The Gutter Cover of Kansas City and its sister company, Legacy Seamless Siding, has moved to a new location. Our new address is 1151 Century Drive, Lee’s Summit, Missouri. All other contact information is the same.
“Growth” means to increase in size, develop, expand. This is certainly true of Gutter Cover. From small beginnings working out of a home office Doug and Pam established their new company, Gutter Cover of Kansas City. In 2001 the company began with one employee working part time installing under 100 jobs resulting in thousands of installations in the Kansas City area and now running three crews. Debbie was hired in September, 2003, to manage the office and in April, 2011, Sharon was employed as an office assistant. Doug and Mike (Mike began working for Gutter Cover in April, 2010) take care of meeting with the customers and providing estimates.
Legacy Seamless Siding started up in 2009 in partnership with Jim Dowling who does the estimating and looks after the siding crews. Legacy is now running two crews of five craftsmen.
We feel the reason for our success is twofold; a superior product and striving to provide outstanding customer service. For a business to be successful it must have a product that works – this is the foundation. Building on that product the company grows by providing excellent service to its customers from the first contact clear through the completion of the job. Our installers recognize that each home they work on is a reflection of not only their reputation but that of the company. Their good work results in a large number of referrals from happy customers.
So we have grown and are now consolidating office and warehouse into one location. Although our address has changed our mission is the same. Offer the best product at a reasonable price in a friendly manner.

The recent weather system brought us a considerable amount of rain – in some places as much as 1-1/2 inches. With the rain comes the potential for water finding places to go that can cause damage. To our delight a customer who just had The Gutter Cover installed this fall called our office to tell us she was pleasantly surprised not to have water in her basement. She said that although she kept her gutters cleaned in the past, whenever it rained, water would run into the basement. Her question was, “Why did The Gutter Cover make a difference?”

Although homeowners may regularly clean out their gutters, clogging can still occur from leaves, seeds or sticks. As it rains, even more leaves are caused to fall from nearby trees into the gutters. It only takes a handful of leaves to stop up a downspout opening. These can constantly blow into gutters even after they are freshly cleaned. Have you ever raked your yard and turned around to find it full of leaves again? If it’s in your yard it is probably in your gutter. Even if screens are installed debris can filter through the openings and clogs can form in the downspouts causing water to back up and overflow. Overflowing water not only can seep through foundation walls but can also rot the edges of a roof leading to costly repairs. Another problem is created when water is trapped in a gutter as it provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Now let’s look at what’s involved in cleaning gutters and downspouts. There’s the safety issue of working from a ladder which must be placed on a stable, level area and if possible have someone hold the ladder. You must keep moving the ladder around the house – never reach out too far to the left or right or you may end up on the ground and that could result in serious injury if not worse. Cleaning gutters is a messy job as you must scrape out the built up accumulation of leaves and twigs. Protective gear is a must to protect your hands and eyes. Once the debris is removed then the gutter should be flushed with water from the garden hose to rinse away anything left behind. And have you considered what’s required to clean a clogged downspout? If it can’t be cleared by a running hose then a plumbers snake needs to be run up the downspout to manually remove the clog. Are we having fun yet?

Gutter Cover will relieve you of all the hassle and trouble involved in gutter cleaning and help to eliminate many problems with your home. We cannot guarantee that water will never get into your basement but it will cut down on the likelihood of it happening as The Gutter Cover allows water to flow freely through the gutters, downspouts and away from your home and foundation

The Gutter Cover has been awarded the prestigious 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award, an honor bestowed annually on approximately 5 percent of all the businesses rated on the nation’s leading provider of consumer reviews on local service and health providers.

“We are very excited to once again earn Angie’s List Super Service Award. We strive to provide excellent service to all our customers and it’s nice to recognize our team that works hard to provide excellent customer service,” says Doug Stacye.

“Only a fraction of the businesses rated on Angie’s List can claim the sterling service record of being a Super Service Award winner because we set a high bar,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks. “The fact that The Gutter Cover can claim Super Service Award status speaks volumes about its dedication to consumers.”

Angie’s List Super Service Award winners have met strict eligibility requirements including earning a minimum number of reports, an exemplary rating from their clients and abiding by Angie’s List operational guidelines.

Ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List, but members can find the 2011 Super Service Award logo next to business names in search results on AngiesList.com

Winter has made its presence known and it makes me shiver to think of all the damage that can occur due to heavy snow, freezing rain and the continual freezing/melting cycle.   I think this would be a good time to examine the cold hard facts about ice dams.  To better serve the community you will find
below information that explains how ice dams form and how to prevent them.

Roofers see ice dams particularly on homes where the attic is warm.  “Attics are supposed to be the same temperature as it is outside,” says Mark Brewster of Brewster Roofing. ” The warm, moist air from the living space is enough to cause the snow on the roof to melt, running down the roof only to refreeze at the edge, creating a dam.  Subsequent melting causes water to back up behind the dam and under shingles thus leaking into your house.”  (You can visit www.brewsterroofing.com for more insights regarding ice dams.)

From the State Farm Insurance website it’s explained this way.  “When the temperature in your attic is above freezing, it causes snow on the roof to melt and run down the sloping roof.  When the snowmelt runs down the roof and hits the colder eaves, it refreezes.  If this cycle repeats over several days, the freezing snowmelt builds up and forms a dam of ice, behind which water ponds.  The ponding water can back up under the roof covering and leak into the attic or along exterior walls.  The right weather conditions for ice dams is usually when outside air temperatures are in the low 20s (⁰F) for several days with several inches of snow on the roof.” Go to www.statefarm.com/learning/loss_prevent/learning_lossprevention_icedams.asp for more information.

Sources of warm air can be vent pipes, exhaust fans, chimneys, attic hatches, wall/ceiling framing joints, wiring and light fixtures.  This air movement needs to be stopped.  State Farm’s website recommends  preventing warm, moist air in living spaces from infiltrating into the attic with a good air barrier and appropriate water vapor control at the base of the attic.  Also provide good attic ventilation to replace the warm air in the attic with cold air from outside. Then, if necessary, add more attic insulation or ventilation.  But just adding insulation or ventilation is not the answer; the air leaks must be closed.

As a point of interest to our readers, we have recently seen an increase in the number of requests from customers to solve their problem with ice dams at the gutter.  Ice dams can damage the shingles and cause roof leaks.  We introduced them to an electrician, Larry Morris of Smart Power Services.  Smart Power Services worked in coordination with our crews to install a self-regulating heat tracing cable in the gutter under The Gutter Cover and down the downspout running a circuit from an outdoor outlet to the downspout.

Now that we understand the cause of ice dams let’s examine how The Gutter Cover protects your gutters.  The Gutter Cover prevents freezing rain, snow and sleet from entering into your gutter system and creating a 5 or 6-inch block of ice.  Ice in gutters is extremely heavy and many times will pull your gutter loose or off.  As we have already learned, ice blocks melting snow and ice from moving through your gutters and this in turn can create ice dams.  Since The Gutter
Cover prevents damaging ice from entering your gutter system, icicles may form on the front edge of The Gutter Cover.  Gutter Cover of Kansas City does not guarantee you will not have an ice dam, however, The Gutter Cover will reduce the risk of ice damage to your home.

Knowledge empowers you to make the right decisions.  At The Gutter Cover we don’t want to just sell a product.  Our mission is to educate and inform
regarding the importance of protecting your gutters.

At The Gutter Cover we don’t want to just sell a product.  Our desire is to educate and inform regarding the importance of protecting or covering your gutters.  The obvious is that it prevents gutters from clogging with leaves and other debris.  When gutters fill up they overflow and this can result in wood rot and affect foundations, allowing water into basements.  But what happens to foundations when there is no rain?  The following story should be of interest to us all.

Our barn (I call it that – it’s built like one) is a 16 x 24 ft structure which sits on a concrete slab, has moved north.  As a result the gate at the south end of the barn will not latch.  The door to the doghouse for the walkout basement will not open.  Our problems are due to the dry ground (lack of rain) causing foundations to shift.

Due to the torturous, intense heat of the summer we have been lulled to sleep by the most beautiful fall I can remember.  Mild days and comfortably cool nights.  But there’s been no significant rainfall in weeks, and that’s the hazard, foundations are moving.  So here I am hosing down my foundation each day hoping it’s not too late.  I guess a soaker hose would be the best and easiest way to deal with this situation.  I think it would be advisable to get an expert’s insight on this matter.

At KC Waterproofing, Don Derry tells us that foundations require maintenance due to the fact that “many soils in the Oklahoma-Kansas-Missouri-Nebraska-Iowa area contain active clay minerals that expand and contract with changing moisture content.  In our area extreme changes in precipitation, evaporation and transpiration rates occur every year, giving homeowners reasons to be concerned.  Maintaining constant moisture content in the soil under and around a home’s foundation can prevent a lot of problems.  He recommends watering the foundation during the summer months with soaker hoses.  The hoses should be placed about two feet out from the foundation wall so the water will soak into the soil and not flow down the wall face.  It may even be necessary to water during the fall or winter if the weather is particularly dry.”

For more information regarding your foundation needs please go to www.kcbuildingsolutions.com.   And remember, The Gutter Cover will also protect your foundation and prevent your gutter from clogging, giving you more peace of mind in maintaining your home.