used throughout (replace each one): $21 wage, 28% burden for payroll tax, workers' comp, insurance and paid time off = $26.88 loaded; $14,520 of yearly overhead (truck, ladders, insurance, phone, software) over 1 person × 220 billable days × 8 hours = $8.25 per sellable hour; $5 of bags and disposal per visit; 35% target margin.

Gutter cleaning cost calculator

Enter the hours from your linear-foot count, your wage and your costs to see break-even and the price to quote. It opens on the 200 ft single-storey example.

The gutter job runs on the same math as the free window cleaning calculator, which works for any per-visit exterior job: type gutter hours into "Hours on the job" and bags and disposal into the consumables line. No signup, and your numbers stay in your browser.

Gutter cleaning pricing per linear foot

Price per foot = (1 ÷ feet per hour) × (loaded rate + overhead per hour) ÷ (1 − margin). On this page's assumptions that is $0.54 a foot on a single-storey house and $1.08 on a two-storey, plus a per-visit setup charge.

The setup charge is 0.5 hours of drive, ladder setup and cleanup with the $5 of bags and disposal, priced the same way. Keep it separate so the per-foot figure stays honest: setup does not shrink on a short run of gutter.

The feet-per-hour figures are placeholders, not measurements. Roof pitch, ladder moves, gutter guards, packed debris and whether you flush downspouts all change them. Time your own first few jobs by storey and use those rates.

Why storey height matters: a second-storey run means a longer ladder, more careful moves and more climbing per foot. If you send two people for ladder safety on two-storey work, set workers to 2 in the calculator: the crew-hours double, and so does the labour line.

How much is 100 ft or 200 linear feet of gutters? A price sheet

On this page's assumptions, 100 ft of single-storey gutter prices at $88.76 and 200 ft at $142.81. On a two-storey house, 200 ft prices at $250.90.

Each row is job(hours, $5) from the same math the calculator runs. The rows and the per-foot table agree to within rounding: 200 ft × $0.54 + $34.72 = $142.72, against $142.81 computed directly.

How to measure linear feet

Measure the eaves that carry gutters, not the house footprint. Pace it on site, or measure the roof edges on a satellite view before you go. Count each storey separately, since each has its own rate, and note downspouts, guards and any low roof sections you reach from above.

Worked example: a single-storey and a two-storey house

200 ft at an assumed 100 ft an hour is 2 hours. With 0.5 hours of setup and drive and $5 of bags, break-even is $92.83 and the price is $142.81.

Check it: labour 2.5 × $26.88 = $67.20. Overhead 2.5 × $8.25 = $20.63. Break-even $67.20 + $5 + $20.63 = $92.83. Price $92.83 ÷ 0.65 = $142.81.

The same 200 ft on a two-storey house, at an assumed 50 ft an hour, is 4 hours plus setup:

Same footage, $250.90 instead of $142.81. That gap is why a single "per foot" number copied from a price list fails: it ignores the storey, and the storey sets the hours.

What should your minimum charge be?

Your minimum is the full price of the shortest visit you would make. A 1-hour visit door to door, with $5 of bags, prices at $61.74 on these assumptions.

Quote the higher of the per-foot total and the minimum. A 40 ft run on a garage at the single-storey rate comes to 40 × $0.54 + $34.72 = $56.32 before rounding, which is below $61.74, so the minimum applies. The drive and the ladder do not care how short the gutter is.

Bundling gutter cleaning with window cleaning

Bundle gutters with a window clean and you save one setup and drive, so you can take a little off the combined price and keep your margin. The bundle below is 5 hours for $301.00.

Sold separately, the 30-pane window job from the window cleaning pricing guide prices at $185.22 (3 hours, $15 of consumables) and the 200 ft gutter job at $142.81, a total of $328.03. Together, with one shared setup, the price is $301.00. The $27.03 difference is the setup you no longer drive to twice.

That gives you a real number to offer as a bundle discount, instead of a round figure that may cut into your margin. Door-knockers who already clean windows can use it to answer the gutter question on the doorstep.

The common mistake: markup instead of margin

Adding 35% to your cost keeps 25.93% of the price, not 35%. On the 200 ft single-storey job, cost × 1.35 bills $125.31 instead of $142.81.

That is $17.49 short on one job and $5,458.11 a year at 6 jobs a week. The markup vs margin guide has the conversion chart. The other common slip is pricing the $21 wage instead of the $26.88 loaded rate, which leaves $5.88 of every hour unbilled before overhead.

How often a customer's gutters need cleaning depends on the trees over their roof, so offer recurring visits priced from the hours you time on the first visit. A lighter second visit may take fewer hours, and the price should follow the hours.

Excel formulas for a gutter cleaning price sheet

Layout: B2 = linear feet, B3 = feet per hour for that storey, B4 = setup and drive hours, B5 = workers, B6 = wage, B7 = burden %, B8 = bags and disposal, B9 = yearly overhead, B10 = people in the field, B11 = billable days, B12 = margin %, B13 = minimum charge.

Calculator, app or spreadsheet: what to use, and what to put on your price sheet

Use anything that makes you enter your feet per hour and overhead before it shows a price. For one quote, the free calculator; for a saved price sheet, a spreadsheet.

There is no ready-made gutter cleaning template in the store, so the free starter and the custom build are the options here. Put these on your sheet:

• Feet per hour for each storey height, timed on your own jobs.
• Setup and drive hours per visit.
• Bags, disposal and consumables per visit.
• Loaded labour rate and overhead per sellable hour.
• Target margin, applied by division.
• Add-ons in minutes: downspout flushing, guard removal, roof debris.
• A bundle row with window cleaning, and your minimum charge.

For the neighbouring trade, see how to price pressure washing jobs.

Step-by-step: How Much to Charge for Gutter Cleaning: Derive Your Price Per Linear Foot

1. Measure the linear feet. Measure the guttered eaves by storey height, and note downspouts, guards and hard-to-reach runs.
2. Convert feet to hours. Divide each storey's feet by your timed feet per hour, add them, then add setup and drive time.
3. Cost the hours. Hours × workers × loaded rate, plus bags and disposal, plus hours × overhead per sellable hour. That is break-even.
4. Apply your margin. Divide break-even by (1 − margin). For 35%, divide by 0.65, not multiply by 1.35.
5. Check the minimum. Quote the higher of the calculated price and the price of your shortest visit.
6. Offer the bundle. If you also clean windows, price the combined hours with one setup and show the saving.

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