Exterior window cleaning for a typical Irish home costs €60 to €125 a visit. See what moves the price and what to ask for in a quote.
/8 min read
Domestic window cleaning in Ireland costs most homeowners €60 to €125 per visit for an exterior-only clean of a typical house, an aggregate Irish market estimate for one-off work. Cleaning the inside glass as well pushes the price above that band, while a small apartment sits at the bottom of it and a large detached house reaches the top. Comparing a few local prices for domestic window cleaning is the quickest way to see where a house of a particular size falls.
What window cleaning costs in Ireland
The table below is an aggregate Irish market estimate for a one-off exterior clean, split into the lines a tradesperson actually prices. Across the range of ordinary Irish homes, those four lines add up to the €60 to €125 headline.
Line on the quote
Typical range
Call-out and minimum visit charge, or the first hour when the job is quoted hourly, covering travel, setup and the first five exterior windows
€30 to €50
Each additional exterior window beyond the first five, at about €5 to €6.50 per window, which comes to €20 to €45 on a house with four to seven further windows
€20 to €45
Frames, sills and track wipe-down
€5 to €15
Access setup for first-floor glass, including water-fed pole or ladder work
€5 to €15
On the same aggregate Irish market estimate, a one-off exterior clean breaks down by house size:
Two-bed apartment or terraced house with up to eight exterior windows: €60 to €85.
Three-bed semi-detached house with ten to twelve exterior windows: €70 to €120.
Four-bed detached house or dormer bungalow with fourteen to eighteen exterior windows: €95 to €125, usually quoted as a flat price per visit rather than per window.
An eleven-window semi-detached house shows how the lines work together. Six windows above the first five at €5 to €6.50 each comes to €30 to €39, so with the call-out line at €30 to €50, frames, sills and tracks at €5 to €15 and access at €5 to €15, the visit lands between €70 and €119, inside the €70 to €120 band for a house of that size.
On the same aggregate Irish market estimate, cleaning the inside glass as well as the outside normally adds €30 to €60 to the visit. That extra pays for working around furniture, blinds and ornaments, cleaning both faces of every pane, and wiping the internal sills afterwards.
What moves the price
Number of windows. The second line of the table does most of the work. What counts is not only how many panes a house has but how large they are, since a wide sliding pane or a full-height gable window takes noticeably longer than a small sash.
Height and access. First-floor glass that a water-fed pole can reach from the ground keeps a visit straightforward. A third storey, a window above a conservatory roof, a steep garden or decking in the way all change the setup and move the quote towards the top of the ranges in the table.
Condition of the glass. A house that has not been cleaned for a long time carries a film of traffic dust, salt or hard-water spotting, and paint or builders' residue takes longer still. This is the single biggest reason two identical houses can be quoted differently.
Frequency. A regular round is quoted at the lower end of the house-size bands above, while a one-off visit is quoted at or near the top of them.
Location. Dublin and the surrounding commuter towns sit at the upper half of the ranges, while rural addresses tend to sit at the lower half. Rural quotes also vary more from one another, because travel time takes a bigger share of the call-out line.
Domestic or commercial. Shopfronts, offices and apartment blocks are normally priced on a contract basis, per block or per visit, and the work is often done outside opening hours. Those rates are not comparable with the household figures above.
Households that want the inside glass, the frames and the surrounding areas handled in the same visit can compare the wider range of cleaning services before booking.
Height, ladders and water-fed poles
Window cleaning counts as work at height, and the Health and Safety Authority advises working from the ground with an extended pole where possible rather than climbing a ladder.
For a homeowner, this explains why two similar houses can be priced differently. Where the upper panes can be reached from the ground with a pole, the visit stays simple. Where a ladder or other access equipment is needed, more time, more setup and a formal risk assessment come into the job, and the access line of the table is where that difference shows up in the price.
Do you have to be at home?
For an exterior-only clean, no. The tradesperson works from outside the house, so most visits are arranged for a day when the homeowner is out, with payment settled by bank transfer or agreed in advance. It helps to point out the outdoor tap position, any locked gate, a dog in the garden and any window that is painted shut or has a cracked pane.
An inside-and-out clean is different. Someone normally needs to be at home to move ornaments and open the windows, or an arrangement has to be made for access, such as a key or a key safe. If a key is left out, it is worth agreeing the visit day and time in writing beforehand, and saying whether anyone else will be in the house.
How often should windows be cleaned?
There is no fixed rule, and the answer depends on what the glass is exposed to. Homes near the coast collect a salt film that dulls the glass quickly, and houses on a busy road pick up traffic grime on the lower panes and sills. Large modern panes and dark frames show every mark, while a sheltered bungalow with small windows keeps its appearance for longer.
Most households settle into a regular round rather than waiting until the glass looks bad, because the visits are easier to plan around and the price is known in advance. Coastal and roadside homes usually want the shortest gap between visits, and inland or sheltered rural homes the longest.
What to ask for in a quote so prices compare
How many windows are counted, and which ones, such as the box room, landing, garage, conservatory, or a window above a porch or extension.
Whether the figure is exterior only or inside and out, and whether frames, sills and tracks are included.
Whether an inside clean means someone has to be at home.
How the first-floor and higher glass will be reached, and whether the price assumes pole work from the ground.
The minimum visit charge and any separate travel charge.
Whether the quote is for a one-off visit or a regular round, and whether the same price applies to each visit.
Whether VAT is included in the figure quoted.
Public liability insurance: ask for the policy details and confirm with the insurer what the cover actually includes, since the terms of a policy are the insurer's to state.
Putting the same list to three local tradespeople makes the quotes comparable, because it separates the glass from the extras and shows which visit each figure is for.
FAQ
Is it cheaper to have the inside and outside cleaned in one visit?
On the same aggregate Irish market estimate, the inside work adds €30 to €60 rather than the cost of a separate interior-only visit later. The tradesperson is already on site with cloths, water and squeegees out, so no second call-out is needed. It also means blinds, ornaments and internal sills are only moved once.
Why does the first clean cost more than later visits?
A house that has not been cleaned for a long time takes extra passes to lift a film of grime, salt or hard-water spotting, and the frames and tracks usually need a deep first wipe. Once the property is on a round, each visit is quicker and the price settles near the lower end for that house size.
Can the price be fixed for a regular round?
Most tradespeople agree a per-visit figure for a round and hold it while the property and the number of windows stay the same. It is worth asking how long the figure is held, and how any change is notified before it takes effect.
What happens if a pane is missed or a window is damaged?
Point out a missed pane on the day, before paying, so it can be redone straight away. Damage is rarer, but it is worth agreeing before the first visit how breakages are handled and who covers the cost of a replacement pane.
Comparing local window cleaning prices
The ranges above are a budgeting tool rather than a quote, and the only figure that matters is the one for a particular house with a particular number of windows and a particular access problem. Putting the same questions to three local tradespeople, and asking each of them to confirm how many windows were counted, usually narrows the spread quickly.
Homeowners in Ireland can post the job with the window sizes and access details and let local tradespeople respond through ShamFix. Posting a job and listing on ShamFix is free, there is no commission, and a subscription is planned for the future. ShamFix does not check or certify tradespeople and profiles are filled in by tradespeople themselves, so homeowners should check registrations themselves and read reviews before booking.
