Ask three window cleaners for a price and you might get three very different numbers. That isn't necessarily anyone being dishonest — window cleaning quotes swing wildly depending on what the cleaner assumes about your place. Give any cleaner the same five details and the quotes you get back will be fair, comparable, and free of nasty surprises on the day.
1. How many windows — counted properly
"About ten windows" usually means twenty panes once both sides, ranch sliders and the bathroom frosted glass are counted. Walk around your place and count every pane of glass including sliding doors, bi-folds, fanlights above doors, garage windows and any internal glass like balustrades. Don't worry about being exact — a rough pane count plus photos beats a confident underestimate that gets repriced on arrival.
2. Single or double storey — and what's underneath
Upper-storey glass takes longer and needs different gear. Tell the cleaner which panes are upstairs, and just as importantly, what sits beneath them: flat lawn is easy, while conservatory roofs, glass verandahs, steep banks and prize rose beds all change the access plan. Our water-fed pole service handles many upper-storey panes from the ground, but we can only recommend it if we know the layout.
3. Inside, outside, or both
Exterior-only cleans are quicker and cheaper, and they suit rental portfolios and maintenance rounds. But interior glass — cooking film in kitchens, condensation streaks in bedrooms, little handprints at toddler height — is what you actually look through from the couch. Be explicit about which you want. If you'd like frames, sills and tracks included (we include them as standard in residential cleans), say so, because some operators price glass-only by default.
4. Condition and extras
First clean in five years? Post-renovation dust? Concrete splatter from the driveway pour? Say so upfront. Neglected or builders'-residue glass can take two or three times longer than maintained panes, and a cleaner who prices for a maintenance clean then discovers a restoration job will either reprice or rush. Extras worth mentioning: skylights, solar panels, glass pool fencing, and gutters — bundling gutter clearing into the same visit saves a second callout fee.
5. Access and timing
Locked side gates, dogs on the property, tenants to coordinate with, parking for a trailer-mounted pole system, body corporate induction requirements — anything that affects getting to the glass affects the price. So does timing: a flexible "any weekday this month" booking is easier to price keenly than a must-be-Saturday pre-sale rush.
Red flags in return
A good quote names the scope in writing: which panes, in/out, frames included or not, and the total price. Be wary of per-hour pricing with no estimate of hours, quotes given sight-unseen with no questions asked, and prices that undercut everyone else by half — the discount usually comes out of the frames, the sills, or the second storey. Finally, check the cleaner has a visible local presence and reviews you can verify, like a Google Maps listing with genuine ratings, before handing over ladder access to your home.
What a fair quote looks like in writing
However the price is delivered — message, email or a simple written note — it should contain four things: the exact scope ("all exterior panes plus interior ranch sliders, frames/sills/tracks included"), the total price including GST, the expected timing ("Thursday morning, around two hours"), and what happens if something changes ("paint flecks needing a blade pass priced at $X extra with your approval first"). That last clause matters most on first cleans, where bonded grime only reveals itself mid-job. A cleaner who flags the possibility upfront and promises to check before proceeding is showing you how they handle surprises — which tells you more about them than the number at the bottom.
Comparing quotes fairly
When two quotes differ, compare scope before price. Does the cheaper one include interiors, or glass-only? Are frames and tracks in or out? Is the gutter clear bundled or a separate callout? A quote that looks expensive next to a glass-only exterior price is often cheaper per pane cleaned once you normalise the scope. Also weigh frequency: many cleaners price maintenance rounds keenly because regular glass is faster glass, so ask what a twice-yearly arrangement would cost rather than judging everything on a one-off first clean. The cheapest first clean followed by the cheapest maintenance round from a cleaner who actually turns up beats a bargain one-off every time.
Photos beat paragraphs
If you take one tip from this guide, make it this: send photos. Three or four phone snaps — front elevation, rear elevation, the trickiest window, and any access worry like the steep bank or the glass verandah — answer half the questions above instantly and let the cleaner price with confidence. Confident pricing is keener pricing, because no contingency buffer gets baked in for unknowns. A cleaner who asks good questions and studies your photos before naming a number is already demonstrating the care they'll bring to the glass.