Repeat customer called me complaining about water in her basement and a leaky gutter right above where that water was coming in. I told her I would come out for a gutter cleaning service this week. When I drive by today to take a quick look (on the way to another job) I noticed her power lines come right in and seem to attach to the copper gutters (right where the issue is). I read some other topics about electrical current running through the gutters and this has me a bit concerned. Has anyone else worked on gutters like the pic I have included? Did you test them first for any electrical current or issues?
Call the power company. Give them the address, and make a request that the lines be covered, and test the gutters if necessary. Most electric companies make it real easy to put in a request like that, and there shouldn’t be any charge
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let someone else kill themselves…
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I agree with Kyle not worth it not unless they can turn off the power line to the house
Contacting the customer today, thanks for the feedback.
Glad to hear your considering skipping it.
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Looking at the gutter, is there an end cap on the left side of the gutter? Almost looks open but hard to tell in the pic. Also, there could be other factors too like the water not being carried away from the house far enough. I was once a water damage restoration technician and I cant begin to tell you how many times water damages are caused by the landscaper knocking off the elbow at the bottom of the downspout.
We run in to shady stuff like that a lot. I started keeping my non contact voltage pen in the van. something like this. Always test it on something you know is live before you check whatever it is you are questioning. You dont want to find out your battery was dead the hard way.
Calling the electric company and having it wrapped is definitely the safest way. Not supposed to be within 10 feet of the wires but we all know its impossible when gutter cleaning
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Took your advice with the non-contact meter. We worked on the gutter last weekend and everything was fine. Took some adjusting to the pitch and a nicely installed gutter cover.
It’s funny I said you should skip it but I climbed through those lines in the picture to hang light on the second roof line
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The stuff we do for a buck!
I wasn’t going to do it at first but I need to feed my family so through the wires I went
That’s funny, you sound like me…
“Do as I say, not as I DO.” Right?
Thanks for the smile!
When I was a crew leader I always would tell tech skip it and then found my self doing it at the end. I haven’t come across something I would do yet.
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Yep. Thats me.
I’m usually overcautious with guys, I can tell the increased level of confidence in my trust/training
by how many times the phrase “just go to the next one, I’LL get it” is said in a day.
