Sunday, June 8, 2014

Eavestrough 101 Video

We hope you find this video a good overview of the value of a properly functioning eavestrough and leaf guard system.

We thank Homestars.com for putting this video together and being part of their educational series.




Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Consultation Fee





In an effort to serve you better we provide an in-depth $40.00 consultation. Eavestroughs are something that will be done only once every 25 or 30 years so its good to ensure some good planning went into the design. Our quote will give you peace of mind knowing that the design we come up with for your home will function perfectly. We stand behind it!

Here are details of our $40.00 including tax paid consultation/inspection.

1. We realize your time is valuable so we can arrange the viewing of your home when you're not present. Recommendations will be detailed in written quote which will be emailed, faxed or mailed to you at your request.

2. An in-person consultation to discuss your concerns can be arranged at a time that works for your schedule. An hour will be set aside to gather information and assess system.

3. We strive to provide your quote within 1 week of contacting our office.

4. We provide a visual inspection of current eavestrough system. We will only access your roof if safe to do so. Heights and steepness may prevent us from assessing some or all areas. If eavestroughs only need repair, we will recommend that option.

5. Determine if leaf guard is needed and what type best suits the property based on type and quantity of trees.

6. Assess the condition of soffit and fascia and if more ventilation is recommended to help alleviate snow and ice buildup on roof. If applicable, please inform us of any areas that are prone to ice buildup.

7. Basic roof edge inspection to determine if drip edge or flashing will be needed to prevent drips behind new eavestroughs.

8. Discuss heater cable options to alleviate ice damming, if applicable.

9. Discuss possiblities of LED potlight system, if desired.

10. Look at feasibility of rain barrels, if desired.

11. Determine which downpipes can be disconnected from city system, if applicable.

 12. If desired we can leave actual painted aluminum colour samples and a small section of our gutter and or leaf guard.

13. The $40.00 including tax fee is fully refundable before you receive your estimate. If you agree to a visit by us and change your mind or are not impressed with our service and advice you will not be charged. The fee will be deducted off any quote we give you if you decide to proceed within 1 month of receiving quote. Can be paid in advance with Visa or MasterCard or if an in-person consultation, payment can be made directly with cash or cheque upon meeting.

14. If possible we can accommodate estimate requests outside our normal service area. Our estimate fee will be increased and determined based on our availability and distance from our normal service area. Call our office to talk about this option.

15. Pictures are taken of your property and stored for reference.

3. We have job minimums and do not do small repairs. Usually the minimum is $975. + HST.

Thank you and we look forward to quoting and advising on your project.

Please call or email our office to arrange a quote.

416-615-0443
info@eavestrough.ca








Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Happy Earth Day 2014!

North Shore Eavestroughing prides itself on finding ways to operate with less impact to the environment. Protecting our children's future has to be a guiding principle. Operating a small business the old fashioned way is to disregard the impact we have on the world around us. Finding new earth-friendly ways to do business may raise our operating costs slightly but we feel it's well worth it!!

Today we donated $75.00 to the David Suzuki Foundation to aid their Got Milkweed Campaign. That will translate into 25 milkweed plants.

It's an effort to plant milkweed across the city of Toronto. This will be a source of food for the migrating Monarch Butterfly. The butterflies really need our help right now as their main source of food, milkweed is in short supply.

Here is the link to the campaign if you would like to learn more or donate.

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/media/news/2014/04/got-milkweed/



We are excited and thankful to our clients who use our services which in turn enables us to give back.

 
 

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

HomeStars Best of 2013 Awards Party

HomeStars is an awesome tool for you to connect with quality contractors. A homeowner can visit Homestars and see a list of contractors in many different categories. The best part is that you can see the reviews that other homeowners have wrote about a contractor, good or bad. With that information you can pick contractors you feel comfortable reaching out to and talk or meet about a project you need completed.
 
I personally use HomeStars when hiring contractors around my home. Years ago, before I used HomeStars I hired a heating and AC contractor as a referral from our real estate agent. It was not a good experience and I regretted hiring them but since the project was underway I felt I had to tough it out and let them finish. It's never a  pleasant feeling to realize you hired someone to work on your home and then realize the work is not being done to a high standard or the contractor has an unpleasant attitude. Thankfully, online review tools like HomeStars exist today and make the hiring process much smoother!
 
HomeStars gives out awards to contractors who have won in their category. This win is based on many different criteria some of which include number and quality of reviews they have collected over the year.
 
The event for the Toronto 2013 Awards was held at the Fairmont Royal York in downtown Toronto. It was a very generous to have this event at such a fancy location and shows how HomeStars gives back to the contractor community. 
 
 
 
 
 Nancy Peterson, the co founder and CEO of Homestars giving her opening speech to the crowd.

 

I am a firm believer in HomeStars and feel that Nancy shows professionalism and determination to help home owners meet qualified successful contractors. This video clip is an example of her integrity and commitment to the homeowner which I believe flows through the HomeStars organization.



After a great meal contractors were given their awards and a photo opportunity. Seen below is Elite Concrete. We often meet homeowners who have already had Elite Concrete do work for them so we see first hand the quality of their work and how happy their clients are. Congratulations on your win!
Visit their website: www.eliteconcrete.ca

 

Insta-Insulation is another company who we frequently work along side, sometimes on the same project. With all the ice and snow build up on roofs this season they were in high demand for inspecting attics. Well done Insta- Insulation!
Visit their website: www.instainsulation.com

 
 
Jeff of Toronto Home Theater with their award. Jeff also runs Inview Marketing and helps small business with their marketing and online presence. Nice to see you Jeff!
Visit their website: www.torontohometheater.ca


 
 
The awards night is a great opportunity to meet other contractors who are working hard and striving to be the best they can be and help as many homeowners as they can. Paul from The Duct Cleaning Specialist. Congragulations Paul on your "Best Of Award". I had Paul's crew come in to my home and clean our duct system and they did a super job!
Visit their website: www.ductcleaningspecialists.ca


 

Adel from 416-SO-CLEAN. Nice to see you and happy for your win! Adel works hard to revolutionize the carpet and upholstery cleaning business.
Visit their website: www.416soclean.com


 
Thank you HomeStars for the wonderful night and a chance to meet many inspiring small business owners. 
 
I also would like to mention some other awesome contractors we met at the event (but missed getting photo's) and know well or have used personally in my own home:
 
Brent from Classic Home Inspections: www.classichomeinspections.ca
 
Mark from Victorious Carpet: www.victoriousflooring.com
 
Javier and Hilary from the moving company Cargo Cabbie: www.cargocabbie.ca
 
Visit www.homestars.com to connect with great contractors.

Our company North Shore Eavestroughing has won "HomeStars Best Of" many different years in the Gutters and Eavestrough category for Toronto and would love to provide you with a quote for your eavestrough and leaf guard needs.

Visit our website www.eavestrough.ca

Friday, January 3, 2014

Toronto Ice Storm 2013


For most Torontonians it was a holiday season they will not forget anytime soon. Across the city a ravaged tree canopy caused many branches to fall on homes and streets. A major power outage left many wondering if they would have to vacate their homes.

I suspect there is a lot of damaged eavestroughs around the city due to falling trees.  Pictures like the one below could be seen in many neighborhoods with mature trees. Amazingly this home suffered no damage to roof or eavestrough.

ice storm toronto 2013 tree falls on house
Trees falling on homes.

One thing that may have saved some eavestroughs is the amount of snow and ice that formed along the roof edge. This would help keep many eavestroughs sturdy in the event of a heavy limb hitting it. Below is a typical damage from a falling tree. A dent like this is fixed by replacing the entire piece of eavestrough. The dent is not something that can be pounded out and have it resemble what it originally looked like.

If your home has a lot of ice build up on the edge of the roof a repair may have to wait until the ice melts off in some warmer weather.

damaged eavestrough falling tree
Typical storm damage to eavestrough.

If the eavestroughs are older, like 15 to 20 years old then you may consider replacing all the pieces that attach to this damaged piece. A more reliable seal is obtained from joining new eavestroughs together as compared to joining new to old eavestrough. We give a 2 year warranty when joining new to old and a 10 year warranty when joining new to new.

You may want to consider calling your insurance company to see what's covered on your home. Personally I had some damage to our backyard furniture and shrubs. After talking to our insurance company we decided to repair and replace things out of pocket. A $2500.00 deductible and a 20% hike in our premium for 5 years for making a claim soon made me realize we are not going to save much by going through insurance.

The trees were very pretty and the ice stuck around for about a week! We were fortunate to have supplemental power and heaters due to the nature of our business. North Shore Eavestroughing equipment was able to provide some power to 3 separate homes and heat to another. Wiring a heavy duty cord from a generator to a furnace was relatively easy and made the ice storm much easier to handle. We also had on hand about 600 feet of extension cords which made accessing neighboring homes possible.

ice storm toronto 2013
Ice storm Toronto 2013. So beautiful!

A 5000 watt generator gives ample power and worked well. It burned around $75.00 per 24 hours of runtime.

generator in eavestrough trailer
Trailers make good shelters for generators. 

A power inverter and battery bank was able to power our furnace through the night so we did not have to run the generator as much. The batteries were recharged via the generator and or solar panels on the roof of the trailer during the day.

Power inverter in eavestrough trailer
Solar powered eavestrough trailer.
 
 
Some of the holidays were spent helping neighbors clear trees that had fallen or were badly damaged from the weight of the ice.
 

Cutting damaged trees from ice storm toronto 2013
Many trees were lost to the ice storm,

Some news report told of people getting hurt using chainsaws during the clean up. Chainsaws require proper safety gear to prevent injury. See below proper cut resistant boots and pants. Even the occasional operator should consider wearing if using a chainsaw.

cut proof safety pants and boots
Safety gear for chainsaw operation is a must.
 
 
Things I learned/experienced during the 6 day power outage in my community:
 
1. Driving any distance when most lights are 4 way stops is very slow and somewhat crazy as some cars seem to motor right on through like there was no stop required.
 
2. The gas stations that had power were very busy and had line ups. Gas cans were impossible to find for sale.
 
3. Our kerosene heater was handy to have but was only good to us because I had a stock pile of kerosene by chance. Also sold out of most places like Lowes, Rona and the Depot.
 
4. After about 3 cold nights with no power, some homes had ice forming in their sinks. Most people on our street left their home for hotels and friends.
 
5. Finding a new generator to purchase around Toronto was tough.
 
6. Not every furnace will start easily with a generator and its best to plan ahead with an electrician to ensure a generator is hooked up safely.
 
6. Toronto's electricity system is very much vulnerable to a harsh ice storm. A study by Toronto Hydro in 2012 predicted more power outages due to freak storms due to climate change: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto-hydro-study-warned-of-increased-risk-of-power-outages-due-to-climate-change/article16118600/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=Referrer%3A+Social+Network+%2F+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links
 
7. An ice storm/power outage is a great opportunity to get to know your neighbors better! Its a chance to come together as a community and help those who could use a hand.
 
We hope that we can help you with any repair or replacement work you may need performed to your eavestrough system. Just as a rough idea of cost: a 35 to 40 foot section of eavestrough replaced will cost on average $675.00. This of course depends on ease of access and height.
 
We will come by to assess the damage, determine the matching color and give a free quote. For an immediate quote feel free to send along a few pictures and often we provide a quote on the spot.
 
Our office number is 416 615 0443 and our email is info@eavestrough.ca or you can fill out an estimate form on our website: www.eavestrough.ca