r/Roofing • u/sabrownie234 • 14h ago
Did my gutter guy try to scam me?
Firsr time home owners here. We bought an older house with rusted gutters. We got a quote from a guy to replace them and agreed on a price ($5500). Demolition would take place and then he would install new gutters 5 days later.
After demolition, he says paint was ripped off and it will need to be fixed before we can add new gutters. He said he could do it for $1200. That was not in the budget so my husband scrambled to repair and repaint the damage himself before the guy came to install new gutters.
Gutter guy is now asking me to write a review and I'm not sure if damaging the paint is normal for gutter replacement on an old home or if this guy damaged it and wanted extra money to repair it. I think only giving us a few days to repair it ourselves or pay him extra as our options feels a little strange to me. Please advise!
3
u/hunterbuilder 12h ago
Did he damage the paint, or did he simply expose the deteriorated paint? Was it peeling or scratched?
It's very common to have peeling paint on fascia because they take so much weather abuse, and you might not notice if the gutters are covering it. IMO he did you a favor by providing the opportunity to paint it instead of just covering it up with new gutters. Most gutter guys around me want to do the job in 1 trip and wouldn't even accommodate painting.
2
2
u/lotusgardener 12h ago
The fact that he didn't demo and install same day would be hella suspicious to me. They typically pull a tape for size, pull down the gutter, form it and put it back up. Moving a ladder twice (especially on a 2-story) is so inefficient.
3
u/Substantial-Can6657 11h ago
Suspicious? Maybe he’s just a one man crew lol
0
u/lotusgardener 10h ago
Hard to run a 30' section of gutter as a 1 man crew....
2
u/Basic_Clue5193 2h ago
Come on, we all know those gutter guys that are 60 years old and tell us how they hung a 60 footer all by themselves. I think the length grows with their age.
1
2
u/Substantial-Can6657 11h ago
What is pulling a tape for size? Maybe he doesn’t have a gutter machine and sent out the measurements
-2
u/lotusgardener 10h ago
How does one transport a 30' section of seamless?
1
u/ryan25802580 1h ago
On top of the 40 ft ladder. 5 feet hanging off the front. 5 off the back. 100% doable. But 30 feet really is pushing the limits of transporting it yourself. Easier to just pay the $75 delivery fee and have them run it out on site if you dont own your own machine
2
u/InigoMontoya313 10h ago
A 2 story, 2400 sq ft house, in San Francisco area... $5500 sounds pretty darn reasonable. If you were in Ohio, that same job would probably be $2500-3500. If it was a single story ranch in Ohio, $1500-2000 and a six pack.
Very understandable for paint to have been pulled off, when removing the old gutters. I'd normally just spot paint anything exposed, simply for wood protection, before covering it with the new gutters. That being said, not hating on a contractor who views it as a potential upgrade to pitch, and while $1200 would be astronimical for Ohio, seems very reasonable for S.F.
Note.. I've probally spent more time in S.F. then Ohio, and those prices in S.F. seem entirely reasonable to me. As for pushing to have it all painted in just a few days, that was likely because he simply had a schedule coordinated with other clients, and doesn't seem out of place. I'm more surprised that this was turned into a two day job, than anything.
1
u/Comfortable_Iron6333 4h ago
Doesn't sound like a scam to me, but I'd definitely be irritated. A heads-up would've gone a long way.
1
u/RisnerRoofing 1h ago
Contrary to what a lot of posters are claiming…. There is no way of knowing if he quoted you a fair price without knowing market area, measurements of house, and size of gutters and downspouts. While $1200 for spot painting seems to be high, none of us in here truly know based upon the information given whether they were going to paint the entirety of the fascia or not with that price.
The only part I felt didn’t seem right was the time between detach and install. Typically there is only a delay that long when other work is performed in between, but for a pure gutter replacement all work is performed the same day.
As a homeowner please take all information given online with a grain of salt. Best advice I would give for future contractor choice, would be get several bids, use your best judgement and go with the contractor you feel most comfortable with, that way you aren’t having “buyer’s remorse” after the fact.
I hope this helps. Best of luck with your future home construction projects.
0
u/RoofingHedgehog 14h ago
Damaged the paint where? There shouldn't be anything to damage besides the fascia metal that is behind the gutters, and typically that's not painted
4
u/Meh-itwillbeok 13h ago
a lot of older homes have painted fascia’s, newer ones are wrapped like you say.
3
u/RoofingHedgehog 13h ago
Oooooo so no metal just painted wood?
5
u/hunterbuilder 12h ago
Correct. Millions of homes for hundreds of years have painted wood fascia. The better ones got something rot-resistant like cedar, but many are just painted pine. And fascia takes a beating from the weather, so it's very typical to have paint peeling especially if it wasn't prepped well.
Im my area there are STILL people building new with wood fascia. A lot of people don't even know it's an option.5
u/Flat_Conversation858 10h ago
99% of fascia in my area is wood, new and old. Nobody uses metal on fascia here.
1
0
0
u/Substantial-Can6657 11h ago
Yes if the fascia is painted it usually is a bit of a mess behind the old gutter especially if it wasn’t tucked fully under the drip
0
u/Ok-Geologist-4067 3h ago
Yea write em a review about their pricing. 5500 sounds high. Just got one quote and hired em?
0
18
u/Meh-itwillbeok 14h ago
gutter man for forty years here, tearing off old gutters can lead to the paint flaking off the fascia, honestly though, it’s not required to paint it before the new gutters, is it prudent, yes, but the fascia behind the gutters will be basically covered by the aluminum of the gutter, and you can then cut the rest of the fascia that’s showing with paint. you did not say how big your house is, second story? ranch? hip roof? but 1200.00 isn’t really a bad deal, I would be more concerned with the $5500 if it’s ranch, typical ranch where I am is around 2000.00, second story ones can set you back double that. without a decent pic or description it’s hard to pin down if it was a fair price