In late November, I contacted an eavestrough cleaning company that's popular in my neighbourhood, but they were not available until mid-December, so I tried to find another company to clean my eavestroughs. I got an estimate from an independent contractor who could do the job right away, but wanted to charge upwards of $400. I decided to look for other companies on HomeStars, which is how I found Clear View. I used their handy online estimator, and was contacted about a week later (it was early December by then). The person I spoke to was honest. He told me that because the cold weather had arrived, the eavestroughs couldn't be cleaned well since everything was frozen. I was disappointed, but he said I could put myself on a waiting list and if there was a warm spell, Clear View would send someone out to do the job. I agreed, and last week (late December), I received a call telling me that someone would come do the cleaning toward the end of the week.
On the day of the cleaning, Kevin Morris gave us a call shortly before arriving to let us know he was on his way. When he arrived, he rang the bell to let us know he was going to get to work. He brought with him a big ladder, heavy rubber gloves, a leaf blower and a bunch of bags (plastic and paper). He spent about 1.5 hours cleaning the eavestroughs on our 3-storey, semi-detached Victorian house, which hadn't had a proper cleaning in a couple of years. When he was done, he rang the bell again to give me the invoice. I asked him a few questions about the roof and eavestroughs to find out in what condition they were, and he was helpful in his comments and recommendations.
He also cautioned me that he had placed the eavestrough debris in a paper bag in the backyard, but that it was heavy, so I should be careful handling it. I was a bit surprised that he wasn't going to take the debris with him since I'd read in other reviews that Clear View does this, but it was no big deal. Unfortunately, the city's yard waste collection was already over for the season, so I asked Kevin to put the debris in regular garbage bags instead so I could store it until yard waste collection resumed (since paper bags tend to disintegrate). He very willingly obliged, which was nice of him.
Finally, he told me I could pay for the work on the spot by cheque, or send a cheque to Clear View by mail, or pay by credit card online. I chose the last option. One word of warning to those who plan to pay by credit card: Clear View charges an extra 3% (presumably to cover the fees from the credit card company). This is stated on their website, but I hadn't noticed it beforehand. Again, no big deal, but the extra cost could add up if you have a really big job.
Overall, I was very pleased with the work and would use Clear View's services again in the future. I'm glad I found them!
- Approximate cost of services:
- $178.00
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Arrange for your eavestrough cleaning earlier in the fall than I did!
- Company Response
Hi there. Seems you had a positive experience overall. One concern you mention about is the fact that the debris was not taken away when completed. Please note that while we do try to do so, much depends on a variety of situations. For example, at the time your work was done, the debris was soggy and wet, which makes it rather difficult to remove from the property unless we had vehicles equipped to take care of such debris. Additionally, we sometimes can not take the debris away if the vehicle is already full from previous jobs. Hope this clarifies and misunderstandings. Thanks