Three Lessons Gutters Taught Me About Hiring Professionals

When it comes to saving money as a homeowner, you have to know which projects to do yourself vs. when to hire a professional. Adding or replacing gutters falls into the latter category for many reasons. There’s a lot to get right to install a gutter properly, mistakes can be expensive to fix, and it’s a skill set that you won’t use often. On top of all that, professionals have machinery that extrudes seamless gutters in the lengths your house needs, while home improvement stores sell gutters in pre-manufactured sizes that look unsightly when joined together. So off I went to find an expert to do the work.

I got the usual three quotes for the project by selecting well-rated companies and having each out for a walkthrough. The cheapest company did not impress, but the mid-priced company seemed fine. I didn’t plan on getting a fourth quote, but one morning I noticed a gutter crew doing an install at the neighbor’s house. They seemed to be doing a good job, so I approached them. I learned a lot, starting with discovering that gutter companies often hire sub-contractors to do the actual work. By talking to the sub-contractor directly, I not only got a better price, but I also got more practical advice: they pointed out some issues that sales reps had glossed over.

So the first lesson of this post is it’s always worth talking to people who are actually doing the job you need help with if you have the opportunity. I’ve taken advantage of this a couple of times. For example, I’ve also approached and hired my neighbor’s landscaping crew to do a couple of projects here (a small job for cash on the spot and a more extensive project as well).

None of the gutter companies tried to upsell us beyond the typical aluminum gutters, but there was the question of leaf guards. We decided we wanted them to avoid the chore of gutter cleaning and because we’re thinking about rainwater harvesting. Estimates for adding on a fine-mesh guard were as high as $9.50 per foot. The thing is, you can buy this product yourself for under $2 per foot. Unlike the gutters themselves, installing these covers is easy. If you can get up on a ladder, you simply peel self-adhesive off each three-foot section of the guard and stick it to the top of your gutter. Alternatively, you could have a competent handyman do it, or, in our case, the sub-contractor offered to do the install for $1 per foot if we supplied the product.

So lesson two of this post: even when you need to hire a professional for part of a project, it’s worth questioning whether you need to hire them for all of it. And lesson three: in some cases, you can save money by simply purchasing some of the material yourself. And you can always negotiate to find a happy balance between convenience and saving money.

Have you applied these ideas when you’ve hired someone to do a project? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.