How to Price a Post-Construction Cleaning Job (Per Sq Ft)
Price a post-construction cleaning job by phase. Estimate the crew hours for the rough clean, the final clean, and the touch-up separately, cost those hours at your loaded labor rate, add supplies, equipment, and overhead, then divide by one minus your target margin. Only then convert the total into the price per square foot the builder asked for. All three phases together commonly land around $0.40 to $0.90 per square foot on new residential work, but dust level, glass, and how many times the trades come back after you move the real number more than square footage does. CRMb turns that build-up into an itemized quote the builder can approve from a link, puts each phase on the schedule, and shows the job's margin against the hours your crew actually punched.
Post-construction cleaning pays better per job than recurring cleaning and loses money faster when it is priced wrong. The site is not a dirty house. It is drywall dust in every track and vent, stickers on every window, mortar haze on tile, and paint specks on floors someone will inspect with a flashlight. A crew that cleans an occupied home in three hours can spend three times that on the same floor plan after a build. Quote it like a house clean and the job is underwater before lunch.
The three phases of a post-construction clean
Builders use the phases as a language. Quote in the same language and price each one as its own line.
- Rough clean. After framing, mechanical, and drywall, before finishes go in. Remove debris and scrap, sweep, and vacuum heavy dust so flooring and paint crews start on a clean surface. Fast work per square foot, and heavy on hauling.
- Final clean. After paint, flooring, fixtures, and trim. Every surface, top to bottom: windows and tracks, cabinets inside and out, fixtures, appliances, baseboards, vents, floors. This is most of the hours and nearly all of the risk.
- Touch-up clean. A day or two before the walkthrough or handover, after the punch-list trades have been back through. Dust settles for days after sanding stops, and somebody always leaves boot prints.
Some builders only want the final clean. Some want all three. Ask before you price, and write the answer into the scope of work.
Typical post-construction cleaning rates per square foot
Rates vary by region, building type, and how the builder runs a site. Use these as a check on your own number, never as the number.
| Phase or service | Common pricing approach | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Rough clean | Per sq ft | ~$0.10 to $0.25 |
| Final clean | Per sq ft | ~$0.25 to $0.50 |
| Touch-up clean | Per sq ft or flat | ~$0.05 to $0.15 |
| All three phases, new residential | Per sq ft | ~$0.40 to $0.90 |
| Remodel or renovation clean | Per hour or flat | Priced from hours, often higher per sq ft |
| Hourly work | Per person, per hour | ~$40 to $65 |
| Exterior windows, pressure washing, debris haul | Separate lines | Priced as their own jobs |
Remodels deserve a note. A kitchen remodel in an occupied home puts dust through rooms nobody worked in, and the square footage of "the job" understates the cleaning badly. Price renovations from hours, and state which rooms are included.
Compare this with ordinary cleaning rates in how to price a cleaning job: a final clean runs two to four times the per-square-foot rate of a standard recurring clean, because it takes two to four times the hours.
Build the price from your real costs
Per-square-foot rates tell you what builders expect to pay. Your costs tell you whether the job is worth taking. Work through them in this order.
1. Crew hours, by phase
Estimate each phase separately, in crew hours: people multiplied by hours. Three people for six hours is 18 crew hours, not six. Until you have your own history, these production rates are a rough starting point for new residential work.
| Phase | Rough production rate |
|---|---|
| Rough clean | ~400 to 700 sq ft per crew hour |
| Final clean | ~125 to 250 sq ft per crew hour |
| Touch-up clean | ~800 to 1,500 sq ft per crew hour |
A house with a wall of glass, three bathrooms of tile, and dark hardwood sits at the slow end. A plain office shell sits at the fast end. Time your first few jobs and replace the table with your own numbers. How to estimate labor hours for a job covers building that history.
2. Trips and drive time
Three phases means at least three trips, often to a subdivision at the edge of town. Every trip is paid time for every person in the truck. Count it in the hours, or bill it using one of the methods in how to charge for drive time.
3. Loaded labor cost
Use what an hour of labor costs you, not the wage. Payroll taxes, workers' comp, and paid time off push an $18 wage to roughly $23. Work out your labor burden rate once and use it on every bid. Construction sites can also carry a higher workers' comp class than house cleaning, so check your policy before you price your first one.
4. Supplies and equipment
Post-construction work eats consumables: razor blades, scrub pads, vacuum filters and bags, microfiber, haze remover, adhesive remover, floor protection. It also needs equipment a house cleaner may not own, such as HEPA vacuums, extension poles, ladders, and sometimes a floor machine. Charge consumables per job and equipment per hour of use.
5. Overhead
Insurance, the vehicle, the phone, software, and the hours you spend walking sites and writing bids are paid for by the hours your crew bills. Spread them with an overhead rate.
6. Margin
Profit goes on top of cost, and it is figured as a margin on the price. A 35% margin is a 54% markup, not a 35% one. If that sentence is not obvious, read markup vs. margin before you bid.
A worked example
A builder asks for a price on a new 2,800 square foot single-family home, all three phases.
Crew hours
- Rough clean: 2 people × 3 hours = 6 crew hours
- Final clean: 3 people × 6 hours = 18 crew hours
- Touch-up clean: 2 people × 1.5 hours = 3 crew hours
- Drive, three round trips of 30 minutes: 7 person-trips × 0.5 hours = 3.5 crew hours
- Total: 30.5 crew hours
Cost
- Labor: 30.5 hours × $23 loaded rate = $701.50
- Supplies and consumables: $65.00
- Equipment: 27 on-site hours × $2.50 = $67.50
- Overhead: 30.5 hours × $10 per billable hour = $305.00
- Total cost: $1,139.00
Price
- At a 35% target margin: $1,139 ÷ (1 − 0.35) = about $1,750
- As a rate: $1,750 ÷ 2,800 sq ft = about $0.63 per square foot
Now the conversation every cleaner has with a builder. The builder says the last company did it for $0.45 a square foot. That is $1,260. Against a cost of $1,139, the job clears $121, a margin under 10%. One extra hour for a three-person crew on the final clean costs $99 in labor and overhead and takes nearly all of it.
You have three honest options. Hold your price and explain what it covers. Take the final clean only, at a rate that works. Or accept the thin job once, knowingly, to get on the builder's list. What you cannot do is take $0.45 because it sounded normal and find out afterward.
What changes the price
Two buildings of the same size can differ by a factor of two in hours. Look for these on the walkthrough, and use a job site walkthrough checklist so nothing is missed.
- Glass. Window count, stickers, paint overspray, tracks full of drywall dust, and anything above reach. Windows are often a quarter of the final clean. If the glass is extensive, price it as its own line using how to price a window cleaning job.
- Dust level. Did the drywall crew use dust control? Is the HVAC running, and were the returns covered? Dust in the ducts means dust on every surface again next week.
- Floors. Paint specks on hardwood, grout haze on tile, adhesive on vinyl, and protection that has to be lifted and hauled.
- Kitchens and bathrooms. Cabinet interiors, drawers, appliances, tile, and fixtures are the slowest square feet in the building.
- Height. Two-story foyers, high ledges, ceiling fans, and light fixtures need ladders or poles and slow everything down.
- Debris. Is hauling scrap and trash yours or the builder's? If it is yours, it needs a truck, a dump fee, and a line on the quote.
- Site conditions. Is there power and water? Are trades still working? Cleaning around a painter is cleaning twice.
- Exterior. Pressure washing drives, walks, and garage floors is a separate service. See how to price a pressure washing job.
Write the scope so re-cleans are paid work
The most common way to lose money on a post-construction clean is to do the final clean twice. You finish on Thursday. On Friday the electrician swaps a fixture and the flooring crew fixes a transition, and on Monday the builder calls to say the house is dirty.
Put these in the quote:
- What each phase includes, room by room for the final clean: windows inside, tracks, cabinets inside and out, appliances, fixtures, vents, baseboards, floors.
- What is excluded: exterior windows, pressure washing, debris hauling, paint or adhesive removal beyond specks, and anything the builder agreed to handle.
- The condition you need to start: trades finished, power and water on, floors uncovered or protection ready to lift.
- One touch-up visit is included. Further visits are billed at a stated hourly rate or a flat return fee.
When the builder calls for a second return trip, that is a change order, approved in writing before the crew drives out.
Bidding a builder: terms, volume, and getting paid
Working for builders is different from working for homeowners in three ways.
Payment is slower. A homeowner pays on the day. A general contractor often pays on net 30, sometimes after their own draw comes in. Price knowing you will carry the labor for a month, and for a first job with a new builder, ask for a deposit before work or payment at each phase.
Volume is real, and so is the discount request. A builder with forty homes a year is worth a better rate than a one-off. Give it on proof, not on promise: standard price for the first three homes, then a lower rate once the volume shows up.
Schedules slip. The final clean is the last trade on the job, so every delay upstream lands on you, and the closing date does not move. Keep slack in the week, and read how to schedule a cleaning crew for ways to hold recurring clients steady while a build clean moves around them.
For the structure of a bid a general contractor expects to see, how to bid a construction job covers it from the contractor's side.
Common post-construction pricing mistakes
- Using house-cleaning rates. A final clean takes two to four times the hours of a standard clean on the same floor plan.
- Quoting one number for three phases. When the builder drops the rough clean, you have no agreed price for what is left.
- Bidding from the plans. Square footage does not show the glass, the dust, or the stage the site is really at. Walk it.
- Including unlimited touch-ups. One is a service. Three is a second job.
- Forgetting consumables and equipment. Blades, pads, and filters disappear on these jobs, and a HEPA vacuum is not free.
- Never checking the hours. Compare the estimate with the time the crew actually spent, phase by phase, in a post-job profitability review. Your second bid should be better than your first.
FAQ
How much should I charge for post-construction cleaning?
For new residential work, all three phases together commonly run about $0.40 to $0.90 per square foot, with the final clean alone around $0.25 to $0.50. Build your own price from crew hours per phase, loaded labor, supplies, equipment, and overhead, plus your margin, and use the ranges only as a check.
How do you calculate a post-construction cleaning price per square foot?
Work out the total price first: crew hours multiplied by your loaded labor rate, plus supplies, equipment, and overhead, divided by one minus your target margin. Then divide that price by the square footage. Starting from a rate and working backward hides whether the job makes money.
What is the difference between a rough clean and a final clean?
A rough clean happens mid-build. It removes debris and heavy dust so finish trades can work. A final clean happens after finishes are in and covers every surface in detail, including windows, cabinets, fixtures, and floors. The final clean takes about three times the hours of the rough clean on the same building.
How long does a post-construction clean take?
As a rough guide, a final clean on new residential work runs about 125 to 250 square feet per crew hour, so a 2,800 square foot home takes roughly 11 to 22 crew hours. Rough and touch-up cleans are much faster. Heavy glass, tile, and dust push a job to the slow end.
Should I charge by the hour or by the square foot?
Builders usually want a fixed price, often stated per square foot. Give them one, built from your estimated hours. Use hourly pricing for remodels in occupied homes, for sites you could not walk, and for return visits beyond the included touch-up.
How do I price cleaning after a remodel?
Price it from hours, not from the size of the remodeled room. Dust travels through the whole home, so walk every room, decide with the customer which ones are included, and write that list on the quote. Remodel cleans often cost more per square foot than new construction.
Are windows included in a post-construction clean?
Interior glass, frames, and tracks are normally part of the final clean. Exterior glass, high glass, and paint or overspray removal are usually separate lines. Whatever you decide, write it in the scope so nobody assumes.
How do I get paid on time by a builder?
Agree the terms before the first job, put the due date on the invoice, invoice the day each phase is finished, and ask for a deposit or per-phase payment from a builder you have not worked with. Send the invoice with a link the builder can pay from.
Getting started with CRMb
Pricing post-construction cleaning well comes down to two habits: quote each phase from your real costs, and check every job against the hours it actually took. CRMb is built for both.
Build the quote with a line for the rough clean, the final clean, the touch-up, and each extra, and CRMb produces a clean, itemized quote with a public share link the builder can review, approve, and sign from their phone. Each phase goes on the schedule as a shift for the crew you pick. Crew hours punched in Punch land on the job as labor cost, and Reports show the job's margin against those real hours, so you know which builders and which floor plans pay before you bid the next one.
Start a 14-day free trial and price your next post-construction clean from the hours instead of a guess.