WindowBossPro Blog — Quotes & Estimates

Counting Windows for an Estimate: From the Curb, From Photos or on a Walkthrough

A per-window price is only as accurate as the count behind it. Miss six windows on the back side and the job runs long. Count a sliding door as four windows and the customer thinks you are padding the bill. Counting is the least glamorous part of quoting and the part that decides whether the quote holds up.

The Count Drives Everything

In Per Window, Per Pane or Flat Rate: Choosing a Window Cleaning Pricing Method we looked at how to turn a count into a price. Whatever method you use, even flat rate, the count is the foundation. Here are the three ways to get it, and when each one makes sense.

Counting From the Curb

Pulling up to the house and counting from the street is fast. You can do it on the way between jobs, and you see things a map image will not show: overgrown shrubs in front of the lower windows, a steep slope, a second story that sits higher than it looks.

The weakness is obvious: you see the front. The back side is often where the most glass is. Sunrooms, walls of sliders, bay windows facing the yard and a walk-out basement that turns a 2-story front into a 3-story back. If you count from the curb, either walk the side yard with permission or ask the customer for photos of the back.

Best for: simple homes, outside-only quotes, and returning customers whose back side you already know.

Counting From Photos

Asking the customer to text photos of each side of the house is a good middle ground. You can quote from the office, and you see all four sides. Map images can fill in gaps, but they are often old or taken at an angle that hides windows.

Photos have their own traps. Customers skip the side they never look at. Trees hide upper windows. Inside photos are rare, so inside counts are often guesses. When quoting from photos, say so on the estimate: “Quoted from customer photos, final count confirmed on the first visit.” That one line gives you room to adjust honestly if the count is off.

Best for: outside quotes, customers who are not home during the day, and quick quotes where a site visit is not worth the drive.

Counting on a Walkthrough

A walkthrough is the most accurate count you will ever get. You see every window inside and out, check the screens, spot hard-water stains, find the skylight, meet the dog and learn where the ladder can go.

It is also the most expensive count. A walkthrough can take as long as a small job. Save it for jobs where the details matter: large homes, inside & outside work, post-construction, hard-water removal and anything with specialty glass.

Best for: large or complicated homes, inside work, commercial bids and any job where the price is high enough that a mistake hurts.

Write Down Your Counting Rules

Different people count differently. One person counts a double-hung as two windows, another as one. One counts a sliding door as a window, another as two. Agree on rules and put them where everyone can see them. A simple set might be:

• A standard double-hung or single-hung window counts as one window.
• A sliding glass door counts as one window per side.
• Picture windows over a set size count as two.
• French doors and divided-light windows are priced per pane.
• Skylights and transoms are listed separately.

These are example rules, not industry rules. The point is that your rules are written down, so a quote from the owner and a quote from the newest estimator land on the same number.

Save the Count With the Job

The worst count is the one you have to do twice. In WindowBossPro, the number of windows is saved as part of the window details on the job, along with stories, sides and extras. It shows under the address on the lists and on the tech's phone. When the house comes due again next quarter, the count is already there. When the customer calls to add inside cleaning, you change the sides and requote without driving back out.

If the crew finds a different count on the first visit, update it. The tech can add a note, and the office corrects the window count so the next estimate and the next visit start from the right number. Story height is the other number to get right, which we cover in Story Add-Ons: Pricing Second-Story and Third-Story Window Cleaning.

Count Once, Quote Many Times

Pick the counting method that fits the job, follow your written rules, and save the result where the whole company can see it. A good count turns every future quote for that house into a two-minute job. For the rest of the quoting process in WindowBossPro, see the window cleaning estimate software page.