A question for gutter installers

[rslaback]

I grew up in construction as my father owned his own small company. I ended up working for him full time after college until he made me go out and use my degree. We were pretty small scale so we did mostly additions, windows and siding jobs with a roof sprinkled in here and there. For that reason, we always had new seamless gutters put on by another contractor. I've been around during the installs and uninstalled/reinstalled to do fascia work so I've been around them but that was years ago.

Today I had a single 74' length with 3x4 downspout put on. They are the wrong color as the front of the house has bronze and these are clay but I put some of that blame on myself as I didn't notice the quote called out clay.

To me, the installation looks hack. That said my dad and I were more into quality than speed so I don't know if this is the new normal. Is it?

For what I paid I would've expected a transition elbow to be installed here. At the very least not a smashed in style B.

I expected elbows in factory paint. I got site painted (with fingerprints even).

This is a 2x3 hole in the trough feeding my 3x4 conductor. I know that almost no one uses the sleeve inserts anymore but is a hole the size of the conductor too much to ask?

 

[DalyArcher]

wow. I'd be getting a rework - no smashed elbows thank you very much or a cordially negotiated discount. No way I'd pay full price for that. Good luck.

 

[jeff lary]

I would print these photos out and carry them into the business office tomorrow morning and greet the owner. This looks like an amateur did the job, first timer maybe and not under any supervision. I would suggest a do over to the owner or a refund his choice that down spout with the screws sticking through will cause you some clogged up mess's in the future. Good luck.

 

[dshop]

totally unacceptable. The smashed elbow transition is damaged goods, not your problem, it needs replaced.
as mentioned, the way too long sheet metal screws will trap any leaves or debris right at that point and your gutters will overflow.
good luck, you have a pretty messed up install to deal with.

 

[readhead]

That's pretty bad. Have you paid yet?

 

[BADSIX]

poor job, here they have a sleeve sized to the down spout that is crimped into the gutter. then the 90 or what ever slips over and is riveted. nothing is bent out of shape .
Jay D.

 

[Geobound]

Wow that looks like ****!

And what's up with the onsite painting??

Was that in the contract too, because if not then I'd say no to that as well.

What happens in a few years when it starts to chip off, who's responsible for that?

Also the squished in joiner looks like ****, and will likely leak.

I agree with taking the photos and seeing the owner tomorrow.

 

[landlord30]

That kind of **** pisses me off. That is why I do as much on my own as I can. I would be complaining about it.

 

[grissom]

I would not be a happy at all

 

[ozyborn]

Tons of pictures and have a chat with the business owner.

My issue with gutters was they wanted to use the straps and nail it to the roof. Not a chance. New roof with stone coated metal shingles. Even had it in the quote. I made sure to be home when they came out. Yep, they attempted to try and use the straps. They learned a few new words that day.

 

[383]

I've seen a lot of crappy gutter installations, but never one as bad as that one.

 

[strutaeng]

Dang, that makes my DYI gutter job look bad ***!

Did they even get the slope right? I'd get a torpedo level do a few spot checks. If it's off snap a photo.

Good Luck

 

[rburke65]

Wow.....THAT is a real shame. And these people are in business .....Jesus.

 

[kelpaso1]

Wow, what an absolute friggen hack job. I would get my money back and call someone else. If they don't refund you're money tell them you'll be seeing them in court. A judge will look at that completely shoddy workmanship and be on you're side.

 

[txvwnut]

I'd be calling them back and making them re-do everything. Now with that said the repairs may be worse than the actual install.

Or at least that the was the case with mine. If anybody in the DFW area wants gutters pm me and I'll tell you who not to use.

 

[Dustball]

I see you're in "Westcentral Wisconsin". Who is this company so I know who not to contact when I have my gutters installed?

 

[fastjohnny]

Here are the issues: A 3x4 B elbow will not fit the bottom of a 5" gutter without some deformation. If an outlet punch is used instead of an outlet tube, as is the case here, it should have been sized accordingly. It is obvious that a 2x3 X punch was used with a feeble attempt to enlarge it. What I do for 3x4 B elbows on 5 " gutter is use oval 3x4 outlet tubes, and not screw the face of the elbow to avoid the smash. BTW a 3x4 X punch can't be used for a B elbow on a 5" gutter--it won't fit. I agree not acceptable substandard work....

 

[Norcal]

Someone told me once that gutter installers will screw up a *********. Photos shown are just another example of that.

 

[sierradmax]

I would agree that it was a bad install but I think in today's market, companies are pinched to make every dime they can. And this translates to cheaper labor as this is one of the easiest ways to minimize operating costs. Let's face it, material costs & overhead aren't going down! With that being said, most consumers shop around for the lowest price, to which isn't always the best option but truthfully, the contractor with the lowest price almost always gets the job.

And I'm sure there are contractors out there banking on the fact that there are homeowners/business owners that will never look above 8', climb up on the roof with a ladder and inspect their work.

 

[ishiboo]

Here are the issues: A 3x4 B elbow will not fit the bottom of a 5" gutter without some deformation. If an outlet punch is used instead of an outlet tube, as is the case here, it should have been sized accordingly. It is obvious that a 2x3 X punch was used with a feeble attempt to enlarge it. What I do for 3x4 B elbows on 5 " gutter is use oval 3x4 outlet tubes, and not screw the face of the elbow to avoid the smash. BTW a 3x4 X punch can't be used for a B elbow on a 5" gutter--it won't fit. I agree not acceptable substandard work....

It's kinda too bad more manufacturers are not making A/B transition elbows. I had to throw a gutter on one of my rentals and I could only find one and it didn't match the gutters at all.

 

[58Yeoman]

Someone told me once that gutter installers will screw up a *********. Photos shown are just another example of that.

We had a tree fall on our house about 6 years ago. Insurance company sent a company that farmed out our gutter work. We have a hip roof with over 300 feet of gutter. They were to replace the front. I came home from work, and there were new gutters all around. My wife said that she went outside to see how they were doing, and they had all the gutters ripped off the house.

The foreman then said that you get more than you paid for. They replaced ALL the gutters with seamless, and the downspouts, and did an upstanding job. And we didn't have to tell them. (But, I'm sure that somehow the insurance company did pay for ALL the gutters).

 

[Wanna Ride]

Discount? Nope, not at all.
Replace and repair, with what was originally agreed on? Yep, and nothing less.

Shove the can of paint up THEIR gutter. Well, not literally, but that's complete BS that they think that's acceptable. You know they didn't scuff it and prep it properly.

"Just squirt the rattle can on there, and call it good"

Hacks pi$$ me off.

 

[rslaback]

Sorry for the delay, the owner came out the next day and "fixed" it. The elbow still looks like **** in my opinion. I'm going to pick up my own transition elbow and outlets and install them the right way. I still don't have the paint. They haven't gotten around to getting it to me. The appointment to bid the job and "fix" it was next day but all of a sudden now they can't find time to find me.

If I were you I'd stay away from Quality Seamless in Eau Claire WI.

 

[Notgrownup]

Did you pay them already?

 

[rslaback]

Did you pay them already?

4 years ago, yes.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[nadogail]

IMHO, this should be in the WTF Picture thread.

 

[goingtoarizona]

I wish the pictures hadn't disappeared

 

[Notgrownup]

4 years ago, yes.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Got your money’s worth then...lol

 

[p00p]

money in the gutter. Maybe the business turned itself around & owned up to the advertised name.

 

[rslaback]

I wish the pictures hadn't disappeared

I have no idea why this works but if you open the thread in Internet Explorer the pictures are still there.

 

[whateg01]

They don't show up on my phone either. Ran into the same thing in another thread and the op pointed out that there were pictures. If you start a quote, the pictures url are there.

 

[p00p]

pic assist.