Gutter repair is certainly nothing pleasant for you as a homeowner – you will certainly have to pay some money for such a service, and by the time the problem is solved, your drainage system will be leaking or malfunctioning. In order to make it easier for you to repair your gutters, we decided to prepare this guide, in which we will explain how to prepare for a visit from the specialists. So let’s check out how to prepare for gutter repair.
Table of Contents
Shortcut:
- Before you contact a specialist, make sure that you definitely need a repair. It often turns out that you can solve the problem yourself.
- Try to determine the cause of the failure and inform us about it.
- Contact a reputable gutter repair contractor with 20 years of experience.
- Prepare the surroundings of your home so that the professionals can immediately take care of the implementation of the repair.
The rest of this article will explain the steps to you, so it’s worth reading to the end. It will take you about 8 minutes to read!
1. Check if Gutter Repair is Definitely Needed
Before you call gutter repair specialists from Glenview, consider whether you definitely need such a service. Sometimes it turns out that leaks are not due to leaks or cracks at all, but only to an accumulation of dirt and leaves. In such situations, routine cleaning may be perfectly sufficient and will save you several hundred dollars.
At the same time, we believe that eliminating even minor defects on your own is not a good idea, because without specialized knowledge, you may simply overlook some minor defect which, over time, may develop into extensive and expensive to repair damage. So if you know that your gutters are clean and have not been blocked by leaves, you can move on to the next step.
2. Identify The Probable Cause of the Fault
As a renowned gutter contractor, we can say that gutter repair is usually necessary if you notice:
- Visible damage, such as cracks, holes, gaps;
- Clogged outlets and downspouts;
- Corrosion and rust, especially if it is very advanced;
- Gaps and protruding parts, including gutters as well as drip edges.
As you can easily guess, the older the gutter, the greater the risk of failure. Typically, the first major failure occurs 10-12 after a gutter replacement is performed. This period may be shortened if your drainage system was made of low-quality materials or your house is located near a large number of deciduous trees. The location of your home near a large body of water also increases the risk of failure.
3. Choose Your Gutter Repair Contractor
It’s time for probably the most important step. Already knowing that gutter repair is necessary and knowing the probable cause of the malfunction, you can now get down to searching for a company that will quickly and effectively solve your problem. Whether you choose a market leader with 20 years of experience like A.B. Edward or another lesser-known company, you should pay attention to the following factors:
- Reviews and testimonials of past customers – pay particular attention to the more elaborate statements noting price levels, punctuality, quality of materials and contact with the person responsible for organizing the work
- Service turnaround time – while waiting 2 weeks for a routine inspection of the condition of windows or wall insulation is not a problem, a leaking gutter during the heavy rainfall season cannot wait to be repaired
- Warranty – some companies do not provide any warranty either for the products they sell or for the installation or repair service. Think for yourself, would you want to pay for exactly the same thing after 2-3 years?
- Price/quality ratio – no one has an unlimited amount of cash and you need to be aware of this. While many of our customers can afford really expensive and high-tech gutters, no one should overpay for something that is just average. On the other hand, with a limited budget, you should not expect the product you receive to impress. Gutters are often made of high-grade aluminum, steel or copper and the cost of producing them is simply high.
4. Prepare Your Home’s Exterior for the Arrival of Specialists from A.B. Edward Enterprises, Inc.
Many times it happens that before we take care of repairing our customer’s gutters, we are forced to create conditions for ourselves. For this reason, we recommend that you before our arrival:
- Cleared the space near where the gutter damage occurred – trim any tree branches nearby, rearrange barbecue or garden furniture, repark the car. This will make it easier to access the gutters and allow us to put up a ladder or jack
- Gathered information on your gutters – if you are able to access documents with information on the size and material of your gutters, it is worth doing so. This will make it easier for us to select replacement parts
- Be sure that there were no children or pets in the vicinity of gutter repair specialists. A piece of gutter falling 20 feet to the ground can lead to serious injury and even death in a dog, cat or small child.
A good Chicago gutter repair contractor will not need your help during the work, and for your own safety, it is better not to get too close to the repair site. You will be able to see everything well from a few meters away anyway, and the risk of possible injury will be much lower.
What if I am not able to clear the area before the specialists arrive? If you know that your house is overgrown with tall plants, and your garden furniture is too heavy for you, or for other reasons you can’t take care of preparing the area for our work, nothing is wrong. Just let us know early enough – we will take more time.
Summary
We hope you found our guide helpful. While the knowledge contained in this article may have been obvious to you, you need to know that we based our tips on the experience we’ve gained from performing thousands of gutter repairs. For 20 years now, we’ve been receiving hundreds of orders from customers all over Chicagoland, and as it turns out, educating people on a regular basis really makes sense – we’re seeing less and less damage that occurs from lack of knowledge.
