The Four Questions to Ask About Gutter Cleaning Services
Thorough research is critical when considering a gutter cleaning company that will be charged with caring for your most important asset: your home. As a homeowner, the key to choosing a gutter cleaning company is knowing what to look for, and which questions to ask. As homeowners are researching gutter cleaning companies, here are four key questions to ask:
1. How knowledgeable are they?
It is recommended that you begin your research by casting a wide net and searching online for all the gutter cleaning services that serve your area. Based on what you find, try to narrow your search down to three. From there, we recommend that you call each company and spend about 5-10 minutes asking about their expertise.
It’s okay to ask specific questions about how their gutter cleaning process works, and how it is superior or different from their competitors. Listen for answers that incorporate elements of safety precautions, material selections, and thoroughness in their work. Pay attention to how they’re answering your questions, and how they may be asking you what elements of your home they should be considering.
Short, incomplete, or rushed answers are key indicators of a red flag because it shows a company that lacks a knowledgeable foundation. A gutter cleaning company should be excited to talk with prospective homeowners about their specific gutter needs.
2. Is there a service guarantee?
While it’s never fun to play out worse-case scenarios, you should always ask yourself, “what if something goes wrong?” Check to see if your top three candidates has a service guarantee that backs up their job performance.
A service guarantee should ensure the success of a job so that even if something were to happen to your gutters immediately after the services rendered. Ultimately, you don’t want to be left in a position where you’ve paid a company and been left high and dry with shoddy work. If there is no service guarantee, this is a huge red flag.
3. Do they have insurance?
Having insurance and, specifically, liability for customers & workers compensation for employees is important. Ned Stevens, for example, is fully insured in this way and is, therefore, able to perform work on your roof when needed.
In our opinion, this is a precursor to any type of physical labor done at a private residence, though not every company sees eye-to-eye with Ned Stevens on that subject. We consider insurance a safety protocol because if our employees injure themselves while working on your roof, we want to make sure they are covered.
Furthermore, and although few and far between, mistakes happen which might cause damage to property. Should that happen at the fault of a gutter cleaning company, knowing they are insured can give everyone peace of mind about the situation.
Read More: What is a Gutter End Cap? Advantages and Issues
4. Do they have a rich history?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions about how many years they’ve been in business, how many jobs they perform per week, and how many different areas they serve. A good comparison to this is a restaurant. You would expect a reputable and popular restaurant to have a packed house on Friday during happy hour.
If at this pivotal hour during the week a restaurant is empty, it might suggest how it’s perceived. The same logic applies to a gutter cleaning company, in which longevity, portfolio, and area reach are all indicators of a company that does consistently good work for a multitude of customers.
To find out more, search reviews on Google and Yelp, and check out their rating and accreditation with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Reputation matters!
At Ned Stevens, we follow up every completed job with a customer survey because we want feedback. Working to make sure that our company’s reputation is positive hopefully shows integrity and knowledge, and we think speaks to how our customers perceive our business. As a result of this hard work Ned Stevens has been in business for nearly 60 years and has an A+ rating with the BBB.
Learn more about Ned Stevens by calling (888) 616-3307 for a free quote or additional information to learn about gutter cleaning or any of our other services. We’d encourage you to try these four questions above on our company, as we look forward to giving you tailored answers that are specific to your home. Call us today!
