I just paid Spider-Man $75.00...

kevhed72
kevhed72 Posts: 5,047
edited March 2011 in The Clubhouse
to clean my gutters. OK, not really but a guy came by and offered to clean them for 75.00. Seeing as my deductible for a hospital stay is more than that, I said sure. This guy got the the roof, which is 3 stories up in some areas and at about a 45 degree angle, and blew the gutters out with a backpack leaf blower and no ropes or anything. I was amazed...the house is average size and he finished in less then a hour. Human ingenuity at its best.
Post edited by kevhed72 on

Comments

  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,957
    edited March 2011
    You paid 75 bucks to have leaves blown out of your gutters ? Can I come work for you ? The going rate around here is 20-30 bucks.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,190
    edited March 2011
    I wouldn't do the job for no less then 120.00 per hr.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,713
    edited March 2011
    tonyb wrote: »
    You paid 75 bucks to have leaves blown out of your gutters ? Can I come work for you ? The going rate around here is 20-30 bucks.

    Yes, but what kevhed didn't make entirely clear
    kevhed wrote:
    blew the gutters out with a backpack leaf blower and no ropes or anything.

    was that that's all the handyman had on: a backpack leaf blower.

    Yes, this week it was "Spider Man".
    Next week it will be "The Hulk".

    Not that that's a bad thing. :redface:
    Sal Palooza
  • kevhed72
    kevhed72 Posts: 5,047
    edited March 2011
    tonyb wrote: »
    You paid 75 bucks to have leaves blown out of your gutters ? Can I come work for you ? The going rate around here is 20-30 bucks.
    \
    I wish I would have taken a pic of this guy and my roof...I may have him come back and install the gutter guards. Any recommendations on types / brands of gutter guards out there?
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 8,121
    edited March 2011
    I do this every few weeks on my house, with a blower. Its not three stories, but a large house with pretty steep angles. Price seems a little steep to me...
    Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
    Game Room 5.1.4:
    Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra

    Bedroom 2.1
    Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,957
    edited March 2011
    kevhed72 wrote: »
    \
    I wish I would have taken a pic of this guy and my roof...I may have him come back and install the gutter guards. Any recommendations on types / brands of gutter guards out there?

    Be interested in that too as I am surrounded by trees. I see the cheap Home Depot stuff, and the expensive more elaborate stuff, nothing inbetween.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • thuffman03
    thuffman03 Posts: 1,325
    edited March 2011
    I don't care what the cost of cleaning gutters. I will not get up on a ladder or on my roof. I am deathly afraid of heights.
    Sunfire TGP, Sunfire Cinema Grand, Sunfire 300~2 (2), Sunfire True Sub (2),Carver ALS Platinum, Carver AL III, TFM-55, C-19, C-9, TX-8, SDA-490t, SDA-390t
  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited March 2011
    <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FYZfNZbn0SU&quot; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
  • HTguru1982
    HTguru1982 Posts: 1,066
    edited March 2011
    Hmmm, what would have happened if he fell and hurt himself or worse? I'm thinking that hospital deductible doesn't sound so bad.
    Display: Sony 42" LCD
    Sources: Harman Kardon DVD-27,
    Panasonic DMP-BDT110 blu ray player
    AVR: Sony STR-DA2400ES
    Amps: Sonance Sonamp 260(fronts),
    Kenwood KM-894(surrounds)
    Fronts: NHT 2.5
    Center: NHT VS-1.2A
    Surrounds: NHT Super One
    Subwoofer: SVS PB10-ISD
  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,004
    edited March 2011
    "Spider Man" was/is stupid. He may think he's a man but the first time he falls, may be his last. Best case scenario? Death. If he isn't lucky enough for death, the words vegetable and paralyzed come to mind. If OSHA knew how he was doing this, they would have a field day on him and his company.

    As for the rates, they can vary from state to state, height and angle/rake of roof so while $150.00 one place may be the norm, $30.00 may be the norm elsewhere.
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
  • DaveHo
    DaveHo Posts: 3,501
    edited March 2011
    My neighbor a few doors up had a new roof put on last week. They cleaned the debris from the gutters the same way, only the roofer's helper used a non-backpack blower. Talk about unbalanced! Better him than me.

    -Dave
  • muncybob
    muncybob Posts: 3,039
    edited March 2011
    kevhed72 wrote: »
    \
    I wish I would have taken a pic of this guy and my roof...I may have him come back and install the gutter guards. Any recommendations on types / brands of gutter guards out there?


    Here's some info:

    http://www.leaffilter.com/waterfall.php

    No affilition but I'm also looking at something for my house.
    Yep, my name really is Bob.
    Parasound HCA1500A(indoor sound) and HCA1000(outdoor sound), Dynaco PAS4, Denon DP1200 w/Shure V15 Type V and Jico SAS stylus, Marantz UD7007, Polk L600, Rythmik L12 sub.
  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited March 2011
    treitz3 wrote: »
    If OSHA knew how he was doing this, they would have a field day on him and his company.

    If he even worked for a company.
    kevhed72 wrote: »
    a guy came by and offered to clean them for 75.00.

    Was he insured? Licensed? Personally, I think you took an unnecessary risk there, Kev. No way would I pay a guy to do any work for me unless I contacted him first.
  • scottyboy76
    scottyboy76 Posts: 2,905
    edited March 2011
    mdaudioguy is right, but isnt it a shame we have to worry about things like that.

    poor hard working people have a harder time throwing tools in a truck and bettering themselves, because of the scumsuckers that prey on homeowners and others trying to give some work to the little guy, by suing for anything.

    Believe me, workers comp, insurance and bonding, ontop of the double taxation of the increasingly higher business license fees as you make more money instead of a flat fee to regulate business can make it impossible to"pull yourself up by your bootstraps"
    humpty dumpty was pushed
  • scottyboy76
    scottyboy76 Posts: 2,905
    edited March 2011
    as a struggling startup landscaper with zero dollars to my name, but a degree in horticulture, a love of gardening, a love of hard work, and goals in life, i learned to make the negatives into positives.

    one i came up with but never used was, We arent bonded, We arent insured and we pass the savings on to you"

    Hang in there little guys, its better than sitting on your couch, waiting for a check from others hard work
    humpty dumpty was pushed
  • kevhed72
    kevhed72 Posts: 5,047
    edited March 2011
    mdaudioguy wrote: »
    If he even worked for a company.



    Was he insured? Licensed? Personally, I think you took an unnecessary risk there, Kev. No way would I pay a guy to do any work for me unless I contacted him first.

    He was insured...that was the first thing that came to mind. I spoke to the guy a bit first...he was also a roofer. I don't know...him and his buddy seemed like they did this 1000x's before, so I said go ahead. They also seemed a bit hard-up for work, so I gave him the business. Your probably right, if he would have fell, I would have to get rid of the body pretty quickly, and that would have ruined my whole weekend...............................bad joke. Anyway, it was surreal watching this guy scale the roof. I just need to get the gutter guards put on and be done with it forever....any gutter guard first hand experience out there?
  • ken brydson
    ken brydson Posts: 8,752
    edited March 2011
    kevhed72 wrote: »
    \
    I wish I would have taken a pic of this guy and my roof...I may have him come back and install the gutter guards. Any recommendations on types / brands of gutter guards out there?

    We had a "Leafguard" guy come by last year. Wanted $8K for gutters for the house. He came down into the $6K range with all of their BS discounts. Kicked him to the curb. Picked up a system called "Rainfilter" from Costco. It's kind of a wedge shaped foam material that is easily installed into the gutter. We have lots of trees and so far I'm very impressed. Cost about $200 for the whole house.
  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited March 2011
    kevhed72 wrote: »
    Your probably right, if he would have fell, I would have to get rid of the body pretty quickly, and that would have ruined my whole weekend...............................bad joke.
    Maybe so... but I really did laugh! :biggrin: