WindowBossPro Blog — Quotes & Estimates

Pricing Screens and Tracks on a Window Cleaning Estimate

Screens and tracks are the extras customers forget to ask about and always remember afterward. A clean window behind a dusty screen does not look clean. A sparkling slider on a track full of dead bugs gets noticed. Pricing them right, and showing them clearly, turns a common source of complaints into easy extra revenue.

The Extras That Cause Arguments

In Inside and Outside Window Cleaning Pricing: Quoting the Sides Clearly we covered the biggest variable on a residential quote. Screens and tracks are the next most common misunderstanding. If they are not on the estimate, many customers assume they are included. If they are included but not listed, you are giving work away.

Pricing Screens

Most window cleaners price screens per screen. For example, $2 a screen for a basic wipe or rinse. Some offer two levels: a quick dust-off and a full wash and scrub. If you offer both, put them on your service list as two items so the estimate says which one the customer bought.

Things that affect screen time:

• How they come out. Some pop out from outside, some only from inside. Inside-removal screens on an outside-only job need the customer home or a workaround.
• Condition. Torn, bent or missing screens. Note them before you touch them, ideally with a photo.
• Solar screens. Often screwed in and slower to remove.
• Where to wash them. A driveway with a hose bib is quick. A third-floor condo is not.

Count screens separately from windows. A house with 28 windows might have 22 screens. The estimate should say 22, not 28.

Pricing Tracks

Tracks are the channels sliding windows and doors run in. They collect dirt, bugs and leaves, and cleaning them takes brushes, vacuums and patience. Most companies price tracks per track or per window that has one.

The difference between a track that gets cleaned every quarter and one that has not been touched in years is huge. Some window cleaners quote a higher first-time track price and a lower recurring price once it is maintained. If you do that, put both items on your service list so it is clear which one applies.

Listing Them on the Estimate

Every extra gets its own line. A good estimate looks like this:

• Outside window cleaning — 28 windows
• Second-story add-on — 12 windows
• Screens cleaned — 22 screens
• Track cleaning — 6 sliding windows and doors

If the customer does not want screens or tracks, leave them off and say so in a note: “Screens and tracks not included.” That one sentence prevents the “but you didn't do the screens” call.

Listing them also helps you sell them. A customer looking at a clear estimate with screens as an option often adds them. A customer who has to ask often does not.

Screens and Tracks on Every Visit

In WindowBossPro, extras are part of the window details on the job, alongside windows, stories and sides. They show under the address on the lists and on the tech's phone, like “28 windows · 2-story · Inside & Outside · Screens.” The tech knows before arriving that this house gets screens, so the screen brush and the drop cloth come off the van.

On recurring plans that matters even more. A quarterly customer who pays for screens every visit should get them every visit, no matter who is on the crew that day. When the extra is on the job card, it does not depend on anyone's memory.

Before-and-after photos from the tech app help too. A photo of a torn screen before cleaning settles the question of who tore it.

Charging for Them at the Door

Sometimes the customer asks for screens on the spot. Because screens are already on your service list, the office can add them to the job and the invoice with the right price. No guessing a number on the doorstep. When the tech taps Complete, the invoice includes the added line and the card on file can be charged.

Hard-water spots are the next extra people ask about at the door, and they deserve their own careful quote. See Quoting Hard-Water Stain Removal on a Window Cleaning Estimate.

Small Lines, Fewer Complaints

Screens and tracks are small line items, but they carry a lot of customer expectations. Count them separately, price them per unit, list them on every estimate and keep them on the job card so every crew does them the same way. For more on quoting in WindowBossPro, see the window cleaning estimate software page.