Waiting For Them All To Fall

Many people wait until all the leaves fall off the trees before they clean their gutters. While this sounds like an efficient way of thinking it is really a recipe for trouble. We were at a job yesterday where the customer had cleaned his gutters a week before we came to install. When we got on the ladder to prepare the gutters for Leaf Solution we found that there was already enough debris in them to stop the flow of water and cause overflow. The following weekend after that job there were rain showers (Oct 23 and 24). What if this customer had waited until the last leaf falls before dealing with his gutters? He would have had overflow which causes damage. There is going to be a lot of rain between now and the end of November. Even then there are some trees which will not have dropped all their leaves. It is foolish to let the water overflow just for the sake of only having to clean the gutters once, this is a false convenience. If you really want to put an end to this issue you should call us today and have us install Leaf Solution on your house. The weather will only become colder and more miserable as fall continues and you will not be able to clean your gutters enough to keep them flowing. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Tim Weber
SpringRock Gutter Protection
888-212-3159

Mrs. Franklin's Divine Appointment

Mrs. Franklin was so happy that she did not have to replace her gutters. Her neighbor had bought one of the big name 'reverse curve' systems last year and decided right then that she wanted maintenance free gutters too someday. She tried to call that company, but no one answered the phone. She found my number and gave me a call. The whole time I measured she was nervous about what the price would be because she knew what her neighbor had spent on his. I reassured her that, since her gutters were in perfectly good condition, she would not have to pay nearly as much as what her neighbor did. After I told her the price a smile came across her 89 year old face and she said "I think it was Divine that the other company didn't answer their phone and I called you...I never could have afforded the other one."
Besides being less expensive, Mrs Franklin felt that our product was more logical...Why? you may ask...This is her neighbor's very expensive one-piece system that Mrs. Franklin has to stare at our her kitchen window:

One-piece gutter guard system

That's a lot of crud stuck to a gutter that's been up for just one year.

The gutter shown is not clogged yet and they do say they'll clean it out when it does clog. Those kind of promises are true only when there is a manager who is really concerned about putting the customer first. More commonly though, they are under such pressure from their corporate bosses to turn a profit that they can't spend valuable time and money cleaning out clogged gutters.
I can't tell you how many of my customers say to me that they've gotten quotes from the other big name gutter guard companies that are out there and were discouraged because of the unbelievably high price. Most people do not need to replace their gutters. This is why Leaf Solution is such a great answer: you get the same (or better) result for a fraction of the cost. If the salesman has to spend two hours convincing you why you should spend that much money take that as a sign that you shouldn't. If you want a "Divine appointment" as Mrs. Franklin called it, then you should call me.

www.springrockgutters.com

Love Thy Neighbor...For Your Own Good

Today I was at a house in Chicago giving an estimate for Leaf Solution. My customer certainly had enough trees around his house to justify having an estimate. He also takes good care of his gutters. He told me that he is on the ladder multiple times every year cleaning them out. If he does not clean them out then he ends up having water seeping into his basement. As we walked between his house and his neighbor's house he told me that since the houses were only 6 feet apart that when the neighbor's gutters overflow it causes him just as much trouble as when his own gutters overflow. He went on to say that his neighbors gutters had once pulled loose and sagged right in the middle of the house and he had to get on a ladder and fix it himself to prevent damage to his own house. Could you imagine having to fix your neighbor's gutters just so you don't end up with seepage in your basement! Needless to say, other people on his block had noticed how well this man took care of his house. Many of them said that they wanted to know which gutter protection he chose so they could get it too...Well, he signed up with me because the quality of SpringRock gutters and Leaf Solution is unsurpassed.
If you live in chicago and your houses are close together your should consider that how you take care of your house affects your neighbor's house too...especially when it comes to gutters and water issues. So for your own good, when you buy gutter guards, encourage your neighbor to buy them too.

www.springrockgutters.com

How To Get A Headache

I was recently at a job where I came across something that is all too common in this industry. The homeowner, desperate to keep the leaves out of his gutters, and yet unsure what to do, tested multiple do-it-yourself products on his house at the same time. Sadly none of them worked.

These are two gutter guards he tried side by side...both failed so he called us.

The gutter guards that actually work tend to be reserved for the pros. One reason is that the quality of the installation can be more closely monitored and therefore protect the products reputation. However, don't be fooled...Just because a "pro" is installing it and charging a premium price doesn't mean it's the best product for your house. Many of the products that are advertised aren't all their cracked up to be. You can usually tell by how the company tries to sell it to you. Did they send a high pressure salesman? Did they insist that husband and wife both be there for the appointment? Did they spend 2 hours on their sales pitch? Often the companies that are more focused on "selling you" rather then on identifying your needs are actually offering inferior products. Many of them will try to get away with overcharging you if they can. Most of them have national branding and hope that you'll trust them for that reason alone. Don't check your logic at the door! The gutter covers that work should make sense and won't need a salesman's explanation. Don't worry though, there are products out there that work and are reasonably priced. Companies like SpringRock LLC which are local with no corporate pockets to fill tend to give you products that work and that are affordable. I am a do it myself kind of person, but there are some things that are simply offered at the professional level, good gutter guards are one of them. I hope you'll go through the trouble to find a company that will treat you right and not overcharge. If you are in Chicagoland then you could call SpringRock Gutter Protection....if you live somewhere else then don't settle for the high pressure, low quality that is all too common out there. Be sure to take the time to sift through the fakes until you find the good guys in your area. A little headache up front can save you from a big one later on.

Fall Is Just Around The Corner

Last night I was outside and noticed that the air smelled cold again. You know, that same familiar scent that comes every year when the weather turns and you realize that summer is ending. Well, many people tell me that they know they should clean their gutters a couple times every fall but end up not doing it because of the cold, damp weather. Really, who wants to be on a ladder when it's chilly out? Also the sun begins to set earlier than usual and when you get home from work there is little light left for cleaning your gutters. Good intentions don't keep your home protected from water damage. If you leave cleaning your gutters until spring then they will be clogged for the winter and early spring rains and you risk serious damage. There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to have maintenance free gutters in the 21st century! The micro mesh gutter guards that are on the market do a great job at keeping all the debris out. So, for a comparatively small investment, you can come home from work and not be bothered by the uncomfortable chore of cleaning out your gutters and maybe enjoy this season just a little bit more.
www.springrockgutters.com

What the Ad Agent Said

Today I was talking with a direct mail guy about advertising for our company. He told me how he was skeptical about gutter guards in general because he bought one at the home store for a few hundred bucks and installed it on his house himself. A few years later it was clogged. This is a common problem and the truth is that most people will try the cheaper option before they call the professionals. If the cheaper option doesn't work, however, it could deter you from ever trying anything else. The truth is you get what you pay for. So many of my customers have spent money on gutter protection two or three times before they finally realize the value of spending more on a good product.
The experience that my advertising rep had is the perfect example of the other side of this issue. He bought a product that didn't work, and even though there was a logical reason the product didn't work, it made him feel that there is nothing out there that could work. I've seen just about everything out there in the gutter protection industry and the reality is that most products don't work as well as advertised, however there are a few that do. If you've been the victim of an inferior product you don't have to give up hope, you just need to do some research or call a professional company with a track record in the industry who has done their own research. I used to sell a leaf guard which is part of a nationally known brand. What we found was that the products performance was directly related to who it was that was installing it. The office I worked for had it's hands full with cleaning up after the dealer that was here prior to them. Poor installation quality haunted them the entire time I worked there and I'm sure to this day. If the manager doesn't put a lot of effort into proper installation then reverse curve systems like that one simply won't work. I left the company once they turned from being a quality and service oriented company to being a greedy sales organization. There are many other products that suffer the same fate, this guard, that guard or topper or cap or screen. In my 11 years all of these products have changed names and ownership multiple times. It's not that they can't work...the trouble is that the managers don't take the time to get it right. This is why product reviews can be deceiving, they don't tell you who will be doing the installation. The right product in the wrong hands is a recipe for disaster. The products that I have found to be the best and which have also reviewed well by various home improvement and consumer testing organizations are the micro mesh gutter guards. The beauty is that there is no magic to them. They are logical (you don't need the salesman to spend two hours convincing you that they'll work) you can plainly see that they will do their job. Another benefit is that you don't have to replace your gutters if they are in decent shape. This alone saves many people thousands of dollars. I would not recommend any sort of vinyl gutter guard even if it is micro mesh, the reason is that vinyl doesn't hold up as well to the temperature changes that we have in the midwest. The best product for the mid-west is Leaf Solution.
I will sum up by saying that my advertising rep asked me if I really believe in the new product that I sell after so many years of selling one of the big name brands...I honestly had to say that I do. I think that enough time has passed since the invention of the reverse curve type systems that their flaws have become evident and companies like Leaf Solution have really come up with something that takes the industry a step further. I'm not sorry I sold the other stuff...like I said, the management really did care about doing the job right while I worked there, but that does not exist any more in that company and really, I've never seen it anywhere else. The advertising guy agreed. He said that he works with contractors all the time and he rarely runs into one that has real integrity. He said that he was glad we got into this business and told us that if we run things with the high standards that we spoke of that we would do well. A product is only as good as the guys who install it.

www.springrockgutters.com

Signs Of Trouble

One Step forward
Aren't aluminum gutters supposed to last forever? I mean, they don't rust so what can go wrong? In the late 1960's aluminum gutters came onto the market as the rust-proof alternative to steel. The trouble with steel gutters was that, as time went by, they would rust. Also, steel gutters weren't seamless so they were vulnerable to leaking as the seams broke down. One major advantage of aluminum was that you could bring a roll forming machine right out to the job site and make the gutters any length you wanted. This certainly eliminated the issue of the seams breaking and the rust. So aluminum was supposed to be a step forward.

And Two Steps Back
So why am I taking the time to write about seamless gutters since virtually everyone has them these days? Because aluminum was supposed to be a step forward, but since companies have consistently cheapened their materials in an effort to come in with the lowest bid, aluminum gutters actually have proven to be less durable than steal. I have been to many jobs over the past 11 years where we were replacing the steel gutters and except for the rust, they would have lasted for years to come. I've seen 50 and 60 year old steel gutters still doing a great job. The bottom line is that even though aluminum should hold up better, the workmanship is not the same as it used to be.

Aluminum has been a blessing and a curse for the gutter industry. A blessing because it truly is a superior gutter that could last a lifetime. A curse because it made gutters so readily available to people who were not trained in proper installation techniques and practices...Basically, gutter installation was not treated as a trade, but rather as a side job that you have your lower level laborers do. Homeowners rejoiced at the lower prices and the perceived quality but end up paying for it later when 10-20 years is all they get out of their gutters. There are still a few companies that treat gutter installs like a trade, but they are few and far between. Usually you will know them by the fact that they are focused only on gutters and related products...they are not a jack of all trades. You will also know them because, unlike the other quotes you get, the quality companies will always give you a more thorough explanation along with a clear, written proposal. It's easy to tell which company to use if you take the time to look for them. They will be able to install aluminum gutters that will last a lifetime just as they were always meant to.

General Contractors & Gutter Guards

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who is a contractor. He was telling me about all the gutter guards that have come and gone over the years, "there's waterfall, Leaf Relief, Leaf Defier, Leaf Blaster, sponges, screens, snap-ons..." and on and on the list went. As a contractor he would get his gutter protection from the building supply companies around town. He told me how every time a new product came out that they would tell him how this time it's really the one that will work. That's how he chose what gutter guard to offer.

Like most people who are not specializing in gutter protection (contractors, roofers) he didn't put much effort into researching the pros and cons of each product. His livelihood did not depend on it, in fact, gutter protection was just a necessary hassle to him.

So if you are considering spending money on gutter protection then do yourself a favor and take the time to find a company that specializes in that field. I hear stories everyday (for the past 11 years) from customers who have had a few quotes and then see me, it's always the same, "the other guy didn't explain things to me the way you did." I started SpringRock Gutter Protection to provide this kind of expertise for Chicagoland and I'm sure if you're willing to search, you'll find someone like that in your city...You'll be happy you did. 


www.springrockgutters.com

What You Think You Paid For

There are a lot of companies that offer to install gutters, in fact, there may be too many. Recently I was at a job site where our crew was installing Leaf Solution on the house and garage. The customer kept going on and on about what a wonderful company she had do her roof and gutters on her house. She told me how they are such good quality because they were expensive.  From the ground they did look good, but then I got on the ladder and...Well, they were only average. She had a different company put gutters on the garage a few years after the house and she said she was unhappy with the gutters and the guys who did the work. She said that she would never refer them.  She was right. The gutters on the garage were below average. The thing is, she thought the gutters on the house were wonderful because she spent more money on them. Let's tally it up, above average money got her: average grade aluminum, average brackets, average nails and sealant etc. Even though the roof was high quality the gutters were not.  This is one of the most common problems I see in this industry, contractors who are good at one thing and not the other and yet they charge a premium price for both.
There's nothing wrong with charging a premium price if you really have the product to back it up. Unless the roofer or contractor has skilled  gutter installers then don't let them install your gutters...Let them install what their good at and call a company that treats gutter installation professionally to do your gutters; it will be worth the time it takes. There's no reason a gutter system should not last 50 years or more, sadly most begin to have trouble between 10-20 years.  

www.springrockgutters.com

I Had To Kick Him Out Of My House

What do you do if you have a salesman out to your house to give you an estimate and he refuses to leave? I can't tell you how many times I have heard from people who have had this happen. The weird part about it is that often times in-home salesmen are trained to use this method to "close the deal." I know of more than a few home improvement companies that have hired consultants for over $200,000 a year to teach their sales force these tactics. I'll write more about the strange world of in-home sales in the future because I have found it to be so distasteful that I would love to expose it for what it is and maybe spare a few people the heartache that it can cause as well. One of my colleagues always used to comment on how he had never met people who were so deluded until he worked for a big-name gutter company. He was astounded that they actually believed that these "sales tactics" would work. This is really the main reason I started my own company, so I could treat my customers like real humans and not be sent to the re-education camps that the big companies pay so much to provide. So what do you do if this happens...hide your wallet and call the police.

Stay tuned for more stories from inside the industry

www.springrockgutters.com

The Kids Want Me off the Ladder

"So what if the kids want me off the ladder!"  

Well...there I was trying to tell her about our gutter screens and the answer she gave was surprising.  "I've been cleaning my own gutters all my life." she said. "There's no reason why I can't keep doing it."

I just stared in disbelief...So did her husband.

"I don't know why they're so worried about me." She said.  

"Well, your house is two stories tall" I replied, "It is kind of dangerous"

"I'm always careful...I just scoot on my backside when I'm on the high parts" She said.

At this point I realized that the situation was beyond my normal "I'm here to give an estimate" so I decided to follow my gut and tell her, "My grandma is 82 years old too!" I said, "If she were on the ladder cleaning her gutters I would have to ask her to stop.  I would go clean them for her personally or put some Leaf Solution on them or get one of my cousins or something.  I can't imagine how horrible it would be to hear that she passed away because she was cleaning her gutters."

I went away feeling two things:

1. Someone should have helped this lady with her gutters years ago

2. I hope I have the drive that she has when I'm 82

www.springrockgutters.com

How Often Do I Need To Clean My Gutters?

How often do you have to clean out your gutters?  Of course, the answer depends on many things.  What type of trees surround your house?  When do the leaves fall?  Does debris come down in the spring as well as the fall?  After 11 years of helping people with gutter guard products I can tell you that the vast majority of them admit to cleaning them only twice a year.  It makes sense...when all the seeds are finished coming down in the spring you clean them, and when all the leaves are done coming down in the fall you clean them.  If cleaning efficiency were all that was important then these people would be on the right track.  The trouble is that while they are waiting for the debris to finish coming down, the rain hasn't been waiting and the gutters will have overflowed many times.  They wait so they will only have to clean them once...too bad the rain doesn't wait too.

The truth is that it only takes a handful of debris to clog a gutter at the downspout outlet.  That's right...hold out your hand and think about it, just a handful.  I always commend anyone who cleans their gutters even if it is only once a year.  This shows me that they care about their home.  But to really help I have to tell them that despite their best efforts they really need a product that will keep the leaves out at all times.  Since the rain is unpredictable then you need gutter protection that is reliable.  The best type of products that I have found are the ones made with micro mesh. The best one, of course, is Leaf Solution since they are the original and therefore have patents on the best manufacturing process.  Leaf Solution is installed by professional installers and is sturdy enough to hold up the the winter weather.  

www.springrockgutters.com