Ladder Stand Offs: DEMAND THEM!

When you hire a contractor to work on your roof or eavestrough, you expect them to use a ladder to climb up. Mr. Contractor, who weighs 225 lbs, shows up, extends his 28 foot ladder, places them against your eavestrough and begins the climb. By the time he gets to the top, he is now placing all of his 225 lbs squarely against your thin aluminium eavestrough and. much to your dismay, they dent. His weight also pushes down on them as he climbs on and off the ladder causing them to sag.

Perhaps you didn't notice the damage that he caused but over the years as numerous contractors use this same method to climb on and off roofs, the ladder denting and sagging will become very noticeable!

Eavestroughs are only .23 or .27 gauge aluminium! They were NEVER meant to have a ladder against them and all that weight pushing against them.

What contractors should be using is a tool called a "ladder stand off". It is so named because it enables the ladder to stand off the house. The amazing thing is that very few contractors use them!

I have been using ladder stand offs since I started in business. Below is a picture of the type of ladder stand off that I use.

Notice how the ladder never touches the eavestrough. These Stand offs cost me $150 each and prevent me from damaging my customers eavestroughs. But an added bonus for me is that it also stabilizes the top of the ladder and prevents it from sliding.

You can buy super cheap ladder stand offs for $50 from Home Depot or Lowes. You can also pay as much as $250 for a really good one called "The Spider". Dan Feldhaus is the creator of this one and he illustrates it below. Dan is a class act!

The bottom line is that if you are a home owner, a building superintendent, property manager, etc...., you should demand that all your contractors use a ladder stand off when they work on your house or building. I am preparing to do a job soon that will cost a condo corporation over $24,000. The sad part is that all the work I am doing on that complex is to replace eavestrough that have been dented by ladders. Here is a picture of the front of one of the thirteen complexes on that property.

Nearly every eavestrough on the front of every complex has been severely dented and crushed  by contractors! Look at the picture below.

Ladder stand offs just make sense! They prevent damage to your home and keep workers safely stabilized while working. Demand that all contractors use ladder stand offs when they have to climb onto your roof.

For all your eavestrough needs contact The Eavestrough Company at www.theeavestroughcompany.com or phone us at 905-966-2564.

The Difficulty of Central Hamilton Houses

Our office is near Hamilton and so it is natural for people who live in the downtown core to contact us for their eavestroughing needs. The trouble with the central core area of Hamilton is that many old neighbourhoods were built with the houses VERY close together. By close, I am talking about a space anywhere from 1-3 ft between houses.

Most home owners in central Hamilton do not know the complexities involved in tackling these homes when they need replacement of eavestrough, fascia, and soffit. Look at what I mean when I say complex:

The house on the right is a job The Eavestrough Company landed two days ago. Look at the sides of these houses. There is only 2 ft between them and, with the soffit overhang, the eavestrough of the house on the right over hangs the house on the left. To be honest, the house on the right is not that difficult once we are tied off with harnesses. However, if the owner of the house on the left wanted me to give him an estimate, I would refuse. It's just too difficult and too much of a safety issue. You can't put a ladder between the houses and it's too narrow for scaffolding.

We made a decision long ago that safety of our workers was paramount.  If we can't assure our workers can work safely, we simply won't take the job. If the house has at least 3-6 ft. between houses we require scaffolding and there will be an extra charge for the work. Look at the house below. It is hard but not impossible because there is a clear 4' in between the houses:

In addition to the scaffold set up, we also charge more to do these homes because they are a slow process and take time.

Some jobs in the city centre are not hard though. See the picture below. This is literally only a few houses away from the house above. The houses below are not hard at all!

The house on the left has only front and back eavestrough. It would be a quick and easy install! Even the house to the right of it would not be that difficult as we have more than 6 ft between the houses to put up ladders.

Downtown Hamilton poses great difficulty to eavestroughers. The homes below, I may consider if it were eavestrough only. However, if they wanted us to do soffit and fascia as well, there is no way I would take this work. It's just too unsafe and risky!

As a closing note, make sure that you always make sure that whoever you hire to work around your home has Workmans Compensation (WSIB) and has liability insurance. At The Eavestrough Company, we are fully insured to work around your house. If you hire a worker who does not have WSIB and they fall and get hurt, they are now your problem. Do your due diligence before you hire a company.

For all your eavestrough needs, contact The Eavestrough Company at www.theeavestroughcompany.com or phone us at 905-966-2564. You will get a quality job done every time! Below is a house we did recently in downtown Hamilton. It was difficult work, but it turned out beautifully!