FAQ
Getting Quotes |
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Scheduling |
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Gutter Cleaning |
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Preparing for Service |
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Gutter Screens and Covers |
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Repairs and other Services |
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Gutter Installation |
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Warranties and Guarantees |
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Company Policies |
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Paying for Service |
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Annual Agreements |
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Window Cleaning |
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Pressure Washing |
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Getting Quotes
How do I get an estimate?
Unlike other companies that give you varying price ranges, our staff can provide firm quotes on cleaning right over the phone or by filling out our
QUOTE REQUEST FORM. In just minutes, you'll receive a quote designed specifically to the nature of your home, and more affordable than any other fully insured company in Atlanta. Call our office at 770-677-6690 and get your free no-hassle quote right now!
Does the price of my cleaning ever increase? Why is my price different
this time than last time?
During most parts of the year, we try to provide discounts to customers in order to remain competitive with other companies and to provide customers incentives for using us, especially if they are 1st time customers. It is random as to when we have these discounts, mostly dependent on the amount of work we have scheduled. Whenever a coupon is active, you can see it on our COUPONS page. We don't typically raise prices, or at least as of December of 2007, we have never raised someone's price arbitrarily. Often, a customer will receive a discount for using us the first time, and when they come back to us, they have forgotten what their regular price is and only remember the discount. Our regular price is a competitive price that is checked against other fully insured professional companies that are in our field, and the discount is an incentive for trying us. Our hope is that everyone will keep using us for the future at that regular price, which is the guaranteed lowest price of any fully insured company.
What goes into determining
the price of repairs?
There are many numerous factors involved. The primary factor, above and beyond all others, is the danger involved in the repair and the subsequent insurance. Our services are fully insured, meaning that the crews we use are professional and legal employees. Many other companies advertise themselves as insured when they hire
day-laborers to perform most of their work. They don't have to insure the laborers, so they save money, and past the savings onto you, or at least till someone gets hurt on your property and you have to face deductibles on your homeowner's insurance policy.
The majority of all the work we do is particularly dangerous since it is performed from the roof. Tree pruning from a company like ours would cost more than pruning trees or bushes around your home, being that your
landscaper is not in danger if falling to the ground. Most of the repairs we do cost the same or up-to 30% less than the same repairs from a major, professional, insured company. In many cases, our single repairs to your shingles, ventboots, ridgecaps, flashing, or our tree pruning service is less than the minimum service fees of other companies to perform the same work. Insured and professional roofing and tree pruning companies have minimum fees between $125-$250 to come to your home and perform any type of service, whether it is cutting one limb or changing one shingle. We call companies on a regular basis and obtain quotes to know what our competitor's average is. Likewise, a certain
percentage of the cost is based on the high cost of insurance for doing such dangerous work, and the fact that it is dangerous work.
Scheduling
Do I have to be home for your service? When is payment due?
It is always our preference that the homeowner or one of his or her agents be present to answer any questions and to settle the bill once service is complete, but this is not absolutely necessary. If the homeowner cannot be home, our crew will perform the service and communicate VIA cell-phone and email any issues regarding the home. Once completed, an invoice and envelope will be left in your mailbox. Payment is expected either by the end of the following business day by debit or credit card, or by a check within 5 days of service.
Your service called the day before with a time window, but the crew was later (or earlier) than quoted. Why is this, and why didn't I get a call?
The reason we give a time window for service is that, for obvious reasons, customers want to know when we are going to be at their homes. It is helpful to have a time window if the customer has other contractors scheduled to be at the home, or other events planned on the day of service. The time window, as it applies to our company, is to make sure that we do not interrupt anything happening at the home, whether it be a service, family visiting, kids napping, party, etc. The purpose is not to make sure that the customer can be home for the service. If you could describe the sum of the services we provide by any particular description, it is best said that we perform services too dangerous for the average homeowner to perform, all of which are done to the exterior of the house. We never need to enter the home to do a service. We do not require payment on the day of service. We cannot let homeowners use our ladder or equipment, or help us in any way in doing the work. Given all of these factors, and add to that the ability to communicate by phone or email with the customer if they are not home and take before and after photos of any service performed, there is no logical reason a customer must be home for our service.
Some customers prefer to be home for the service, and we try to accommodate this as best we can, but we never know how many factors are going to affect our service. If the homes we visit before you have light debris or low-pitched roofs, we may end up getting to your home faster than anticipated. If the gutters are heavy with debris and the roofs are steep, each home may take twice as long as anticipated. Also, we never know if a home will have repair issues, or if there will be an accident to cause traffic to slow, or disagreeable weather. There are so many factors that affect our schedule that it is next to impossible to predict an exact time. We truly try out best to make it within the time frames promised or within a couple of hours of the time frame; and it is extremely rare for a crew to completely run out of time and be unable to complete the services scheduled on the day. If any serious incident occurs to greatly affect the schedule, such as sudden weather changes or an accident to one of our staff, we contact customers immediately to reschedule.
As far as contacting customers with changes in time window, we will do this if the customer has said ahead of time there is a specific important reason for the time frame, such as other work happening at the home, a child's nap time, or a party is scheduled. Other than these or other extreme circumstances, we do not expect any customer to be home for the service. Our crews do not call the office with progress reports between houses. If we were to ask this of our crews and contacted customers as changes arise, we may end up calling a customer every 40-60 minutes to say the service time has changed again due to this reason or that. In the time it would take our crews to call in at every house they do, it would only add more time to their routes and cause further delay. A customer can always call and check to see how the route is progressing if they are concerned, but since we do not require their presence for the work to be done, they should not inconvenience themselves by feeling they need to be home.
Gutter Cleaning
What is an average charge for gutter cleaning?
There is no average charge as there is no average house. Every house is different and unique, yet we do have certain questions we ask to determine your specific price. Our prices usually range between $20-$40 less than other fully insured
companies that service the same area. Our minimum price for service is $95.00. The cleaning cost for average Atlanta homes (1-3 story, 1500-4500 sq feet, asphalt roof, screens or no screens) is between $130.00 and $170.00.
How often should my gutters be
cleaned?
This changes from every house, but the majority of our customers have their
gutters cleaned every six months on a regular basis. Home with lots of
trees directly over the gutters or homes with pine straw trees have us come for
gutter cleaning anywhere between three to five times a year.
Do you clean up my yard after cleaning the gutters? Why is bagging extra?
The majority of our customers are happy with simply blowing and clearing the debris into the natural landscape of their homes. This process involves clearing all debris from decks and patios, driveways, and flat or stone walkways. Generally, we try to leave the landscape looking the same as when we arrived, if not slightly better. When it comes to highly manicured lawns, blending and mixing the debris becomes more difficult. In these instances, our company offers bagging as a courtesy service to our customers. The bagging, in most cases, takes longer than the actual gutter cleaning itself. For this reason, we must charge $10 per bag for the extra labor. The average house is usually 1 to 2 bags.
How do you make sure the downspouts are clear?
Our blowers have the equivalent concentrated power of a hurricane wind. When we put this air pressure to your downspout, clogs don't have a chance. Our crew observes the debris as it blows out the bottom of the spout. Finally, a tiny rock or penny is dropped through the downspout to see if it comes out the other side. If a rock can get through, water won't be a challenge. If the rock doesn't come out, our team examines the length of downspout to find the clog and, if a major clog, will seek permission to remove the spout of the house to hand clear the debris ($35.00 extra per major downspout clog).
Why don't you use water?
Water is the worst element to involve in gutter cleaning. Using water pressure for gutter cleaning sprays the debris into a larger mess. It also saturates the debris, causing to be slimy and to stick and stain surfaces it lands on. Also, if water is used on a downspout, the debris in the spout saturates and sticks together, making the clog worse than what it was before. Use of water in the gutter cleaning process is the sign of an amateur company. Water should only be used in spraying debris off of areas where the debris has landed, as in the side of the house.
I was told you clean up afterwards, but I still see specs and sprays of dirt everywhere after the cleaning. Why is this?
This may be hard to understand to some, but we have very little control over the quality of cleanup. The majority of the control is in the hands of the homeowner. If a homeowner has us come out every 6-8 months, the cleanup can be immaculate, or the closest thing to it. When people wait a year or longer between cleanings, the debris in the gutters decays into a fine, powdery mix that, when blown out, scatters and spreads over everything. When this happens, we do clean it up, but it is difficult to do such a thorough job as to get every speck. The majority of time when people have concerns with our cleanup, nine time out of ten, it is because the homeowner is taking too long between cleanings. To use an analogy, doing cleanings every 6 months is like taking a bowl of sugar cubes, poor them on the ground, and sweeping them up. Waiting a year or longer is like pouring the same quantity of sugar from the same bowl, but doing so in powdery sugar form, and then trying to sweep up in the same amount of time. You'll end up with some sugar left behind.
What if my downspouts are connected to an underground pipe system?
Some pressure washing companies and plumbers have machines which can unclog and clear these underground pipes. Unfortunately, our company and others like us do not have the proper equipment. We can assure our customers that the downspouts are clear and check to see if there are clogs in these systems, but the clog would need to be cleared by a different company. We have called all major gutter cleaners in Atlanta, and none of them perform this service either.
My roof is made of slate, cedar shake, or Spanish
tile, and/or I have copper or half-round gutters. Should I be concerned
about people being on my roof or using ladders around my home?
You should definitely be concerned with having a handyman or unprofessional
service operating at your home given any of the above circumstances.
Slate, cedar, and tile roofing consists of slick, smooth, fragile shingles which
are dangerous to stand on, impossible to be on in the presence of moisture, and
can be carelessly cracked or dislodged by unskillful movement on the roof.
Likewise, copper gutters are of a completely different nature than aluminum or
galvanized metal gutters. Where aluminum is resilient to bending, copper
is not. Copper is an expensive metal, and expensive to fix given that
welding is required. The ONLY way to eliminate any concern about this is
to hire Atlanta's Best Gutter Cleaners. Our Certainteed Certified roofers
have vast experience on these roofs and with copper and half round gutters,
servicing many homes in the Sandy Springs, Buckhead, and North Atlanta homes
with these special and unusual materials. If any of the above criteria
applies to your home, it is not worth the risk to hire a company that doesn't
use professional roofers and experienced, professional cleaners.
What if there is debris between the gutter and
fascia board?
This is caused when a gutter has pulled away and the debris has fallen behind the gutter. Most of this debris can be cleared about by our crews, but not all of it. Some debris will stick out of the bottom space between the gutter and fascia board. Our crews are not able to reach this debris with their equipment, yet the debris poses no problems to the gutter or fascia board. It may be somewhat unsightly, but only when directly under it. It is, in most cases, impossible to see the one or two pine straw needles that may have become lodged and stuck behind the gutter by simply glancing and passing by your home. The most assured way to keep this problem from
occurring is to make sure the gutters are secured properly. If you see this issue and have not repaired the gutters, then it is time to get them repaired before you get water damage to your home.
Preparing for Service
What can I do to prepare for my gutter cleaning?
When we call you the day before, you have advance notice to make sure certain precautions are taken to make the cleanup more efficient. Don't park cars near the roofline. Cover any pool or pond areas close to the home. Cover or move lawn furniture, as well as lowering any umbrellas. Also, if there is any particular
foliage, flowerbeds, plants, or special landscaping you want avoided (if we can), then please feel free to tell us. Any notes or special instructions can greatly reduce any confusion and complication.
Gutter Installation
Gutter Screens and Covers
Are screens supposed to go under the shingles?
Screens are not designed to go under the shingle, like a fully covered product does. They are designed to snap onto the outer lip of the gutter,
arch over, and lay on top of the roof. Screens are built with a hinge for a purpose: they must be opened to properly clean. If they are stuffed under the roof shingles, then the screen will be flat, flawing the basic design. This will lead to debris falling directly onto of the screen and eventually completely covering
it. Water will roll over the debris and right off the gutter, leading to water damage to the home.
Are there ever any special circumstances when it comes to installing screens?
Regular screens cannot be installed properly on half-round gutters or coppers (a common metal used for half-rounds). A special screen must be custom-ordered for that type of gutter. Also, though it is rare, a small percentage of normal box gutters are manufactured with an incorrect lip angle. It is the lip that the gutters snap onto. If the lip doesn't have the proper angle, the screens won't snap and hold correctly, leading to problems during cleaning with screens falling off. If this is the case, you should contact the company that originally installed the screens, because they may have taken advantage of you.
Why did a screen fall off my house?
Screens are not screwed, glued, or sealed down to the gutters and roof. They are simply snapped on to the outer gutter clip and laid on top of the shingle's edge. They are designed to flip up and down. Really strong winds can cause them to flip over or even completely off the home. It is not uncommon to loose as many as five screens in one year's time. The thing to understand about screens is that they are not a perfect system. They don't completely stop the need for cleaning, they only prolong and limit the need. By loosing three or four screens, your system will still be affective. If you loose five or more during a year's time, there may be a concern. If one or two come off, collect them together and the next time you call us out, or any other roof professional, you can have them put back up at no charge.
Will you install plastic covers for me?
No. We do not install plastic products such as screens and
covers and do not recommend them to anyone in Georgia. The plastic covers you
can get in most hardware stores are extremely ineffective when it comes to
keeping debris out of your gutters. Further more, they tend to warp and change
shape due to extreme heat exposure in the summer months. The affect flaws the
design, making them completely ineffective. As a professional policy, not only
do we not provide the plastic style, but we must refuse offers to install
plastics you have purchased of your own accord. They are a waste of money and
if you have purchased them, you should return them for a refund. Since
they will eventually become ineffective, we cannot install them or reinstall
them under any circumstances since we do not want to be blamed or held liable
when the customer discovers the problems they lead to.
Why can't you give me an estimate for installing covers based on my square footage?
Though houses are based on blueprints, in truth houses are like snowflakes, where no two are alike. The length of gutters on the home has little to do with square footage and more to do with the actual layout of the roof. Depending on how the roof is designed to angle, a 2000 square foot home could have 100 or 150 feet of gutter. There really is no way to give a proper guess as to the linear feet of gutter based solely on the square footage
Repairs and Other Services
Why do the nails on my gutters pull away?
Changing seasonal temperatures cause the exposed holes to expand. Eventually, the weight of the gutter and its debris pull the smooth spikes away from the rafter/fascia board. Drilling new holes and adding gutter screws eliminates this problem permanently.
You
are already going to be on my roof, is there anything you can do for me for free
while you are up there?
Being on your roof is a very dangerous place, where many services probably
won't follow. The price we charge for gutter cleaning or any of the
other services we provide are specific for that service. Once service is
done, our crews do not want to stay in any form of danger. If it is
necessary for us to do additional work, there of course will be an additional
fee. Whether it is filling a few holes in some shingles, taking down an
old antenna or satellite dish, or anything behind the scope of the description
of our service, it is something that occupies our crews in a possibly
precarious or dangerous position for a greater amount of time.
Do I have to provide the floodlight for replacement? How long will my floodlights last?
No, our crews carry a large supply of floodlights with them everyday. We use brand new lights that the manufacturer guarantees will last for four years. If a bulb we replace goes out within 45 days of installation, we will replace it at no charge.
Do I have to provide the floodlight for replacement? How long will my floodlights last?
No, our crews carry a large supply of floodlights with them everyday. We use brand new lights that the manufacturer guarantees will last for four years. If a bulb we replace goes out within 45 days of installation, we will replace it at no charge.
I had you replace my floodlights, but the bulbs aren't working?
We are sorry you spent the money to have the bulbs replaced and are still without light. I hate to say this but it is not the fault of the bulbs. If the bulbs were out before, and you were paying us to replace them, and we replaced them with brand new bulbs-none of which are working, then obviously there is an electrical problem with the system. Unfortunately, we don't do electrical work. Though you paid to have bulbs replaced that may not have needed replacement, please understand that there is nothing wrong with the bulbs we installed and cannot do a refund on them as they are now opened and out of the package (as every home we install gets a fresh bulb straight out of the package). We do want you to know that trying to replace the bulbs first is the most logical thing to try, as it is cheaper than hiring an electrician.
Warranties and Guarantees
What should I know about your Insurance Coverage?
Atlanta's Best Gutter Cleaners carries Workman's Compensation and General Liability. This coverage protects you if either your property is damaged, or if someone from our company becomes injured or ill while on your property. Most of the companies that perform services like ours in Atlanta are not covered by Workman's Compensation, or they hire day laborers not covered by the company policy. Whenever a customer schedules service, we provide our insurance certificate by email or fax.
If you decide to use a company other than Atlanta's Best, make sure they provide a certificate by email or fax on they day you book service. If they promise to bring you a copy or send it by postal mail, it is a sure assumption that they are stalling in the hopes of working on your property before you realize the dangerous and liable position you are in.
Do you have a guarantee?
Yes. We guarantee everything we do for 45 days. This covers floodlights, cleaning, screen and cover installs, and all repairs. Our roof and gutter repairs are guaranteed for three years. Our no-clog cover installation is guaranteed for five years.
All of our guarantees are available
HERE!
Company Policies
What happens if I hire your service to come to my home, but you arrive and discover you cannot do the cleaning or I cancel at the door?
We have never come to a home where the homeowner quoted the house correctly that we could not perform a cleaning. If you provide us information that is incorrect, such as having a cover system when you said your gutters were open, or your home is 4 stories on all sides, when you said it was only three, we would charge an $85.00 trip charge for the cost of having us come out. Most companies would still charge you the total of the full service. As far as a canceled service, there are many opportunities to cancel before we arrive. Even calling first thing on the morning of service saves the time and expense of sending a crew to your home. If we arrive at your home and you cancel us at the door, we charge the $85 trip charge.
The safest thing to do is provide accurate info as possible and cancel service as soon as you learn you won't need it anymore.
Do you have a privacy policy?
Atlanta's Best Gutter Cleaners is fully committed to protecting your privacy as a visitor to our website and as our customer. To our visitors and to our customers, we offer this commitment: Atlanta's Best Gutter Cleaners will not sell, disseminate, disclose, trade, transmit, transfer, or share any personally identifiable information to anyone not specifically authorized by you to receive your information except as we have disclosed to you in this Privacy Policy. Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data that is stored on a visitor's hard drive while they are visiting a particular website. We may utilize a short-lived form of cookies when you visit our site. At Atlanta's Best Gutter Cleaners, a cookie is only used to identify one unique visitor from another visitor i.e. (ip address) during a particular session to protect our advertising return on investment. A session is the period of active site-use while that unique visitor is linked to our server. No personally identifiable information is stored on the cookie.
Third Party Links
This website may contain links to third party websites that are not controlled by the Atlanta's Best Gutter Cleaners. These third party links are made available to you as a convenience. Atlanta's Best Gutter Cleaners is not liable or responsible for other websites and you agree to use these links at your own risk. Please be aware that Atlanta's Best Gutter Cleaners is not responsible for the content of third party websites linked to Atlanta's Best Gutter Cleaners nor are we responsible for the privacy policy or practices of third party websites linked to the Atlanta's Best Gutter Cleaners. Our Privacy Policy only applies to information we collect from our online contact forms.
Changes In Our Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy without providing you with advance notice of our intent to make the changes.
If you have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact our office.
Paying for Service
What methods of payment do you accept?
We take all major credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover), as well as personal checks, and money order.
You can
pay
your bill securely on our website, or we can send you a Paypal invoice.
Annual Agreements
Pressure Cleaning
Do you provide pressure washing?
Yes, we do. We do pressure washing of the home, roof, driveways, and decks and patios.
Can the pressure washing cause damage to my home?
If the home is in good repair, sealed correctly, and has no pre-existing issues, then the home will have no damage from the service. However, if there are issues, such as rotted wood, chipping paint, cracks in the foundation, loose siding, or anything the affects the structural intergrity and waterproofing of the home, then it is possible, under those circumstances, that water can get into the home. Sometimes, customers don't know they have pre-existing issues because rain doesn't typically fall on the home sideways, at least not for a significant amount of time. When these problems are discovered, it is always disappointing.
I purchased a deal through a 3rd party website, and your company only cleaned the sides of my house, but not my roof, porch, deck, walkways, steps, or driveways.
An online deal is a great way to save money, but sometimes people by them without reading all the details of the deal or asking questions when they don't understand the deal. The vast majority of the deals that we do (currently and in the future) are for house washing only. This covers only the sides of the house going vertically up and down. This incluces windows, but does not include porches, patios, driveways, walkways, steps, decks, or any horizontal surfaces that are connected or conjoined to the house.
Can you get my gutter stains out?
Probably not. The pressure washing can clean off new and fresh dirt and grime, but anything that has been"baked" into the side of the gutter by the sun will be stained on. Pressure washers won't be able to clean this off. Sometimes, scrubbing by hand can work, but no professional service can do this since it must be done by ladder and prolonged standing on ladders is prohibited by OSHA regulations and is just too dangerous. The most common solution we have found people to do is have house painters paint the gutters from scaffolds.
Window Cleaning
What if my question isn't listed here?
Call our expert staff at 770-677-6690.
