Warranty and Service Page

Installation Warranty:
I offer a 10 year installation labor warranty on all the materials I install. I would offer more, but at 45 years old (as of 1/08) I do not se myself climbing ladders much past 55. Since it is well over the 1 year standard warranty most other contractors provide it should suffice. I pride myself on only offering honest realistic services.

Aluminum: As I understand the manufacturer of the painted aluminum I use has a 20 year paint finish warranty.  I have seen aluminum gutters last over 50 years so far, if installed well.  Aluminum gutters are made nearly twice as thick as steel gutters to compensate for it being a softer metal. No sheet metal gutter will hold up to a strong impact, so the notion that aluminum will not hold up as well as steel is an erroneous argument. Aluminum will not rust, so it will out last you. It seems there is not a specific warranty on how long the aluminum sheet-metal will last. Aluminum has been used for gutters for well over 50 year now and I have yet to see it deteriorate through the bottom. I hear that aluminum has not held up as well on the Coast with the salt air chemical reaction. I made a litter box for our cats and rabbits out of painted aluminum and the concentrated urine had eaten through the paint and dissolved holes through the aluminum within a couple years, but I have not seen evidence of this chemical reaction in relation to rain gutters.

Copper: for gutters copper has been used for several centuries and has held up the best, unless they cut corners by using a very thin copper.  I have evidence of water abrasion wearing holes through thin copper. Given enough time water can wear down most anything. The soldered seams commonly separate after several decades. That is one reason why I do not solder copper together. I use the most advanced caulk and rivets to seal gutters. I use the standard 16oz or thicker 20oz copper for a little extra. Any thicker and it would not be able to go through a gutter machine. I highly recommend 20oz copper for better longevity. Copper is very good for the resale value of most any house beyond the extra cost difference. Copper also will not deteriorate from rust and is a little stronger than aluminum, resisting dents better. Copper gutters are the only sheet metal to offer the option of being made with a thicker than standard sheet-metal. I have personally seen evidence of copper gutters in service for well over 100 years.

Stainless Steel: for gutters would hold up well and be strong, but it is rarely used and there for hard to come by. The reason is because it is just as expensive as copper, but harder to work with. It remains bright and shiny, aside from the mildew that will form over the outside surface, so it looks very odd on most any house. Copper is one metal that is meant to be seen and will not mildew or grow a lot of moss inside.

Details:

• Realistic Warranty Claims? As best I know, I offer the highest real warranty in the business here locally.  Note: this is 10 times longer than the Construction Contractors Board (CCB) requires of all Oregon construction contractors.  I pride myself on providing only honest and realistic claims. I have seen a web site for a gutter contractor (not local to us) that claimed a 100 year warranty on their copper gutters.  This is suspect in of it's self.  How many decades will that contractor be 6 feet under 100 years from now? There are few small businesses that can survive more than a few years, let alone a decade from now. I have already specialized in gutter installation for a decade and a half, since 1993 under the same contractors license number. But how many more decades am I likely to be in business and climbing up on ladders? Well, I am 45 years old (1/63). I will not make outrageous claims just to sell jobs; like a roofing contractor I knew, who was dieing of cancer, yet offered his clients a 50 year warranty (he died a year later).  I also saw a recent bid from a competitor (7-05) who boldly stated they have a 25 year warranty, but in the fine print it clearly stated this was only a manufacturer's warranty, and their installation warranty is only 1 year (which is the minimum required warranty for all types of construction). This shows their intent was to deceive the client, and had no intention of standing by their installations.

• Detached or Damaged? Since I use only stainless steel wood screws for installation, I can tell each time if the screws had some good solid wood to grip to.  This installation warranty does cover the gutters and downspouts from pulling loose from the house under normal conditions (see exceptions below)
  Note: I would not know for sure if your existing fascia boards were installed well enough to hold the weight of the gutter full of water and debris.  I would discuss the need for replacement with you if I saw a problem, but I do not normally perform special test to see if the fascia boards are securely attached to the roof rafters.

• Leaks? My installation warranty does covers leaking corners and end-caps.

• Standing Water? My installation warranty also covers standing water in clean gutters of more than 1/4" deep.
  Note: I work especially hard to give all the gutters a slight grade toward the outlet drain, so they will even rinse themselves out in a heavy downpour.  There should be no standing water at all, but I cannot guaranty that your house will not settle to upset this balance in those 25 years.

• Transferable Warranty? My installation warranty is transferable to the next home owner, so it can help the sale of the house far more than you could save getting cheaper gutters.

Click here to read more on my thoughts on personal ethical responsibility, not only to my clients, but to all those I deal with.  I do my best to maintain customer satisfaction in any situation.

Rust free materials

More importantly than warranties I feel it matters what type of material and type of parts I use to install gutters.  Rust and poor installation account for at least 90% of gutter replacement, so that is where I place most of my focus. I only work with rust free parts and over 8 times the strength installation on each gutter job I do.

Here is a clear photo of the only gutter profile I offer and how the heavy-duty hidden hanger supports the gutter and is attached to the house. Since mid 2004 I upgraded my standards to a pair of stainless steel screws in the outer holes of these hidden hanger pictured, due to the bad snow storm I had in early 2004 (see my Snow Damage web page for more details on this issue). You will not find another contractor to install them nearly as well at any price.

Issues Not Covered by My Installation Warranty:

The fine print: (although I try to make it legible here). Customer satisfaction is very important to us, but I would be fools to accommodate every possible situation, so here is some of the common sense limitation that I cannot be responsible for (sorry if this seems condescending).

(a) I cannot be responsible if the cause of the gutters coming loose was from the fascia board it's self becoming dislocated from the house because of too much dry-rot behind the fascia board and or the nails holding the fascia board on pull loose or are rusted away.  This is not common, but this cannot be my responsibility unless I had installed those fascia boards of course.  Fascia boards coming down with the gutters rarely happens, but it could.
Note: It is rare to see other contractors who use screws for installation of fascia boards.  When I install fascia boards, I use long Deckmate screws with a life time coating. Screws give a good indication if it has a solid grasp in the wood and are very unlikely to ever pull loose. 

(b) You will not find a better installation, but I cannot be responsible for damage, scratches, or dents.  Things like tree branches falling, excessive snow and ice loads sliding off the roof (a terrible issue with metal roofs. See my Sheet Metal Roofs & Snow Page for photos and details about this issue and what I try to do to avoid this from happening), abuse like: vehicles smashing into the gutters, and ladders banged against them.
Note: I do not lean my ladders against gutters, and I go out of my way with each gutter job to install gutters with the best products on the market and twice the building code standards for a sturdy installation, but there is only so much that any gutters will resist.  You would do well to buy a $25 ladder stabilizer to loan workers who do not have them on their ladders, so they will rest the ladder on the shingles above the gutters.

(c) Personal dangers from accessing your gutters for cleaning or such.

(d) Injury and damage from falling off the roof, or grabbing the gutter as a last ditch effort to keep from falling to the ground.

(e) These screens are the sturdiest and the most user friendly product I have found.  The screens I use for aluminum gutters are made of an expanded steel sheet metal that has a black powder-baked on finish, so I am not responsible for these screens if they begin to rust over time. That would be the manufacturer who would be responsible, but I have not seen a written warranty for those screens.  If they were to make them out of aluminum sheet metal, they would be too light weight, prone to being blown open in the wind.  Also, they would be too fragile and would break off the hinge/clips that hold them in place. I have not found a source for stainless steel screens, but I do have copper screens for twice the cost.

(f) The manufacturer is solely responsible for any deterioration of the sheet metal and paint finishes.  They claim to provide a 40 year warranty on the sheet metals I use, and a 20 year paint finish warranty for the pre-painted aluminum sheet metal.  I do not know of a warranty for the touch-up spray paints the wholesale suppliers sell us for use in preparation of gutter parts. Note: I am happy to provide you with contact information of the two wholesale suppliers, Gutterman's Supply phone #(503) 285-2500, and Custom-bilt Metals' phone #(503) 256-3328.

My 10 year no-clog warranty:

Details:

• Length of my warranty: I will only offer realistic claims. I could present fishy claims of lifetime warranties, but I will not play that game. If my system does in fact provide 10 years of trouble free service, you will know it must be a very good system. I am not likely to be around climbing up ladders more than a decade from now, so there is no point to offer such an unrealistic warranty, and in so doing insult your intelligence.

• Maintenance? My No-clog warranty does not require you to have someone even go up to the roof edge to even check your gutters for blockage.  As long as the screens stay in place and are not damaged, yet the gutters get clogged and begin to over flow, it is my responsibility to clear them out.  In the last 10 years of doing this I have had such little warranty issues it clearly demonstrates how this system works very well.  Note: I will not be making periodic inspections.  You would need to contact us to inform us if there is an issue that needs my attention.

• Nests under the screens? It is a very rare occurrence, but I cannot be responsible for critters, insects, or birds building nests in your gutters, or these critters pulling the screens open.
  Note: if this happens, it is usually easy to push the screens back in place with a broom stick.

• Debris over the screens? I cannot warranty normal debris build-up on the roof or over the top of the screens
  Note: wind typically clears this build-up over the screens after it has a chance to dry out.

• Storm sewer clogs? I am not able to cover this, but the Leaf-catchers are very helpful.  Note: Leaf-catchers are not part of my No-clog gutter warranty, but happen to be the most popular accessory I offer.
• Transferable? Our No-clog warranty is transferable to the next home owner, so it can help the sale of the house.  

Your only responsibilities with My No-clog warranty:

With my No-clog warranty; you have no responsibility to have someone get up there and check the gutters at all. If the gutters were to become clogged, it would over flow above the downspouts, since that is the low spots. Once notified, it is my responsibility to come out to clear the obstruction.

As stated above, I will not be doing regular system checks of your house, so you would need to contact us if there were to become a problem.  This is a small concern, since I have had less than a 5% call back issue.

Leaf-catchers (as shown to the right)
These are not required for Or No-clog warranty, but they are my most popular option, since these are very helpful to keep your rain sewer pipes clear. They are also a lot cheaper than a single Roto-Rooter service call. With my Leaf-catchers, maintenance is simple from the ground level.  All you need to do is clear out the debris in the Leaf-catcher every so often. Note: It does not usually need serviced more than about 4 times a year, depending on the debris issue near your house.

The Leaf-catcher is placed at hip height, so you don't have to bend over to access it.  With this technology there is much less need to get up to the roof's edge and clear the gutters out.  If you decide that you want to clean out the gutters, you can simply place a piece of plastic or even cardboard over the screen in the Leaf-catcher.  Then rinse out the gutters with the garden hose, spraying right through the screens. This way even the tiny roof sand will flush out onto the ground. Then sweep it up if you choose, and you are done.

Roof Debris Accumulation:
None of this will keep debris from accumulating on your roof. That of course would not be my responsibility. Although, if you do not keep your roof clean, it does not affect my No-clog warranty.

Why are strainers in the gutter bad for gutters?
The type of strainers that goes up inside the gutters are death to gutters (no joke).  You want the gutters to continually drain as they should.  Yes, it is very important to keep your underground drains clear of this debris, but placing the Leaf-catcher strainer in the downspout is much wiser.

The debris simply decomposes, turning to mud. and damn up the water.  This causes severe damage to the foundation through ground erosion, which is the whole reason gutters are now a mandatory building code.  It also will pull the gutters loose of the house from the heavy weight of the water and debris.  If your gutters are steel, it causes them to rust through that much sooner.  You want the gutters to continue to function and drain!

Best value for your $:
Some people here in the Northwest simply do not have a serious debris problem and may not need these No-clog options with their new gutters.  Even though most of my clients go with the full package, I happily provide my double strength rust-free gutters without my No-clog options.  Our basic installation is better than you will find elsewhere, and at a reasonable price.  With the stainless steel screws I use to hang my gutters with offers over twice the support building code requires, better caulk, and other parts.  So even without the No-clog options you have confidence that this will be a job well done and money well spent.  This I can easily prove, and guarantee.

With the No-clog options it is a product that works better than any other I have seen.  And also cost less that all the other options with a similar claims. You can read more specific details about the different No-clog options on my Comparison web page. And even link to their official web sites to hear their side of the story. I am that confident.

Read more on my Ethical Responsibility web page.