How much does window cleaning cost?

Most window cleaners price by the house rather than by the pane, because once they are set up the difference between eight windows and ten is small.

A flat with ground-floor access or a small terrace usually costs £10–£16 for the outside. A typical two or three-bed semi is £14–£22. A three or four-bed detached house runs £20–£35, and a large five-bed detached with lots of glass can be £35–£60.

Those prices assume you are on a regular round, so the cleaner is in your street every few weeks anyway. Extensions, dormers, bay windows, Velux roof lights and glass doors all add a little. Bungalows tend to be cheaper than a house of the same footprint because everything is reachable from the ground.

Regular cleans are cheaper per visit than occasional ones because the glass is never badly dirty and the cleaner can plan your house into a route.

Four-weekly is the most common frequency and gives the lowest price per clean. Six and eight-weekly rounds are popular too, and the price per visit is usually the same or a pound or two more, since there is slightly more dirt to shift.

Over a year the difference matters more than the per-clean price suggests. At £18 a clean, four-weekly works out at about £234 a year (13 visits), six-weekly about £162 (9 visits) and eight-weekly about £117 (6 or 7 visits). Many people find six or eight-weekly perfectly adequate unless they live near a main road, the coast or open farmland, where windows get dirty faster.

Most cleaners do not want payment in advance. Payment by bank transfer or an online invoice after each clean is normal.

Most domestic window cleaners now use a water-fed pole. Purified water is pumped up an extendable pole to a soft brush, the glass and frames are scrubbed, then rinsed. Because the water has no minerals in it, it dries without spots, so there is no need to squeegee or dry the glass.

The advantages are safety and reach. Cleaners can do upper floors from the ground rather than climbing ladders, and the frames get a wash at the same time. It is also why most outside-only prices now include frames by default on regular cleans.

Traditional cleaning with a mop, squeegee and scrim is still used for inside windows, shop fronts and ground-floor glass. On upper floors it means ladders, which takes longer and carries more risk, so a ladder-only cleaner may charge a little more for a large house.

Either method gives a good result when done properly. Water-fed glass can look a little streaky for the first clean or two if the windows were very dirty or had old residue on them; that usually clears by the second visit.

The number and size of windows matters most, followed by how easy they are to reach. Back gardens behind locked gates, steep paths, flat roofs, conservatories in the way, and parking a long walk from the house all add time.

How dirty the glass is. A first clean after a year or two of nothing takes much longer, especially if the frames are green with algae, and is often priced as a one-off at £30–£70.

What is included. Glass only, glass and frames, or glass, frames, sills and doors are three different jobs. Ask which you are getting.

Inside windows are usually done by appointment, as the cleaner needs to be let in, and are often booked two or three times a year rather than every visit.

Conservatories are priced separately. The sides are a quick add-on. The roof is a much bigger job, particularly if it has moss or lichen on it, and often needs a separate visit.

You can get a fair idea of what your house should cost in a couple of minutes.

1. Start with the house-size price from the table above. 2. Add £2–£5 for each extra such as a conservatory side wall, a glass back door or a roof light. 3. If the windows have not been cleaned for a long time, expect the first visit to cost roughly double, then drop to the regular price. 4. Add inside windows if you want them, typically £10–£30 depending on how many rooms.

Example: a three-bed semi with a small conservatory, on a six-weekly round. £14–£22 for the house, plus £10–£15 for the conservatory sides, gives £24–£37 per clean. The first clean might be £40–£60 if the frames need a proper scrub. A conservatory roof once a year would be another £40–£100.

On BidMyJob you can post the job with a couple of photos of the house and local window cleaners bid, which is a quick way to find someone who already has a round near you.

Go regular. A round price is nearly always cheaper per visit than an occasional one-off.

Keep access easy. Leave side gates unlocked on cleaning day and move bins, bikes and pots away from the windows.

Ask neighbours. If several houses in the same road use the same cleaner, it saves them time and some will offer a small discount.

Book inside windows only a couple of times a year, for example spring and before Christmas, rather than every visit.

Get the conservatory roof done once a year in late spring, after the winter grime and before moss takes hold, rather than leaving it until it needs a heavy clean.