Updated October 21, 2026
If you want to know how to price gutter cleaning jobs so they pay on every ladder move, price per linear foot and change the rate by story height. The per-foot rate comes from two numbers you can measure: what your crew costs per hour and how many feet of gutter it cleans in an hour on one-story and two-story homes.
Quick answer: Work out your crew cost per hour including labor, truck, ladders, insurance and overhead, add profit, and divide by the linear feet your crew cleans per hour at each story height. Add a setup and drive allowance, set a minimum per visit, and price downspout flushing, debris haul-off and guard work as add-ons.
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Crew cost per hour. Labor at burdened rates, your truck and ladders, liability and workers' comp insurance (ladder work is not cheap to insure), and a share of overhead.
Feet per hour. Time your own crew. One-story ranches with clear access go fast; two-story homes with steep landscaping and second-floor ladder setups go slower. Measure separately.
| Input | Assumption | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Labor, 2 techs | 2 × $20 + 20% burden | $48.00 / crew hour |
| Truck, ladders, insurance | spread over working hours | $17.00 |
| Overhead share | office, phone, marketing | $20.00 |
| Crew cost | $85.00 / crew hour | |
| Billable crew rate at 25% profit | $85 ÷ 0.75 | $113.33 / crew hour |
| One-story speed | 150 lin ft per crew hour | $0.76 per lin ft |
| Two-story speed | 90 lin ft per crew hour | $1.26 per lin ft |
Illustrative assumptions. Time your own crew and insert your own costs.
Now a 180-foot two-story home: 180 ÷ 90 = 2 crew hours, plus 20 minutes of setup and drive (0.33 crew hours). That is 2.33 × $113.33 = $264. Quoting it as "$1.26 per foot" alone would have given $227 and quietly given away the setup time, which is why the setup allowance belongs in every quote.
A small one-story with 90 feet of gutter is 36 minutes of cleaning plus the same setup and drive as a big house. A minimum per visit (for example one crew hour) protects you on small jobs and on single-section requests.
Most gutter cleaning demand lands in a few weeks of fall, with a smaller spring wave. Offering a twice-a-year plan at a small discount fills your shoulder weeks and gives you a list to schedule before the rush. Book plan customers first; they are the work you can count on.
Ladder work carries real risk for your crew and liability for you. Your per-foot rate must cover proper insurance, ladder stabilizers, fall protection where needed and training. Competitors without insurance can quote lower, and some homeowners will choose them. Showing proof of insurance on your quote and website, and explaining it briefly, helps the customers who care about it choose you.
Most gutter quotes can be given without a site visit. With the address, a map view shows the roofline and story height, and the customer can confirm whether there are guards, how many downspouts there are and whether any sections overflow. Measure the gutter length from the roof outline, apply your per-foot rate for the story height, and add the setup allowance. Confirm the price on arrival if anything differs.
In peak weeks the phone rings while both techs are on ladders. Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager that calls new leads back in about a minute, asks for the address and story height, sends your quote from your per-foot rates and books the visit. You approve anything that spends money. See what it does for gutter companies, or run the calculator to see how many hours of calls and quotes turn into minutes of talking.
Per linear foot by story height is the most accurate, with a setup allowance and a minimum per visit so small homes still pay.
Crews clean fewer feet per hour on two-story homes because of ladder setups, height and access, so the per-foot price must reflect the slower pace.
Downspout flushing, debris haul-off, roof valley clearing, small seam or hanger repairs and gutter guard installation, each priced separately.
Home service businesses answer only about half their calls (Invoca, July 2026), and owners spend about 11 to 16 hours/week on admin. Knowing what to do is the easy part; the money leaks out in the calls you can't take, the quotes nobody chases and the invoices that sit unpaid. Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager for gutter companies that you run by voice from your phone:
Sources: Invoca, July 2026 (52% of home-service calls answered by a person, 60M+ calls); admin hours: Time etc / Censuswide 2023 and Amex SME Barometer 2026.
Unmanually is an AI Office Manager that works 24/7 and that you run by voice from your phone. Leave your mobile number and the AI Office Manager calls you right away, the same way it would call back one of your customers. That call is the demo: it answers, books you a 15-minute time with the founder and follows up.
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