What You Need To Know Before You Hire A Gutter Cleaning Service
By Porter Vac|February 20, 2019
Cleaning out your gutter is an important part of home maintenance, something most people don’t realise. Gutters tend to be ‘out of sight, out of mind’, however, the consequences of neglecting them can cause irreversible and expensive damage to your property.
Hiring a professional service to clean them out for you will save yourself a lot of time and most importantly, will save you from putting yourself at risk on the top of a ladder. Professional services will have the best tools - equipped with the right skills, experience and the ability to get the job done quickly. As with all services, there are things you need to consider before you choose one, to ensure that you pick the best one available.
Insurance
An important consideration is to check whether they are properly insured. Working on top of a ladder can be very dangerous, and if a worker were to fall off and injure themselves, workers’ compensation insurance will mean that you won’t be held liable. You should also check for liability insurance, which will protect yourself and your property, against accidental damage caused by the work.
Check for Warranties or Guarantees
If a company is confident in the quality of service they provide, they will indicate this with guarantees and warranties. If they do not offer any, they probably don’t stand behind their work and you should look elsewhere. Gutters will naturally fill with debris over time, but a good company will be able to guarantee their service, over a period of two months or more. The same goes for warranties for any products they offer, such as new gutters or gutter protection.
Ask About their Methods
Some companies use several gutter cleaning methods, to cut corners; extendable grabbers or gutter robots, both of which have been proven ineffective. If a company utilises these tools, it is likely that they are less experienced or offer gutter cleaning as a secondary service rather than a specialism. It is a good idea to check what tools they use, as well as their typical timeframe and number of workers. If they tend to use a large workforce on each job or take a long time, then you might have to spend extra on labour costs.
Reputation
A company’s reputation is an easy way to check what kind of service you can expect. In the modern world, all this information is readily available online, so be sure to read customer reviews on websites and their social media accounts. Another indicator of reputation and quality is if they have been in business for a long time and have a proper physical location. If a company has been in business and has had no issues for several years, it is likely that they offer good quality services to their customers. Many dodgy businesses work out of basements or vans, so if you are looking at a gutter cleaning service without a physical office, you should definitely start looking elsewhere.
Finding the right gutter cleaning service for your home is an important decision. When was the last time you thought about your gutters? It probably does not happen often, not unless there’s an issue with them. That’s exactly why you need to take care of cleaning and maintaining them before a problem actually arises. Simply follow our tips above and make gutter maintenance an issue of the past.
(Photo Courtesy: Eric Schmuttenmaer)
Hiring a professional service to clean them out for you will save yourself a lot of time and most importantly, will save you from putting yourself at risk on the top of a ladder. Professional services will have the best tools - equipped with the right skills, experience and the ability to get the job done quickly. As with all services, there are things you need to consider before you choose one, to ensure that you pick the best one available.
Insurance
An important consideration is to check whether they are properly insured. Working on top of a ladder can be very dangerous, and if a worker were to fall off and injure themselves, workers’ compensation insurance will mean that you won’t be held liable. You should also check for liability insurance, which will protect yourself and your property, against accidental damage caused by the work.
Check for Warranties or Guarantees
If a company is confident in the quality of service they provide, they will indicate this with guarantees and warranties. If they do not offer any, they probably don’t stand behind their work and you should look elsewhere. Gutters will naturally fill with debris over time, but a good company will be able to guarantee their service, over a period of two months or more. The same goes for warranties for any products they offer, such as new gutters or gutter protection.
Ask About their Methods
Some companies use several gutter cleaning methods, to cut corners; extendable grabbers or gutter robots, both of which have been proven ineffective. If a company utilises these tools, it is likely that they are less experienced or offer gutter cleaning as a secondary service rather than a specialism. It is a good idea to check what tools they use, as well as their typical timeframe and number of workers. If they tend to use a large workforce on each job or take a long time, then you might have to spend extra on labour costs.
Reputation
A company’s reputation is an easy way to check what kind of service you can expect. In the modern world, all this information is readily available online, so be sure to read customer reviews on websites and their social media accounts. Another indicator of reputation and quality is if they have been in business for a long time and have a proper physical location. If a company has been in business and has had no issues for several years, it is likely that they offer good quality services to their customers. Many dodgy businesses work out of basements or vans, so if you are looking at a gutter cleaning service without a physical office, you should definitely start looking elsewhere.
Finding the right gutter cleaning service for your home is an important decision. When was the last time you thought about your gutters? It probably does not happen often, not unless there’s an issue with them. That’s exactly why you need to take care of cleaning and maintaining them before a problem actually arises. Simply follow our tips above and make gutter maintenance an issue of the past.
(Photo Courtesy: Eric Schmuttenmaer)
