# Subcontracted gutters



## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

How much do you guys pay for subcontracted gutters? 

I’ve been paying $2.6 for 5” and $4.1 mounted with screw type hangers.

They count elbows as 2' and miters as 3'. They charge $45 for bay windows. They hand cut all miters and make one piece overhangs in their shop insead of using prefab elbows.


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## Ed the Roofer (Sep 15, 2008)

How good is your sub and do you get any callbacks on their work?

His prices seem high for a sub, but I haven't checked the aluminum prices lately, so that may account for it.

How much do you mark it up for the sale?

Ed


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## OUTLAW (Feb 16, 2009)

Is $2.61 for him to run the gutters off and you install?
And $4.10 is installed?

Sounds good to me.


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## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

*They install*



OUTLAW said:


> Is $2.61 for him to run the gutters off and you install?
> And $4.10 is installed?
> 
> Sounds good to me.


They install for this price.


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## Ed the Roofer (Sep 15, 2008)

Jack The Roofer said:


> They install for this price.


Which price?

You didn't make yourself clear.

Ed


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## OUTLAW (Feb 16, 2009)

I'm confused Jack.
What do you get for $2.61 and what do you get for $4.10


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## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

*Installed prices*



Ed the Roofer said:


> Which price?
> 
> You didn't make yourself clear.
> 
> Ed


They install 5" gutter for $2.6

6" gutter for $4.1

Both mounted with screws type hangers.

I am looking for a new subcontractor because the one I’ve been using has a bad attitude.

It’s run by 2 brothers that have been doing it for about 40 years. Every time I talk to them they are negative.

I recently sold a roof job with 6 inch gutters I estimated about 545 feet of gutter at 4.1 per foot, total $2235.

They came in with a price of $2918, they said it required about 658 feet and they charge about $45 extra for each bay window.

I can see how I didn’t include the extra charge for the bays but I don’t think I was off by over 100’.

I have used this company for 20 years and they do good work. I have never tried to beat them up on price.

I called and asked if they could give me a break on the price of about $250 and the owner said “I would loose my ass at that price, hire someone else”.

So I said OK.

These guys are angry at the world because they can’t adapt to changes in the market. Instead of telling me to get someone else for the job he could have simply told me that he can’t lower his price.

They lost a good customer. I have other gutter guys calling me looking for work and I have never used them even though I could probably get a better price.

Now I’m going to get quotes on this job and start using some one else from now on.


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## OUTLAW (Feb 16, 2009)

The price I could live with.

The attitude I could not.

Alot of guys talk about this much or that much per foot and then try to stick in more footage to make up the difference.


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## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

*Attitude*

Every time these guys talked about gutter protection they said it was all “junk”. Never mind that there is money to made installing it.

For all I know they may have raised their price per foot, they didn’t bother trying to help me understand the price they quoted.


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## Ed the Roofer (Sep 15, 2008)

Possibly 545 feet of gutters and another 113 feet of downspouts???

He should have made himself clearer, but after doing jobs for you for 20 years, maybe he figured you didn't need an explanation.

I wouldn't abandon a guy who did work for the past 20 years for me without sitting down with him and ironing things out.

But, I would still have a backup plan guy to go to.

Ed


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## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

Ed the Roofer said:


> Possibly 545 feet of gutters and another 113 feet of downspouts???
> 
> He should have made himself clearer, but after doing jobs for you for 20 years, maybe he figured you didn't need an explanation.
> 
> ...


I'm getting quotes from 2 companies that have been calling me.

THe 545 ft included downspouts. When the gutter guy says "just get somone else to do it" how would you respond?


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## tomstruble (Jan 19, 2009)

no response just get someone you can deal with


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## Dean the roofer (Mar 21, 2009)

You are probably not counting any corners either.All gutter guys figure a cost for corners as they are the most time consuming.Also you did not mention any 2 story pay,roof walkability etc....Price is a little high but I am notsure where you are at.I get 6 inch for 3.25 all day long and they haul off old as well.


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## Pro-Vision (Oct 9, 2011)

How much do you guys charge the customer? How much profit is there or do you do it as a courtesy? [which I doubt] I am in Texas and need to get a price for the customer today. Thanks for any help.


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## vtroofing (Sep 27, 2009)

$2.60? Thats stupid low. 

40' ranch with 24' wide garage job front and back 128', 4-6 DS (13' each) 52'

$468.00? F#@k dude no wonder they are unhappy!

Sure this example is a easy ranch- but a time to drive across town, fuel, materials, insurance, ect. That is not worth leaving the house man. 

The price difference is also off- .027" coil yields 2.5 lineal feet per pound for 5" and 2 feet per pound for 6". I'd never run 5" again for that spread.


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## Aaron (Sep 26, 2011)

Well, the original thread is 2-1/2 years old.

Still, we have the supplier come out with coil and form the gutters on site, then hang them ourselves. I mean, you've got guys with ladders on the job already, right?

Add Raindrop gutter cover and you just earned a bunch more money. I mean, gutter guys are nice and all, but if there's work to be done, I'd rather see our guys doing it.


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## dougger222 (Aug 13, 2010)

I very rarely sub out gutter jobs. Instead simply hand over the card to the guy who does my gutters. When I lived in the rental house called for a price for gutters and within a week he hung them for FREE! This is of course after getting "spoon fed" several key gutter leads.

I like to work "spoon fed" into the mix when handing over leads. In most cases these are single bid leads.

My gutter guy is great never heard of a complaint. As far as rates I know the insurance is at $5.72 a running foot 5in or less gutter and spout counted the same. As far as my gutter guy want to say he charges $5 a foot plus $55 for one story and $75 for two story spouts. He did the gutters on my house and said he's never hung so many feet of gutters so high up on a residential. 275ft at 33ft eave. He did the gutters this Spring and have not yet seen a bill... Total job was 375ft.

BTW, my guy does not have a gutter machine and has them job site dropped for a couple bucks a foot.


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

I will make more from a 2 man gutter crew hanging 2 jobs per day than I will from a 5 man shingle crew tearing off and replacing a shingle roof in the same time frame. Liability with gutters is less than roofing too. That profit margin on gutters is by design, not accident. On roofing forget it, I sometimes wonder why I roof anymore with the low profit margins. 

We do our own gutters on flat roofs, otherwise we sub it out. If the roof and gutters are both being replaced, roofers will tear off the gutters and the gutter crew follows a day or two behind. I personally would never hire a gutter sub without a gutte rmachine. In my opinion owning a gutter machine is your resume.


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## TipTopRoofing (Nov 29, 2011)

OUTLAW said:


> The price I could live with.
> 
> The attitude I could not.
> 
> Alot of guys talk about this much or that much per foot and then try to stick in more footage to make up the difference.


I absolutely agree with that. Attitude can really mess up a sale. That is one of the reasons we take care of our own gutters and don't mess with subcontractors.

----

http://go2tiptop.com/


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## vtroofing (Sep 27, 2009)

The one issue I've experienced with gutters... To get two jobs a day is a lot of windshield time. Roofing two, three, four houses and then sending the 2 man to hang gutters and then collect- thats thousands waiting on hundreds. 

Gutters are not complicated- they do require certain skills that many even skilled "Roofers" struggle with. 

I think I am great at Gutters both speed and quality- I custom cut the corners quicker than most can attach a box miter squarely and the finish product is both stronger and better looking. With that being said I also think the time spent selling, moving the machine and collecting is better spent on a roof with the crew. 

And following that comment I have a gutter machine for sale for cheap. I will deliver it. I would consider buying a new box trailer (Tandem) and putting it in and delivering it within reason. PM me if interested.


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## Aaron (Sep 26, 2011)

I have to agree with VT. Just the gutter job is hard to justify the sales time. It's a great add-on sale to the roof, but just gutters on their own is not going to do a roofing company as well as that time spent selling another roof.


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