WindowBossPro Blog — Quotes & Estimates

Story Add-Ons: Pricing Second-Story and Third-Story Window Cleaning

A window on the second floor is the same glass as a window on the first floor. It just takes longer to reach. Ladders get moved, poles get extended, and the crew works slower because a slip matters more. Story add-ons are how you charge for that time without turning every estimate into a negotiation.

Height Is the Hidden Cost

In Counting Windows for an Estimate: From the Curb, From Photos or on a Walkthrough we covered how to get an accurate window count. Height is the second number that shapes the price. Two houses with thirty windows each can be very different jobs if one is a ranch and the other is a three-story with a walk-out basement.

Three Ways to Charge for Height

Per upper window add-on. The most common approach. You charge your base price for every window, then add an amount for each window above the first floor. For example, $6 per window outside plus $2 for each second-story window and $4 for each third-story window. The customer sees exactly what the height costs.

Separate price per story. Some companies list first-floor windows and upper windows as separate line items with different prices. “Outside window, ground floor” and “Outside window, upper floor.” It is the same idea as an add-on, just presented differently.

Flat house surcharge. A single add-on for a 2-story or 3+ story house. Easier to quote, less precise. It works when most of your houses look alike.

The examples above are round numbers to show the structure. Set your own add-ons based on how much longer upper windows take your crew.

Counting Upper Windows

Story add-ons only work if you count upper windows separately. When you count, split the total: “28 windows, 12 of them upstairs.” Watch for these traps:

• Walk-out basements. The front is two stories, the back is three. The back upper windows are the hardest on the house.
• Stairwell windows. Often high and awkward, even inside.
• Dormers and roof-line windows. Some need roof access, which is its own decision.
• Slopes. A house on a hill can turn a second-story window into a third-story reach.

If a window needs the crew to get on a roof, note it. Some companies charge more, some do not do roof work at all. Either way, the estimate should say so.

Inside Upper Windows

Height matters less inside. Most second-story windows are easy from the inside. The exceptions are two-story foyers, great rooms with tall windows and stairwell windows. If you do inside work, look for those during the walkthrough and price them as specialty windows rather than with a general story add-on. Inside and outside pricing has its own article: Inside and Outside Window Cleaning Pricing: Quoting the Sides Clearly.

Recording Stories on the Job

The story count is not only for the price. It tells the crew what to bring. In WindowBossPro, every job carries window details, and stories are one of them: 1-story, 2-story or 3+ story. They show under the address on the lists and on the tech's phone, like “28 windows · 2-story · Inside & Outside · Screens.”

That line helps in three places. The office can send the van with the right ladders. The tech knows before arriving that this is a two-ladder house. And when a 3+ story job lands on a day with a one-person crew, someone notices before the van leaves.

Add an access note for anything specific about height: “Back is 3 stories, set ladder on the patio, not the flower bed.” Access notes show on the job card too.

Putting Story Add-Ons on Your Service List

In WindowBossPro, story add-ons are items on your service list like anything else: “Second-story add-on, per window” and “3+ story add-on, per window.” When you build an estimate, add the base windows and then the add-on with the number of upper windows. The estimate shows each line, and the total adds itself up.

Because the add-on is a separate line, it is easy to explain. A customer who asks why their quote is higher than their neighbor's can see it: twelve upper windows instead of four.

Charge for the Reach

Story add-ons protect your time on the windows that take the longest and give customers a clear reason for the price. Count upper windows separately, put the add-on on its own line, and record the story height on the job so the crew comes ready. For more on quoting in WindowBossPro, see the window cleaning estimate software page.