Gutter cleaning

[dmk395]

Anyone clean gutters? What do you charge? Sounds like something good to keep me busy throughout the month of December.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Only my own!!!

I have seen a co around that does a 1500 sq/ft house for $150 a year. 4 visits total.

They stand on the ground with modafied back pack blower that turn back wards to make suction not blow. they let the crap fall in buckets. Lots of PVC pipes.

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[Runner]

I do it. I generally only charge 20 to 40 dollars and it is included in the Fall cleanup price.

[kutnkru]

Simple enough method of providing a service to getting yourself killed or doing serious structural damage to the property.

I would recommend that you call a licensed roofing contractor and get an estimate from them. Add 10% to it and submit the price. BTW strickdad is doing it how we price also with a $50 minimum per roof for single homes. $75 minimum for commercial sites.

$1 ft - single story
$2 ft - second story
$4 ft anything above 2 stories.

You will also need to get insurance listed for arborist services because your grounds policy for lawn/landscape work WILL NOT cover you.

Hope this helps. ;)
Kris

[lawrence stone]

Try going to the L&L board and asking one Erich Heinrich.

He knows much about gutter cleaning, cleaning the deep fryer, and replacing the rest room partitions at fast food joints.

[strickdad]

to add to this, people may complain about how high the price is just remind them that if you fall off the roof the ambulance ride is gonna cost no less than 200.00 dollars(and they dont negociate price lol)

[thelawnguy]

I received the following exerpt in a message around a month ago:

"BTW for what its worth I truely owe you a GREAT deal of thanks for the grinding you gave me about gutters this spring. We recently had a fellow LMO fall off a roof over 40 feet and he survived but I dont know if I would clarify that living.

Thanks again for the lesson. My children and (name deleted) too. We had a long conversation when we heard about it from a friend who works in the ER."

Need I say more?

[gogetter]

I've only done a few so far and charged $35 each time. They took anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes. They were all about the same size, but some were just heavier with leaves than others.

There was an ad in the paper under gutter cleaning (many companies around my way offering this) that had a flat rate of $50. I forget if the ad said "most roofs" or anything like that. I would think they would have to vary thier price from a small single level roof to a 2 story, steep angled roof.

I think I should raise my price if I continue to do this.

Also, I just want to say something on the safety issue. There are plenty of guys out there that will just go ahead and do something without thinking about it first, or will be tough guys, showoffs, etc.
This doesn't just apply to gutters either.
I for one have a healthy fear of getting hurt, so I don't take chances.

If a roof is higher or steeper then I'm comfortable standing on, I'll work off a ladder. Will take longer, so I'll just have to charge more.

thelawnguy, since I've been on this site I've heard of people

1. Flipping over on a rider
2. Chainsaw accidents
3. Being burned by gas
4. Log splitter accidents
5. Fall from ladder while trimming

And probably others I'm forgetting. Does this mean that we should not provide these services either?

Instead, maybe we could discuss ways to make it safer? I know some have mentioned that they won't use bp blowers while on a roof so as not to throw off thier balance. Let's expand on this kind of safety talk.

[G.Williams]

Charge high. They are getting prices because they don't want to get up on the roof. $50 minimum for ranchers on up for double stories. 2 man minimum on the job just in case, ladder is always footed. Blow out the downspouts with a backpack blower as well.
Just don't charge too cheap, not a lot of companies around here that do it.

[geogunn]

this subject comes up a couple times a year or so.

and it is always followed by a bunch of members that have problems with it.

I'll clean gutters for a price and I wont get killed doing it.

I don't like falling or busting my keester and if I think I will, I wont clean the damn things.

it's a no brainer yes or no to the original question.

GEO

[gogetter]

[i]Originally posted by G.Williams
[not a lot of companies around here that do it. [/B]

G. where in NJ are you from? Just curious.
Around here there are lots of ads for it from Gutter installation/repair companies to landscape/maintenance companies to handyman ads!

BTW, G. I read your profile, says your 30 but been in landscaping for 21 years? Did that mean you work for a company that's been in it for 21 years? Or have you been doing this since you were 9?:D

[BigJim]

Our franchise solicits them,we start at $45,do them summer/fall when the gutters dry and use a hand held leaf blower/vac its real quick!Most folks wait till its rained and the gutters overflowed then it pays to get up and check whats in them and price from that.You gotta be careful walking on the roof cause its easy to break tiles when you walk on them!Don't fall off the roof either it can ruin the whole day!!!!:cool:

[thelawnguy]

Originally posted by geogunn
I'll clean gutters for a price and I wont get killed doing it.

I don't like falling or busting my keester and if I think I will, I wont clean the damn things.

Nobody plans on getting hurt. But the quick ride down head-first is usually the time when folks such as yourself first think, "maybe this werent such a great idea after all".

Only people around here who clean them are scrub handyman services. Even the legit handyman co's, and roofers, refuse to clean them. Most LCO's have enough to do in their chosen field without resorting to janitorial services.

Of course, a lot may have to do with the fact that single story ranch homes are the exception, and colonials and victorians with 6/12 or greater pitch are your average house.

[strickdad]

Originally posted by thelawnguy


Nobody plans on getting hurt. But the quick ride down head-first is usually the time when folks such as yourself first think, "maybe this werent such a great idea after all".

Only people around here who clean them are scrub handyman services. Even the legit handyman co's, and roofers, refuse to clean them. Most LCO's have enough to do in their chosen field without resorting to janitorial services.

Of course, a lot may have to do with the fact that single story ranch homes are the exception, and colonials and victorians with 6/12 or greater pitch are your average house. we offer this service because we are a full service lawn and landscape co. we also do alot of tree work. beware i have been out to more than one new customers home(that already had a differnet lco.) to do gutters, and have "taken" there account away from them. our customers like the fact that we offer full service, kinda like one stop shopping btw. with our price structure the way it is , gutter cleaning has one of the highest profit margins of any of the services we offer. in most cases we exceed 100.00 dollars per man hour not to bad for a lawn mowing tree cuttin janitor huh....