North Shore Eavestroughing at the Home Show with Jay Purvis of the HGTV show The Fix

Recently we were invited to a Home Show to speak with a panel of experts to give advice to homeowners on renovation dos and don'ts.

It was hosted by Jay Purvis of the HGTV show The Fix
http://www.generalpurposepictures.com/thefix/meet.html

We were happy to speak on the importance of a proper functioning eavestrough and leafguard system on your home. We gave tips and advice on how to prepare your gutters for the winter season.

North Shore Eavestroughing works in Scarborough, North York and other areas in and near Toronto.
Visit www.eavestrough.ca for more information or to contact a rain water management professional.

Onstage Connecting With Clients Event Hamilton

This weekend North Shore Eavestroughing was invited to speak to small business owners at the Hamilton Ideal Home Show. It was an excellent opportunity to share the basics of social media to small business in Hamilton. It was a great success and we were thrilled to share the stage with media experts and contractors who are embracing social media.
(from left to right):

Tom Whitaker of Tiny Briefcase. A company who helps small business use technology to improve their business. www.tinybriefcase.com

Myself, Darren Perry of North Shore Eavestroughing of Toronto www.eavestrough.ca

Andrew Goodman, President of Page Zero Media and author of best selling book Winning Results with Google AdWords. A true expert on online pay per click campaigns. www.pagezero.com

Chris Healy also representing Tiny Briefcase.

Jerret Jastal of Stonecoat. An expert in resurfacing concrete outside and everything inside. www.texturock.com

Jeff Schnurr of Toronto Home Theater and Inview Marketing. www.inviewmarketing.ca

Definitely a great group of people and I highly recommend contacting them if you think they might be able to solve any of your problems.

Where to find quality eavestrough parts.

We often get calls to our office asking if we can retail eavestrough parts like downpipes etc. Since we are primarily a supply and install company we thought we would give a great contact if you were looking for quality parts and may just want to do a repair yourself.

Danforth Roofing is located at 3145 Danforth Ave near Victoria Park and Danforth Ave., Toronto

Their phone number is 416 699 7127.
















Danforth Roofing also has a metal bending shop that can custom bend any flashings etc that you might need. Wayne and the crew always give excellent service in the back shop.


















Tara is always professional and ready to look after customers at the front desk.















They have different colours and accessories for downpipes. They also make Y diverters if you plan on installing a rain barrel and want to have control over the water. With a Y diverter you can divert the water out the downspout when the barrel is full.

Danforth Roofing has been offering us excellent service over the years, making Y diverters we need for installing barrels. Danforth gives homeowners the chance to purchase eavestrough accessories that are of better quality than what they would find at the local hardware store.

If you are in Scarborough, North York, other areas in or near Toronto and need a full service company contact North Shore Eavestroughing for a free estimate.
Our website: http://www.eavestrough.ca/
Our email: info@eavestrough.ca

Eavestroughing can be dangerous!

I cannot stress the importance of hiring a contractor that takes safety very seriously.

Working on your roof or eavestroughs can be very hazardous. Its way too often we hear in the news about someone falling to their death while working at heights.

 

 

It is terrible to imagine an installer being seriously injured or losing their life on the work site. It is also important to realize that in the event of a serious accident the fines can be in excess of $100,000. and these fines are not covered by insurance.

Besides these very important issues, I believe that a person working on a home will do a much higher quality job if they are not hanging on for dear life. There are many installers out there that are working unprotected. Remember no one's roof, eavestroughs or Leafguard is worth losing a life over.

It's imperitive to hire contractors that work according to the law. Anyone working over 10 feet must be certified in fall protection, have the ropes and harnesses and use them!

Visit our website at www.eavestrough.ca

Super Strong Eavestrough

Here are a couple of North Shore Eavestroughing installers hanging out in Scarborough. The good thing about our eavestrough system is that it can handle a great deal of downward force and is not affected by ladders laying against them. They will not loosen, as they are screwed tightly in place and never nailed in any way.

Our clients often joke around about being able to hang from their new eavestroughs and sometimes we feel up to proving that it's actually possible. (Do this in a low safe area if you decide to try)

We give new meaning to hanging around your home. Not only do we install a leafguard but a workout system as well. Now we have an excuse for skipping the gym.(Now I am joking about this part!)

Visit our website at www.eavestrough.ca

Downspouts Plugged, Solid!

Its way too often that we find downspouts that are completely plugged with old leaf debris.

No wonder that some eavestrough systems have overflows like Niagara Falls!

The debris seen in this pipe may have been in there for many years. The company responsible for cleaning this eavestrough has neglected to check the downpipes from top to bottom for obstructions.

 

Eavestrough cleaning companies that use the practice of dropping marbles down the downspouts to see if they are clear has its limitations. At one property, in North York, we have found a pile of marbles on top of the debris at the base of the downspout. This means the eavestrough system has not worked for years and they have been billing the homeowner for cleanings.

This reinforces the need for some type of a leafguard to prevent debris from getting into your eavestrough and downspouts in the first place.

If you are unsure if your pipes are plugged and are unable to take them apart to inspect give them a tap and they should sound hollow. If they sound solid and hard, consider having a eavestrough cleaning company come in to take them apart, clean them out and reinstall.

If your plugged downspouts are older and you can afford it you might consider replacing the whole eavestrough system with leafguard and possibly larger downspouts.

Visit http://www.eavestrough.ca/

How to guarantee a flood in your basement!

If you have a downspout that looks like this one you might want to give some serious consideration.

This downspout connects into an old clay weeping tile. These are prone to crack, deteriorate, and plug with debris and tree roots.

Can you imagine what could happen if this clay pipe fails during a heavy rain? It very likely would flood water right into this window well.

If the window well cannot drain the water away quickly enough, water will build up and fill the window well. Most old basement windows are far from water proof and will allow water to enter the basement.

When designing a new eavestrough system for this home every effort must be made to move this downspout to a new location. One that is safer and will not put your basement at risk of a flood. We have rectified situations like this in Scarborough and North York as well as other areas of Toronto. If the property allows try to keep downspouts away from window wells.

Visit our website http://www.eavestrough.ca/

Improper Gutter Causes Roof Damage

We happened to look next door at this home during an eavestrough project in Toronto and saw some very evident problems.

The eavestrough has an open end which dumps water onto the roof instead of channeling it to the lower eavestrough via a downspout.

Over the years the high volume of water near the end of this gutter has slowly eroded the surface of the asphalt shingles.

You can see the layers of newer, different color shingles that have been installed to probably stop a leak into their home.

This probably was not enough to fix the problem as it seems that someone poured a bucket of black tar down the roof out of desperation.

Never allow a high volume of water to flow down your roof like this or you can expect premature roof wear.

When hiring a contractor to work on your home ensure that they have a "do it right do it once" attitude just like Mr Holmes says.

Visit http://www.eavestough.ca/ for more information.

Giant Pipe Cleaner Leafguard!

Now as I stated in earlier blog posts, I am a big believer in leafguard if you have trees on your property and any brand is better than nothing when it comes to reducing the frequency of cleaning.

However I may want to take that statement back if the new products entering the market place get any more wild than this.

We found these that resemble large pipe cleaners that you shove down into your eavestrough.

Sure they may be super easy to install but they seem to be great at catching and holding on to debris with all their little tentacles.

Not only that but the home we found them on looked a little funny from the street as they were poking out the top of all the eavestroughs.

Visit our website at www.eavestrough.ca

Custom onsite metal fabrication.

We have fully equipped trailers that come with 10 foot metal brakes to allow for any custom metal bending required.

Often eavestrough projects require aluminum fascia, flashing or drip edge to be fabricated on site. This ensures an exact, precise fit.

Tony is shown here in this picture bending some flashing to finish an eavestrough project in Scarborough.

We provide our installers with all the best equipment. As the saying goes in the construction world we are only as good as our tools. It's important to hire contractors that have all the necessary equipment to complete the task at hand - no matter what the trade.

Visit our website at www.eavestrough.ca

Silly stuff we find in eavestrough!

Over the years we find all sorts of interesting things in the gutter. Most often it's tennis balls or other things children tend to toss around the yard. I guess it's another reason why you might want to consider a leafguard. It could be a ball, a mess of leaves or an action figure; they all can plug the downspout and create an overflow situation.

I realize this post is more for entertainment than education, but hey you have to have a little fun in our business. If anyone else has found something interesting in their gutter feel free to comment below.

North Shore Eavestroughing tries to make the best of an often unexciting topic. We are passionate about eavestrough and that's a good thing if you plan on becoming one of our clients! We work in Scarborough, North York as well as areas in and near Toronto. 

Visit our website at www.eavestrough.ca

Signs of a major downspout leak!

If you look around the exterior of your home after a rain and see wet patches on the wall you may have a serious eavestrough/downpipe problem.

The upper downspout elbow shown in this picture is dumping water onto the roof and wall. It's easy to see the large wet spot on the wall. In this case it has been happening so long that the water has allowed for a green stain to develop.

This situation can cause:

 

1. Water to which through the wall and create a mold growth on the interior side of the wall.

 

2. A leaky basement because its obvious water is not being directed into the lower eavestrough properly. This water is running down the wall and depositing near the foundation which can enter into your home.

3. Damage to the exterior finish of your home.

This can be easily corrected by using downspout to properly connect upper downspout to the lower eavestrough and contain all the water. If you are handy some repairs are easy to do yourself and can save you lots of money down the road. Many basic eavestrough supplies can be found at the local hardware store. Although the supplies at these stores are not of professional quality they will work fine for a small fix up like this. We work in Scarbrough, North York as well as other areas in and near Toronto. For a major overhaul of your old, tired rainwater system visit http://www.eavestrough.ca/.

How not to do a downspout

This picture pretty much speaks for itself. You can not have proper functioning eavestroughs if there is a restriction with a downspout. In this case the company that did this handywork may not have realized how this entire system was basically shut down due to how the downspout was squeezed and jammed into the small galvanized downspout that goes through the roof. We had to redirect this downspout completely as the pipe through the roof was way too small.
Performance of an eavestroughing system can be jeopardized and prevented from flowing properly as a result from leaves caught in the downspout and also using downspouts that are too small for the square footage of the roof.
Downspouts of proper size and clear of debris are key to controlling water around your property.

Visit http://www.eavestrough.ca/ for our contact information and to arrange for a consultation with one of our eavestroughing professionals. We service Scarbrorough, north York and other areas in and near Toronto

A Very Well Known Toronto Eavestrough Company Did This!

Just a quick entry here to display some more handy work of a well known roofing and eavestrough company here in Toronto. Now I don't want this blog to be focused on just other contractors shoddy work but I have been seeing so much of it lately that I feel compelled to share some of it.

I think some companies forget that they are only as good as their last job.

In the top picture the fasteners that hold the eavestrough on are about 4 feet apart when they should be no more than 2 feet apart.


This same piece of eavestrough was cut a couple of inches too short and instead of making a new piece they inserted a filler piece which doesn't look so nice and may be prone to leak.



This picture shows a mess of caulking that needed to be spread out to cover the extra seams created by the eavestrough being too short.

This Scarborough homeowner has paid top dollar for her eavestroughs and will have to live with eavestroughs like this for many years to come as like most people cannot afford to do them all over again.

I advise homeowners to educate themselves before going ahead and hiring a contractor. I realize this can be difficult as everyone is always claiming to be the best at what they do. Take some time to do some research on the task at hand and the contractor as well. Ask lots of questions and see how they respond. Do they have the patience or interest to spend some time with you answering your questions? Do they know their product inside out and backwards? Do they seem passionate about their work? I believe that if you do not rush the process and invest some time on your end, it will pay dividends. Visit our website at http://www.eavestrough.ca/