Steel Roofs: The Pro's and Cons

I'll come right out and admit it before I write. I like asphalt shingled roofs so this article may be a bit biased. Don't get me wrong, they have their benefits and some people prefer them. However, there are pro's and con's to both.

I have been to countless home shows and listened to all the hoopla by steel roof companies, their superiority over asphalt roofs, their warranties, longevity, etc.... It's true. They do last longer than asphalt. However, I think they have a decided disadvantage over asphalt. A great asphalt roof properly installed will last approximately 30 years. A steel roof will last approximately 50 years (despite claims of a lifetime warranty). Longevity is the only advantage I see of steel over an asphalt roof. Here are some of the disadvantages.

1. COST. They are expensive. Usually they are 3 to 4 times the price of an asphalt shingled roof. So, in my opinion, as far as cost per year goes, steel is far more expensive per year than asphalt. Even if they are twice the price of asphalt, their cost per year is more.

2. Many contractors who have to access the roof in future years will charge you more. WHY? Because they are harder to work on and around. I know, as an eavestrougher, we dislike working around steel roofs. The most common problems for us are two fold: First, they sometimes have an enormous drip edge at the end of the roof that sometimes covers up to 3 to 4 inches of the top of the eavestrough. The reason is that before a steel roof is installed, the old asphalt roof is left in place. The steel roof is begun with a drip edge that I call a "bull nose". It is a large bulky rounded starter strip. See the picture below:

This picture only shows maybe an inch or so of the eavestrough covered. Believe me, when I encounter these roofs, far more than an inch is covered. This makes eavestrough installation a chore! Sometimes even impossible! However, not all steel roofs have this bulky drip edge.

Another reason we dislike installing around a steel roof is that if you have to get on the roof for any reason, we are paranoid about preventing any denting and they are slippery! If they are wet, they are like a sheet of ice!

3. No matter what steel roofing companies say, steel roofs WILL create major ice and snow issues in winter. The reason is that when the heat from the home or the sun melts the underneath layer of show or ice, it all lets loose at once and it is like an avalanche!  When that avalanche of show comes off all at the same time, It goes over the edge of the roof and can rip off the eavestrough and/or damage whatever is beneath it on the ground. I did a major repair for a customer we installed eavestrough for 3 years ago. Thankfully his eaves trough did not rip off the house. It merely bent the front of the eavestrough and damaged about 20 hidden hangers.

Yesterday I went to do an estimate for a man in Dundas. Look at the pictures below to see what happened to the eavestrough on his house. This is a major repair!

OOPS! Half the eavestrough is gone and the fascia has major damage from a snow slide off this steel roof! Where is the other half of the eavestrough?

Oh! LOOK! I found it! We don't call this eavestrough. We call it scrap metal! Here is more damage.

These are some of the problems I see with a steel roof. Let me be clear, I am not against steel roofs if a home owner has his or her heart set on it. However, you should go into any purchase with eyes wide open. If you are getting a steel roof, I would recommend you consider doing these things before you install it.

1. Replace your old eavestrough with brand new AND install Alu-Rex 5200 to make the eavestrough super strong. Alu-Rex 5200 can ONLY be installed on new eavestrough. This will help assure that an ice or snow slide won't rip off the eavestrough.

2. Strip off the old asphalt shingle roof and make any necessary repairs to roof sheathing before the steel roof goes on. Sure this make cost you an extra $1000 but it is worth it! It will also help assure that your steel roof  company will not cover over 3-4 inches of your eavestrough! Truth be known, I have never seen a steel roof company steel roof company strip off the old roof. They ALWAYS seem to cover the old. Personally I think this could create a steel roof that is hotter than normal as well as the old asphalt shingles will be unbelievably hot underneath the steel roof. I don't care what your steel roof company says.....STRIP OFF THE OLD ROOF!

3. Install snow guards around the entire perimeter of the roof. Snow guards help hold the snow and ice back so that you do not have an avalanche when the snow heats up. Below is a picture of some snow and ice guards:

Installing ice and snow guards is not only imperative to protect the eavestrough, It is imperative so that people and pets do not get hurt if the snow or ice happens to let go when they are directly underneath!!!

There you have it! My opinion on steel roofs. I have never owned one and probably never will. I like asphalt and the only negative I can see in them is that they do not last as long. If you are determined to get a steel roof and want to replace your eavestrough, contact The Eavestrough Company at www.theeavestroughcompany.com or phone us at 905-966-2564.

Let the Professionals do it!

Let me be very clear on this! EAVESTROUGHING IS NOT A DIY JOB! Some people think they can just go to their local Lowes or Home Depot and buy all their materials, go home and hang their own eavestrough. DIY gutters are usually plastic and come in standard 10 ft sections. Plastic gets brittle, especially in the cold. It cracks very easily and it  is also impossible to have seamless eavestrough with DIY store materials, resulting in numerous water leaks. I remember a customer about 5 years ago who called me up and wanted me to "repair" his eavestrough and put gutter protection on his home. When I arrived for the estimate, I noticed he had recently installed his own plastic eavestrough. I notice water leaking from every corner and end cap! However, he was proud as a peakcock showing me the eavestrough he installed. I gently tried to discuss how plastic eavestrough had its challenges in a Canadian climate. When I asked him if his eavestrough leaked in a rain he bodly exclaimed, "Oh yes, they leak everywhere!" I had to politely tell this customer that I could not install gutter protection in his new plastic eavestrough.

That's why SEAMLESS aluminum is the industry standard for eavestrough. It never rusts and it's weather-resistant. We also want to use at least .23 gauge aluminum for all eavestrough so they will be durable and last. That's why I only recommend seamless eavestroughs done right by a professional!

Professionals, like us at The Eavestrough Company  use a roll forming machine to make seamless eavestroughs. I have made eavestroughs as long as 150'  in one continuous piece! I can customize an eavestrough to fit the length of any roof. It's the only way an eavestrough should be done and it's the only way to prevent leaks.

Professionals also make sure the entire eavestrough is sloped correctly. Otherwise, water is going to pool and can not properly drain. You want something that's going to last. Doing it right the first time means you don't have to do it again for decades. You need to bring in the right people for the right job, so get a professional to install your eavestrough.

Here's how to know if the company you are hiring is truly a professional eavestorugh company and not a fly by night company:

1. The company specializes in Eavestrough. It's what they do.
2. They have their own truck and eavestrough machine.
3. They have been in the eavestrough business a minumum of 5 years.
4. They do not sub-contract the job out to another company.
5. They do not hire another company to "roll and drop" the eavestrough so that they can install it.
6. They buy their aluminum from a reputable supplier like Boncor, Gentek, or Kaycan.
7. They have an HST number.
8. They carry full and proper WSIB and Liability Insurance.
9. They provide you with a professional and detailed estimate that fully indicates ALL work to be done.
10. They miter their corners AND DO NOT use premade factory corners.
11. They can provide references and can provide addresses that you can go and look at of work that they have done.
12. They have a strong warranty on their workmanship.

At The Eavestrough Company, we offer all of the above and do quality work. Call us at 905-966-2564 for a free estimate or visit our website at www.theeavestroughcompany.com

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!

Competitors: Keep it Positive!

"What kills a company is not competition, but arrogance. We control our fate."
~ Eric Schmidt, founder and CEO of Google

I love competition. I always have. I used to be a fierce competitor in my younger days and could run the mile in 4:40.That was back in the 70's. My mile days are over! In 1990, I started a charity and it grew from no income to over $13 million per year when I left it to start my own business. In 2007, I started my own Eavestrough business and it has flourished.

At 52, I have learned a thing or two in life and have been around the block a few times. In my  younger and somewhat immature years, I loved competition but feared the competition. I would not have said it like that then. However, there was something that I fell pray to and I have seen others fall pray to constantly that proved it! I saw it in my Track and Field "career", my charity work, and in the Eavestrough Business. It's called by a number of names, slander, gossip, negative talk, "one-upmanship", defamation, etc...

In the charity I ran, we grew out of nowhere to become the largest charity of our kind doing what we did. It was a good feeling to be on top! However, we sometimes did it by putting down others similar to us or by slandering their good name. It mattered little to me at the time until one day, one of our competitors came out of no where with information that was so wrong and defamatory, it was unbelievable! My initial reaction was that surely no one would believe such ridiculous information. But.....THEY DID! It took hours and days to put out a fire that should never have been started! However, the real corker was that, in the end, it came back to bite the organization who started it. The dispute got published in magazines and they ended up looking like petty immature whiners.

The above situation was one of those life changing situations for me. I vowed never again to do to others what that organization and person did to me!

I have seen this situation in the Eavestrough business too! Company owners attempt to make themselves look better than "the other guy" to land that job or grow their business! They concoct stories and relay it to customers or post things on the Internet. With the advent of the world wide web some 20 years ago, this has become even worse. You can write anything about anybody on the Internet and many will believe it! I like to tell people, "The internet is like a bathroom wall, you can write anything you want on it!"

However, I have learned over the years that speaking positively about others is viewed as a far more powerful statement than speaking negatively or defaming them. Ultimately, when we denigrate others we denigrate ourselves. We may find slander perversely attractive for purely selfish purposes. In the end, it has more power to harm us than the person (or company) we use it against. I love ancient proverbs. One proverb says, "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."

It is important to understand that whatever we say is a reflection of us as people. A wise Jewish Rabbi once said, "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks". In other words, "Negative people speak negative words. Positive people speak positive words."

AND, to conclude, I have learned that if you can't think of something positive to say, SAY NOTHING! Another ancient proverb says, "Evan a fool is considered wise, if he keeps his mouth shut!" I love that proverb!

We aren't the only good eavestrough company in southern Ontario, but if you would like a fair, honest quote from us, go to our web site at www.theeavestroughcompany.com or phone us at 905-966-2564.

Gutter Filter Disaster!

When it comes to Gutter Protection, it is a matter of buyer beware. Some products are very good and some are not! This is perfectly illustrated with all the Gutter Filter type products.

Gutter Filter Eavestrough Protection is quite popular. Gutter Filter is a super easy to install plastic foam filter product that supposedly has a built in UV inhibitor so the sun will not damage it. The reason it is called Gutter Filter is that it looks just like a filter. See the picture below.

When new, Gutter Filter looks like it does in the above picture. It is 4" high and 5 1/4" across the top. Water really does pour through it and broad leaf debris blows right off.

Whose Filter is the Best?
There are numerous Gutter Filter type companies like Gutter Filter, American Gutter Filter, Gutter Stuff, Leaf Defier, Rain Filter (Costco), etc.... I'll let you in on a little secret. All these companies say their foam is better than the other companies foam, HOWEVER, they are ALL made by the same company!!! They were made by New Dimension Industries who then sold their company to DV8 foam fabrication. Yep....All foam Gutter Protections are made on the same assembly line!

WARRANTY?

Gutter Filter comes with a LIFETIME GUARANTEE! How could anyone go wrong with that?

If you read their warranty carefully, you will find out that the warranty DOES NOT cover  coniferous treed areas nor is there a warranty offered for the product itself clogging. The warranty only is valid if the debris makes it through the Gutter Protection and clogs the gutter itself.

Then, when New Dimension sold out to DV8 Foam Fabrication, I found out that no warranties would be honoured for any Filter sold by New Dimension. So much for any warranty at all.

How long does Gutter Filter last?

Gutter Filter customer complaints are wide spread. I've had people tell me that they ripped all the Gutter Filter out of their eavestrough! I have seen it clog, collapsing and disintegrate. Filter products last a few years but end up being a disaster!

Just recently, I went out to quote a job for a Gutter Protection I sell that is made out of metal. When I got there I found that the homeowner had installed Gutter Filter 3 years ago and it was not working. She also informed me that it was blowing right out of the Eavestrough. I got a ladder and went up and was shocked at what I found! Look at the pictures below of Gutter Filter that's just 3 years old!

The Gutter Filter has shrunk and collapsed. The empty space at the front of the picture is a piece that blew out by the wind.  Notice too that the brackets are all exposed. The Gutter Filter completely disintegrated over the brackets. I took one piece out of the eavestrough and this is what it looked like:

Here is how it sat in the eavestrough!

The Gutter Filter has shrunk from 5 1/4" across the top and 4" deep to 3"x3" See the pictures below:

The bottom line is that before considering Gutter Filter, Rain Filter or any other Filter product, think twice. It will not last no matter if they promise you a lifetime warranty, 25 year warranty or any warranty.

There are good Gutter Protections available on the market today. The Filter Product just isn't one of them. I would not consider anything that is not made out of metal and specially fitted or screwed in. That's why I prefer a product like Diamond Back Gutter Covers or Alu-Rex.

For all your eavestroughing needs and for gutter protections that really work contact The Eavestrough Company at www.theeavestroughcompany.com or phone us at 905-966-2564.

Help Me! My Basement is Flooding!

Last year we had many heavy rains that caused basements to flood. In the last few years basement flooding has become an epidemic. When we get torrential rains it results in many desperate calls to our office. Usually, it involves an overflowing eavestrough and/or a downpipe routed into a clay pipe which goes into the city storm sewers. These homeowners suffer incredible agony having to get all the water out of the basement and take up wet carpets and furniture.

This kind of incident serves as a sober reminder to home owners to keep up with the maintenance of critical things like eavestroughs and grading around the home. As winter winds down and we head into spring, here are a few maintenance items to keep you from being one of these unfortunate home owners.

CLEAN YOUR EAVESTROUGH
Every year I get calls from customers who state that water is gushing over the side of their eavestroughs and flooding their home. When I arrive, I find the eavestroughs and or downspouts plugged solid with leaves. Remember, if you or your neighbours have large trees and they are 50-100 feet away from your house, DEBRIS IS GETTING INTO YOUR EAVESTROUGH. If you have  don't have gutter protection, you must clean them 2 or 3 times a year. It takes a small amount of leaves to plug the top of a downspout. Having no eavestrough protection WILL increase your maintenance. Since you are not able to see in the eavestrough, you will never know it your eavestrough is plugged or not! When heavy rains maximize the capacity of your eavestrough system, a small amount of debris can plug things up and cause a major overflow.

To avoid potential disaster, your eavestrough should be inspected regularly, especially if you have no gutter protection. You do not want to find out your eavestroughs are completely clogged when that midnight thunder and rainstorm comes through and dumps water directly into a window well and you wake up to a basement full of water!

CONSIDER GETTING GUTTER PROTECTION
With the quality gutter protections available on the market today, there is no need to have to clean your eavestough or have to worry about if they are clogged or not. There are MANY good products on the market and they work. However, you have to be selective and careful when considering gutter protection. Cheaper is not always better and I have never seen anything at a DIY store that works well.

On the other hand, many gutter protection companies want to sell you on their product. They say it is the one and only, the best, with a lifetime warranty.....blah, blah, blah. Then, after they do their sales pitch they roll out the price. Sometimes the price can be $20 to $30 per ft! That is a usurious amount of money to pay for gutter protection! It's almost criminal what some companies charge.

I sell two main products. I sell them because they work. The best product I sell is Diamond Back Gutter Covers and it sells for about $10-12 per ft installed on a house with a normal pitched roof. The other product is Alu-Rex and I it sells for about $5 per ft. You can find both products on my website at www.theeavestroughcompany.com


REPAIR OR REPLACE YOUR EAVESTROUGH

3. Old poorly sloped eavestroughs can pool lots of water. This results in them getting very heavy, cause the old nails and ferrules to come loose and surrender to gravity. This allows a river of water to run right down the side of your house toward your foundation. I have seen numerous houses with the eavestrough ripped right off! Like the one below.

Make sure this does not happen to you! Get your eavestroughs repaired or replaced if they are old. I generally recommend replacement, especially if the eavestroughs are 20 or more years old. Repairing old eavestrough is usually just not very cost effective as the eavestrough is nearing the end of its life anyway.

FIX THE GRADING AROUND YOUR HOUSE!

Combine a clogged and overflowing eavestrough with grading that slopes directly toward the house and you are asking for trouble! Not only are you getting all the roof water going to this area but the rainwater off the landscaping is all flowing that direction. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do to change the direction of the slope around your house. Below is a picture of my backyard. I back onto the Niagara Escarpment. 75 feet behind my home is a hill 50 feet high! What I did was grade my backyard so that, in heavy rainstorms, the water would run across my yard and down another area well away from me and my neighbors house. Look what happened in one of those torrential downpours we had in recent years!

The grading worked perfectly and it flowed right around the house and into a drain that my neighbor and I built which carried it far away from our houses.

I hope you found this article helpful. It may just help you avoid having disaster strike your basement like the guy below!

For a free estimate on your current eavestrough, call The Eavestrough Company today at 905-966-2564 or visit our website at www.theeavestroughcompany.com