5 Things to Look For When Hiring a Gutter Contractor
Darren Driscoll • April 30, 2019
Nobody spends a lot of time taking Pinterest photos of their gutters or talking about them on HGTV. But they’re one of the most important parts of your house.
Especially in the Tampa metro area! Our torrential rains are no joke.
Your gutters protect your home. Which means your gutter contractor had best be someone good at his or her job.
But how can you know?
You’ve got to do a little research. Here are some things to look for.
1. A ton of positive reviews.
Look, customers aren’t exactly unaware of Google+, Yelp, and Facebook recommendations.
If a gutter company can’t get great reviews, something’s wrong.
Limping along with ten or twelve reviews means one of two things.
One, they’re new and untested. Or two, they do mediocre work. Not bad work, because then they’d have lots of bad reviews.
Just
mediocre work.
If they have tons of reviews but they aren’t very good reviews, well, that’s no better.
By the way, we recommend reading reviews. Stars aren’t the only thing that matters. It’s important to make sure the company demonstrates qualities you care about.
As of this writing, Rain Control Gutters has tons of reviews. Over 190 Google reviews with a 4.9 star rating.
2. Investment in the local community.
People who care about the community treat you like a neighbor and a friend. People who are
just
in it to make a buck treat you like a transaction.
The differences are subtle, but they matter.
We’ve been family owned, and
locally
owned, since 1975. That’s over 44 years of experience, all while living and working in Tampa. We support our local organizations, events, and people.
3. Seamless aluminum gutters.
Please don’t bother hiring a gutter contractor who will slap up the same vinyl gutters you can get at a big box store. Ugly seams and built-in leaks are no way to protect your home. Not here.
Even if you don’t hire us, please hire someone who does seamless aluminum gutters. Custom cut to fit your house. No seams, save for the places where the sections join at the corner.
Twenty year lifespans vs. ten year lifespans. What’s not to like?
4. Craftsmanship.
There are two things to consider here.
Materials.
Does the gutter company choose the best materials in the industry? Or do they try to stuff their own pockets by cutting corners and costs?
Shoddy materials won’t give you the results you’re looking for. And those gutters won’t last as long as aluminum gutters should.
Rain Control Gutters uses only the best materials. No skimping! 5″ gutters are the industry norm. We do 6″ gutters and only 6″ gutters. The thickest in the region.
We also use hidden hangers by
Raytek.
Raytek hangers are the strongest in the industry. They’re rated for 200+ pounds of weight, which means you don’t have to worry about sagging gutters. They stay flush to your house. They’re capable of withstanding high winds.
And be careful, because some companies even use galvanized steel instead of aluminum. There’s a reason aluminum became the industry standard. Galvanized steel doesn’t resist rust as well as aluminum does.
By the way, despite using the best materials in the industry we still keep our prices reasonable. Seamless gutters should cost
$4 to $6 per foot. If you’re hearing quotes any higher you’re about to get price gouged, and you should steer clear.
Workmanship.
It can be hard to measure workmanship but again,
just
look at the reviews.
“I
highly
recommend Rain Control Gutters. Their pricing is very reasonable and you can see they take pride in their work by the excellent job. They are a family-owned business and they are very personable.
They not only do an excellent job but they left the work area clean as if they were not there and they were
extremely
fast getting me on the schedule
.” –
Diane Schmidt
If they have them, you can also look at some of the photos of the work the company has done in the past. Does
their past work
look like something you’d want on your house?
5. Professionalism.
There is
just
no excuse for failing to be professional at every step of the process.
First, let’s talk about the free estimate process. Other contractors say they’ll be there Monday and then show up on Thursday. We are there to provide the estimate when we say we’ll be there.
If they’re lazy about earning your business, how hard will they work when they have your money?
Prompt, friendly, and caring. Good customer service. That’s what you deserve, and that’s what you need to look for.
Ask a few more questions. Are they bonded? Insured? All reputable gutter contractors are. We are. We also provide warranties, including a 50-year paint guarantee.
Bonus question: how secure are they in the work they do?
Recently, we went ahead and
published a list
of all our competitors in the Tampa Bay area. Look, we want you to be happy. We’re here to put you first.
We also are secure in knowing there will always be enough work for us because we take good care of our customers.
Can other companies you’ve considered say the same?
The post 5 Things to Look For When Hiring a Gutter Contractor appeared first on Rain Control Gutters.
Everybody wants to save money on home maintenance costs. We get it. Even if you realize the full extent of everything your gutters do to protect your home from water damage, you probably don’t want to spend an arm and a leg making it happen.
So if you’re considering DIY gutter installation, hey, we can hardly blame you. After all, we know, and you know, that you could go grab a 6″ x 10″ aluminum K-style gutter in 10″ lengths for about $15 at your local Home Depot.
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Despite their longevity, it’s rare to see galvalume gutters on homes in our service area. In fact, in the 40+ years we’ve been in business we’ve never been asked to put galvalume gutters on a home.
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They gleam in the sunlight and are reminiscent of stately homes and churches from another era. There’s no denying that copper gutters are gorgeous. There are even people who will tell you they’re more eco-friendly than their aluminum counterparts.
They’re also the most expensive type of gutter you can buy, so you will want to think carefully before deciding they’re right for you.
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There’s no denying copper gutters offer some impressive benefits.
They don’t rust.
They are algae-proof and fungi-proof.
They’re structurally stable and sound.
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Here in the Tampa metro area we get 54″ of torrential rain every year. That means most homeowners need strong, durable gutters capable of holding up to so much water.
K-style gutters, also known as “ogee” gutters, are a great solution which allows homeowners to do just that. They hold more water than rounded gutters. They’re also tougher, doing a better job of standing up to water pressure, winds, and other stresses without bending or protruding. Finally, they blend in nicely with any style home so they always look great.
It’s for these reasons why we only install K-Style gutters.
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Todd Dudkewic has retired after over 40 years of owning and managing Rain Control Aluminum of Central Florida Inc. He’s sold the business to us, the Driscolls. We’ve always wanted to own a family business, so this is an exciting opportunity for us!
We’re Darren and Gwen Driscoll, and we’re excited to step into Todd’s tradition of providing excellent, ethical rain gutter service to the residents of Central Florida.
Darren worked with Todd for over a decade before taking this step. Darren comes from a management role at a very successful Master Elite Residential Roofing Company (Sharpe Professional Roofing, LLC). [...]
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This year NOAA predicts a normal hurricane season, with 9 to 15 named storms. 4 to 8 of those could become hurricanes. And they predict at least 2 to 4 major hurricanes.
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Water damage is brutal. It can ruin both your home and your belongings. It can leave behind mold, an even more destructive force.
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Insurance is for emergencies.
Homeowner’s insurance typically covers things like tree limbs falling and tearing a hole in your roof, or tornadoes ripping the shingles away. It doesn’t cover basic maintenance failures, or even, always, the results of those maintenance failures.
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You might wonder why on earth a seamless gutter company would publish a list of their top competitors, but at Rain Control Gutters, we believe in putting the customer first!
Installing seamless aluminum gutters is a major investment in your home, and we know you’ll want to do your research to make sure you’re getting the best service and value.
We started this list a couple years ago and continue to update it every year so this list is for 2019.
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