Thursday, December 5, 2013

40 Point Quality Eavestrough Inspection


We at North Shore Eavestroughing are constantly striving to improve the level of service that you receive. You will have a thorough 40 point inspection conducted after every installation. After many years of perfecting our craft and trying to maximize the client experience we have developed a checklist that will make sure that your eavestrough project will be completed in the best way possible. We focus on the details and create systems to ensure that we will exceed your expectations and be a leader in our industry. We feel we are only as good as our last project and want to complete it with a series of checklists that ensure nothing is left to chance. It's just our way of proving that we are going to go the extra mile and pay attention to the details. Do you live in North York, Scarborough or other areas in or near Toronto and need to replace your eavestroughs? Visit our website for more information. http://www.eavestrough.ca/ and then call for your estimate

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

18 Things We Do To Protect Our Earth

We at North Shore have asked ourselves how we can make changes in our day to day operations that make a difference in our environmental impact and lessen our footprint.

The good thing is that most of the steps we have taken or are looking at implementing in the near future, make good business sense. Cutting back or finding more efficient ways to do business is also good for the health of any business. Our energy saving and waste reduction efforts are also making us more competitive.

We challenge small business like us to make positive changes in any way possible. If you decide to implement any new strategies or have some creative ideas we haven't thought of please comment below so we can all benefit. We are all in this together!

We will go through some of the steps we undertake to be a little more earth friendly:

1. This might seem very basic but we sort all of our construction and office items into recyclable and waste. About 75% of what we sort is recyclable. Plastics, lots of cardboard as this is what all our downpipes and elbows are shipped in, and paper from our office. We ensure that everything is sorted properly on a daily basis. Then we ensure that when we go to the City of Toronto Waste Drop Off Facilities, all bags go into the right recycling bins. Since most everyone at North Shore is used to recycling at home it comes naturally to sort into the proper bins we have located in our office and shop.


All our aluminum and steel is recycled.


All our eavestrough supplies are over 90 per cent recycled. Aluminum is easily recycled and all eavestroughs on the market today have recycled content in them.



We have a hazardous waste bin located in our shop so things like old paint and caulking and batteries do not end up in a landfill.




2. We buy either recycled or an alternative to paper that was created by cutting down forests. This one is super easy and doesn't really cost much more but you feel better every time you have to print something off.







3. In Toronto the amount of water that goes into the storm sewers when it rains heavy is a serious problem and results in raw sewage and waste flow directly into our waterfront. One of our objectives when designing a rain water management system is to get the downpipes disconnected from the city. We design systems that work, keep water away from your home, and safely absorb as much as possible on your grass or beds. We go the extra mile to make disconnects happen when other companies say it's not possible. We can get as creative as the homeowner likes to make this happen. We mostly make this happen with larger downspouts, proper grading, and sometimes 2 pipes in one location as shown below. We feel we can make a big impact on the storm water problem in Toronto, and this opportunity is open to all eavestrough companies in any city that has these common problems.



4. Water conservation through the installation of rain barrels. When configured professionally they operate trouble free for many years and will aid in the watering around your home. We hope more of our future clients will be interested in using them. They are great way to make a difference and maybe you might actually look forward to the rain when you know you will be restocking your barrels. Its not that common to see rain barrels but we hope that will change as we move forward. Why can't having barrels be cool?





5.  We try to buy green cleaning supplies as well. Recycled bags and paper towels, and earth friendly cleaning supplies when possible for our Scarborough headquarters and show room.





6. All our shop lighting and outdoor lighting has been changed over to LED.



7.  Coffee is organic and bird friendly. Who knew  the way conventional coffee is grown is destroying bird habitat.

Our Kuerig is only used with reusable cups to reduce waste.



8.  Our AC has only ran a couple of weeks this summer as we like to let a breeze blow through the office when conditions allow.


 


9.  We are Bullfrog Powered. Bullfrog charges a slight up charge on our electric bill to pay for introducing green power sources onto the grid. We are powered by green gas and green electricity. Check them out on how to be a part of the green shift!




10.  Do you know that washing your car can send polluted water straight into lake Ontario. Water going into sewer grates flow untreated to the Lake.




Good idea to use a car wash, or waterless car wash products available at Canadian Tire. They work great!



11.   Our Smart car is great for jigging around and doing estimates. Running trouble free since 2008.

 
 
12. Our service area has been reduced slightly to reduce travelling. Years ago we used to travel pretty much from our shop to areas like Oakville and Aurora and Brampton. A lot of fuel used for estimating and plus sending a crew out. We hope people can think local if possible to reduce traffic congestion and reduce fuel consumption. Now we focus on Scarborough, North York and other areas in and near Toronto.

13.  We donate $10.00 to the David Suzuki Foundation for every Homestars review we get. Check out David Suzuki at http://www.davidsuzuki.org/  Our goal is to get 100 reviews this year which will total $1000.00 for environmental causes.

14. We used to by water in plastic bottles by the truck load and now we buy all our water in glass and is set up in our office and in all our eavestrough trailers. Team members are encouraged to bring a reusable bottle and refill from the glass bottles.  Check out Cedar Springs to get the glass bottles: http://cedarspringswater.ca/




 15.  We now use job signs infrequently as most of these get thrown in the garbage by the homeowner. We use them sparingly and ask that the homeowner contact us so we can pick them up instead of throwing in the trash. 10 years ago it was commonplace for companies to canvass neighborhoods with these type signs. Thank goodness we see less of that today.




16.  All our power bars in the office are equipped with timers that turn the power bar off after 6 pm and turn back on at 6 am from Monday to Friday and off for the weekends. Computers and printers are powered off completely this way. This reduces our power consumption.



17. We are converting our jobsite trailers to solar power. No more plugging in to power our eavestrough machines or power tools. It work amazing. Three 100 watt panels are all thats needed to charge to deeep cycle batteries which powers an inverter.

 
 



 18We use biodegradable 2 cycle oil for our leaf blowers used to clean up your property.





If anyone has any other ideas for greening a small business we would love to hear about it! If we all make small changes they will add up towards a big impact. Lets work to make our future a positive healthy one! 

Visit our website at www.eavestrough.ca or email us at info@eavestrough.ca as we would love to hear from you.









Monday, August 26, 2013

Free Silver Maple Trees ( All Gone)

We have 40 Silver Maple Trees to give away to a good home.



Silver Maples grow fast and are an excellent shade tree. Having a tree like this on your property can offer shade and reduce your AC bills.

They grow super big so keep them back from your home a bit!

We hope that you will take advantage of these free trees and come and get some for your property.

Planting trees is a great way to green our city of Toronto!





You can come to our office anytime of day to pick them up as they will be left outside. Once they are gone I will update this blog post. ( They all found new homes)

Happy planting!! Maybe someone can email us a picture of a tree in its new home? That would be fun to see.

Located at 133 Manville Rd Unit 19 near Warden and Eglinton.



Monday, April 8, 2013

Bullfrog Powered

We are proud to say that we have been powered by green electricity since 2009. Bullfrog power allows businesses and homeowners to utilize green energy.



Like many people we are very concerned about how we can lessen our impact on the environment. For a minimal monthly increase in our electricity bill we can ensure that all our energy consumption gets put back into the grid by means of green energy from sources like wind, solar and hydro electric. 



North Shore Eavestroughing replaces and repairs eavestroughs, leafguard and other aspect of rainwater management in Scarborough, North York and other areas in and near Toronto

Visit Bullfrog Power's website: http://www.bullfrogpower.com/

Friday, April 5, 2013

Clean Outs For Pine Needles

We recommend the use of clean outs when installing the T-Rex leaf guard in an area that has pine needles. Pine needles are long and slender and a few do make it through the small round holes in the leaf guard. Only a small percentage go through and the vast majority stay out of the eavestrough.

The T-Rex is not removable so clean outs are important in some cases.

In 10 years we only had one person contact us because there was a blockage under the leaf guard. Since then we have added trap doors over the downspouts to allow access to any needles that may get caught up in the outlet. This way, in the rare event a blockage occurs, there is an easy way to remove the debris.

This is how we create a trap door in the T-Rex:

First off, we leave a space over the down pipe outlet. We do this by leaving a 6 inch gap between two sections of T-Rex. I should mention that we can install clean outs over any section of the leaf guard for minimal cost. Most likely they will never be needed but you can have peace of mind knowing that they are there. Also there is access to under the leaf guard where there is a corner as there are corner covers which are easy to remove.

eavestrough with cleanout


This will give easy access to any debris caught at the outlet. 

eavestrough outlet


Then we take a slightly different version of the T-Rex call Gutter Clean and cut it at about 10 inches so it will completely cover the gap.

T-Rex Gutter clean leafguard



It fits perfectly and is screwed down with 2 screws so it is secure.

cleanout installed on leafguard


Now for a demonstration of why trap doors come in handy when there are pine trees next to your home.

Pine needles like the ones below can get through the small holes.




If the pine tree is hanging over the home then you can expect to see a build up of pine needles
on the leaf guard. Even with this much sitting on top the rain water can easily pass through as these needles are very coarse. With a good wind some will blow off. You may still have to have someone do a brush off the top every fall. This is still much easier then scooping out a full, plugged downspout and eavestrough. This T-Rex leaf guard will drastically reduce the frequency of cleaning, if you have a full tree canopy. If the trees are back slightly from the home then you may not have to clean at all as the wind will blow most debris off.




A cross section view of a few pine needles getting through the T-Rex

cross section of eavestrough and leafguard


Its possible after many years to get a blockage because the pine needles have clogged the top of the pipe. All debris flows along the bottom of the eavestrough and ends up at the downspout. Alu-Rex, the makers of the T-Rex require a minimum downspout size of 9 square inches which is a standard 3x3 inch downspout for warranty in a pine tree area. Alu-Rex is an excellent company and will follow up on any warranty claims.  If you have a blockage and you have 3x3 pipes they will come out and clean the outlet! Alu-Rex has a 40 year warranty on the product and performance of the product.
In this blog post we show a 3x4 inch outlet.





Spruce needles are of course much shorter and do not cause a problem. The few that make it through the small T-Rex holes will easily wash out the downpipes. They are not long enough to get hung up at the top of the downspout. The same applies to shingle grits. They will wash out in the heavy rain.



Spruce needles will never cause a blockage of the downspout because they are so small they will never block an outlet. They easily flow out the downspouts.




Clean outs will be a good choice with any leaf guard that has any hole large enough to let a pine needle in. That applies to the hooded type leaf guards like K-Guard as when the water wraps around the nose due to surface tension, some debris gets pulled in as well.

The old style mesh products we used to install 15 years ago (because there was no better option on the market) had holes that were too large and let way to much debris in. Eventually someone would have to clean underneath them. This leaf guard is responsible for giving leaf guard a bad rap when in fact the new versions work so much better.



Below is a side by side comparison of the Alu-Rex Gutter Clean and the Smart Screen. Smart Screen on the left has much larger holes then the Gutter Clean. Bigger holes may allow more pine needles to go in so clean outs will be a good idea with this product as well.

leafguard comparison in Toronto



Products like the Leaf Solution on the left and Rhino Guard on the right will keep all shingle grit and needles out of the eavestrough but they come with a significant extra cost as compared to the T-Rex. These products have a fine mesh over a aluminum frame which keeps everything but the water out.
The T-Rex is by far our most popular product with our clients and gives excellent value as it costs much less than most leaf guards on the market.


The T-Rex costs an extra $3.00 per linear foot when you are getting new eavestroughs. Compare that to many other kinds that cost $9.00 to $12.00 and the choice will be easy for most.

North Shore Eavestroughing services Scarborough, North York and many other areas in and around Toronto.

Visit out website www.eavestrough.ca or call us at 416 615 0443 for a free, no obligation estimate in the Toronto area.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Professional Lettered Equipment

We never get a second chance to make a first impression. North Shore Eavestroughing believes that we must portray an image that is consistant with the high standards we have for working on your home. Clean, well lettered vehicles can be one way to determine how much pride a company takes in their day to day operations. Companies that take pride in their work and operate without subcontractors generally have well lettered company vehicles. This is a great way to pre-qualify potential contractors no matter what the trade.






We work in Scarborough, North York and many other areas in and around Toronto, year round. Call us for a quote today! Visit our website www.eavestrough.ca or call 416 615 0443 for a free no obligation quote on your eavestroughing needs.


Sunday, March 24, 2013

Attic Insulating In Toronto

Many homes around Toronto have attic spaces are not ventilated or insulated properly. This can result in a roof not lasting as long as it should, high heating and cooling costs, mold, and ice damming.

We would like to give an overview of how we have overcome some of these issues for our clients.

First off, if your home has wood soffits then sections of the wood soffit should be cut out to increase airflow. For this client we are cutting out all the plywood soffit to maximize airflow into the attic. Keep in mind that this layer of plywood can be hidden under a layer of existing soffits.

With the installation of new aluminum soffits the plywood can be completely removed with out jeopardizing the integrity of the roof. The plywood was used many years ago to seal up this area but today aluminum soffits will take its place and vent much more effectively. New homes today do not have a layer of plywood, just aluminum or vinyl soffits.




Cutting out all the plywood is more labour intensive than just cutting an extra ventilation holes every so often. It does however let the attic breathe much better. Also removing the plywood at this home allows us to see some pot light wires that were chewed bare by squirrels. This resulted in a service call from our licensed electrician to correct the hazards.




It takes about a 1/2 to full day to cut out all the plywood on a typical Toronto home. The clean up is intensive as usually there is much debris sitting on top the old plywood. This is where hiring a thorough soffit, fascia and eavestrough company pays off because they are knowledgeable and care about the aesthetics and very importantly, the function of your new system.




Now that the plywood is out we look up into the cavity to see how many rafter vents have been installed if any. They are a simple foam chute that is stapled to the underside of the roof deck. They are needed to prevent any insulation in the attic from coming out onto the soffits and also to allow an air gap between the roof deck and the top of the wall plate (in other words this gap into the attic is narrow and can get plugged by insulation easily and that's not good for airflow).

We like to put them between every rafter to promote even airflow. With the wood soffits removed we can often slide the first rafter chute in from the outside. Then its gets stapled to the plywood and a piece of batt insulation is fitted under the chute to prevent the new attic insulation from flowing out onto the yet to be installed vented soffits. Many insulation companies might say this is overkill on the baffles so check with them for how many they will install.




Let's now take a look inside the attic. Lights need to be set up as there is very little light in the attic.




We have continued these rafter chutes about 6 feet up the roofline because this roof is about a 5/12 pitch (average steepness and can easily be walked on). Extending the chutes up this far allows for a deep layer of blown in insulation to be applied without covering the top end of the chute with insulation and blocking airflow. Its tight/hard work to reach out to this narrow area of the attic space. Care must be taken as not to put pressure on the ceiling below or a person or portion of, may end up in your living room!




Once all these are stapled securely in place around the entire perimeter of the attic we are ready to start the blown in insulation process.




This home has a thin layer of batt insulation from when the house was built in the 1950's. It's important to clean up any debris to make an even, flat surface so an even layer of insulation can be blown in. The debris can be bagged and taken out to be disposed of.
The most thorough way to take care of this old insulation is to have it completely sucked out with a large vacuum hose. This will totally get rid of all the old product and then you have a nice clean ceiling. This can now allow for you to blow the attic in with loose fill or first seal the ceiling with a spray foam to give a super tight seal which can act as a vapour barrier and stop all drafts down to the living area. Once a layer of spray foam is installed many companies will then blow a layer of loose fill over top to keep the cost down.




Now is the time to give a close inspection to any visible wiring as there could be damage over the years from animals chewing, or work done unsafely like seen here. One wire added to another with no junction box(metal box) is not to code and is a fire risk. Also bare wires can be hazardous to the people working in the attic so care must be taken. We will flag this area and notify the homeowner that this will have to be fixed by a licensed electrician. Only the owner of the home or a licensed electrician is legally allowed to do even the most basic wiring. If it's possible, have an electrician there before the attic is insulated for a thorough inspection. 




Any fans that are not vented properly through the roof deck need to be addressed. An insulated hose to prevent condensation and a proper roof vent needs to be installed if not done so already. In this case this fan was non-operating and was no longer needed so it was permanently sealed tight to prevent air leakage.




Look around to see if there are any openings like this. This is an area around the top of the cupboards in the kitchen. Determine how deep these are and whether they can be filled with loose attic insulation or if not, covered with something rigid and air sealed before the loose fill is added over top.



Another important thing to watch out for in older style pot lights. Some of these need an air space between the insulation and the actual light. Either swap out the light with a modern pot light that can be covered or create an airspace by using something like a Sonotube (stiff cardboard tube) with a cover cut down to length to create an air gap around the lights.


Any walls that have heated living space on the other side will usually need to have the insulation upgraded as well. In this case Styrofoam SM was used and Tuck tape was used to seal the cracks. Once again the best way to do this would be to spray foam the wall. It will depend on the budget of course which one you choose with the spray foam costing more.

  

In this home the client wanted loose fiberglass insulation but we use the recycled newspaper product before as well. Insulation companies will usually have a preference between the two types. Our preference after using both would be the recycled newspaper product. The fiberglass goes in very loose and takes a very thick layer to get to a hefty R-50 or R-60 which is what we like to see.
Start blowing in from the far end so you can work your way back to the attic hatch.



Once we are done we will hardly even see the top of these rafter vents.




We have a marker in place to tell us how deep the product is.  We will end up with about 30 to 35 inches in total and no longer be able to see these. Insulation is not very expensive and since no one will be in this attic for maybe another 30 or 40 years then why not do it up the best way possible?



Finished layer of blown in attic insulation.




Now that we have a well ventilated and insulated attic space make sure the roof has adequate roof vents to allow the warm air to rise out the top of the roof. Two good styles are the box style vent seen below or a ridge vent. Building Code in Ontario says you must have 1 square foot of ventilation for every 300 square feet of attic space. This seems to be on the minimum side and we like to add extra where possible. You want the inside of the attic to be like the outdoor temperature so the more ventilation the better and the more likely it will stay cool in the summer and less ice damming in the winter. Keep in mind that if on a hot day you stick your heard into the attic it will not feel cool! It will feel warm and will be at least as hot as outside temperature. Especially if you have a dark roof, which absorbs so much heat.




The ventilation code has not changed since the 1950s as we can see by the information on the piece of old insulation in the attic.






The other very important part is that all the new soffits be ventilated. Every piece will have small little slits in it to allow air to pass through the aluminum panel and up into the attic. Now you can be confident you have done major improvement in the attic temperature which will slowly begin to pay you back with each passing year. A longer lasting roof, no condensation or mold problems, an air conditioner that runs less frequently, and less chance of water penetrating your roof/ceiling due to ice damming in the winter.







 
We hope that this gives you an understanding of the process on a home we have done in Toronto. We do soffit, fascia, and eavestrough through our regular season and attic insulating in the winter months.

Call us at 416-200-2053 or email us at info@eavestrough.ca.
Our website is www.eavestrough.ca