When rain hits a roof, it has to go somewhere. Gutters redirect that water. According to Anthony Kulikowski, owner of Top Rated Gutters, it only takes a half-inch of rain on a 1,000-square-foot roof to equal 300 gallons of water.
“It doesn’t take much rain to equal a lot of water,” Kulikowski says. “So, where is the water going? Is it draining properly? Is it being diverted away from the house properly? Those are all things to be mindful of.”
Kulikowski suggests that the next time it’s raining, homeowners should go outside to see if their downspouts are flowing properly. If water is coming out of the downspout, then you’ve probably got decent drainage. If, however, no water is coming out, there’s likely a clog somewhere that could be caused by sticks, leaves or other debris. Last year Kulikowski found a child’s wiffle ball clogging up a homeowner’s downspout, which resulted in his basement flooding. If water can’t drain off the roof properly, gutters will overflow. If water gets down next to your foundation, that can cause major problems such as flooded basements, which could potentially cost a homeowner tens of thousands of dollars in repairs.
Kulikowski has seen cases where homeowners have had to spend $10,000 to $20,000 on basement repairs as a result of severe neglect – either a lack of maintenance or failing to install any gutters at all.
“Not having a gutter is kind of the same thing as not keeping one maintained,” Kulikowski says.
Full gutters can develop into bigger issues, especially in the wintertime, because if the water isn’t draining then it gets heavy. Sometimes gutters can fall off if they are old or there is wood rot behind them. If water freezes in the gutters, it can create an ice dam.
“The ice will start creeping up into the shingles and then you get water inside of your house,” Kulikowski says. “Gutter maintenance is way more important than most people realize, but it’s also one of those things that you never think about until you actually have a problem.”
Kulikowski, who also owns Five Star Painting, has been in the painting industry for 27 years, during which he has also offered gutter services. He was doing so much gutter work that last year that he decided to officially open a second business called Top Rated Gutters, offering pressure washing, gutter cleaning, gutter repair services, new gutter installation, and gutter guards.
While many homeowners are capable of taking care of their own gutter maintenance, Kulikowski is often hired by older folks or homeowners who can’t find the time to do it themselves. For some of these customers, he recommends putting on gutter guards, a product that is installed on top of a gutter to block debris from getting into the gutter.
There are a million different types of gutter guards, from inexpensive to top of the line.
“It’s like anything else where you get what you pay for,” Kulikowski says. “Think of bath towels. You can buy really cheap thin ones that don’t soak up a lot of water and you’re not thrilled to dry off with, or you can buy the really nice plush ones that feel good to wrap up in. There’s a cost difference in those products. The same is true of gutter guards.”
The cheap gutter guards often don’t block out everything, and that’s what you want to watch out for because if you’re buying a gutter guard, it should be maintenance free. Kulikowski offers a lifetime warranty and clog-free guarantee on the quality gutter guards he installs. He is so confident in the guards he installs that if they ever get clogged up, he will come out, remove the guards, clean the gutters and install new ones.
“These guarantees give people peace of mind, knowing that if anything were to go wrong, we stand behind our product,” says Kulikowski, who also allows warranties to transfer to new homeowners.
“I believe the work we did is the work we did,” he says. “Who owns the house is irrelevant to me.”
Not only do they stand behind their work, but they also offer high-end products, top-notch service and financing options.
He and his team complete jobs in a timely manner and typically schedule less than two to three weeks out. Above all, he is honorable and always does what’s right.
“I’d rather walk away from a job than sell a job that I know isn’t going to work,” Kulikowski says.
He recently had a potential customer with a metal roof on a new build. He planned to install his own gutters so he was exploring his options, and asking various gutter experts for their opinion. Kulikowski told him he needed to use 6-inch rather than 5-inch gutters because water flows faster on metal roofs, and gutters would overflow using the fives. Another company had quoted the man 5-inch gutters, which cost less, but Kulikowski was insistent that 6-inch was the way to go. The customer wanted to spend less and opted to go with the five. Kulikowski wished him luck and walked away.
Although there is not a big demand for it, Top Rated Gutters also sells rain barrels and rain chains for homeowners interested in water reclamation. Instead of having a traditional downspout, you dig a French drain that water drains into.
“It’s like a chain with a bunch of little cups,” Kulikowski says. “As the water drains into that first cup, it overflows into the second cup down and so on and so on, all the way down into the French drain. It’s a neat-looking effect that you usually see on higher-end homes.”
To get a jump on spring projects, contact Top Rated Gutters today to fix things that went bad over the winter and clean out gutters that didn’t get cleaned last fall.
Schedule your free estimate today with Top Rated Gutters by calling 574-3-GUTTER. For more information, visit topratedgutters.com.
