Response from Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning
We have serviced the home 4 times. Here is everything we have done: First service was 11/18/13, just did a gutter cleaning, but gave a recommendation to replace a compacted section of downspout, rescure a 20 ft piece of gutter on the front of the home, and seal all the seams. Second service was 2/10/14, they booked the repairs and the repairs were done. On 8/8/14, we came out for another gutter cleaning. At this time, we noticed a 20 ft section in the back pulling away, which opened up a couple of seams. We recommended resecuring this completely different 20ft section of gutter, and sealing the two seams. On 8/18/14, we did the rescure and 2 seams. So when the customer implies that we did some work over again, we did reseal 2 seams again that were sealed in the past, but that was because the gutter was pulling away. The 20ft of resecure done on 2/10/14 was a completely different area than that of 8/18/14. Not only are they completely different areas, and that the homeowner should know they are completely different, but there is a diagram on the invoice that shows exactly where the repairs are done, and they are no where near each other. I’ve taken screenshots of the images and uploaded a video for anyone to see the differences in the two locations, so that you can see that the claim that they are the same area is completely false. As far as why their gutter may still have a leak, I cannot say for 100% certain because they have not called upon us in almost a full year, but we can make some educated assumptions. All our repairs come with a 3 year guarantee, but seam repairs are the only repair that have a caveat to their guarantee. That caveat is that the gutters must be cleaned every 6 months. When leaves fall in the gutter, they are dead, of course. They are in a constant state of decay, and after about 6 months, they reach the point where they are breaking down into simply dirt. When this happens, they release acid. This isn’t acid like the creature in Alien acid, but the type of acid that is used in composting to provide nutrition to the ground. Acid like this is great for dirt . . . but on seams it works similar to plague on teeth. This is the main cause of seam leaks, old debris breaking down and eating away at the seams at the corners of the gutter. This is why it is recommended by just about every gutter service and home insurance company to clean the gutters every 6 months. If someone calls our office and says, “I haven’t cleaned my gutters in a year, what kind of damage can happen,” first thing we’ll say is, “leaking.” Se with not hearing from the customer for 11 months, I am not surprised their leak has returned. We’d be glad to help, but they didn’t contact us, not even in seeing if we would honor the warranty, which we couldn’t since they didn’t keep up with cleaning. Also please note that we did no work for this customer this year, that is not accurate either, and the amount wasn't $200, it was $160. You can view the youtube video at https://youtu.be/PS2CbHf54T8