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Lead-time, FAQ, & Last updated: July 27 2010 |
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Company Profile |
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Roof Caps |
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Chimney Caps |
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Custom |
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Gutters |
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Shipping | Contact Info |
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What is My Lead-time? |
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| What is
My Lead-time for Scheduling in New Projects? I am currently booked out possibly 3 to 3.5 months with work, but for small simple projects that would only take a few hours I can often squeeze those in between major projects with in a week or so. Orders like simple roof caps or flashing kits. Just a few days ago I was only 6 to 8 weeks out, but I just sold $20 project yesterday. We are entering Spring time again where business normally picks up, So my schedule may change quickly. I strive to respond to each request for a quote within 24 hours, even on weekends. If you do not hear back from me personally within that time, feel free to call me at cell# 503 351-7082 to verify I got your e-mail. I had a toll free # for a several years, but it was too costly for as rarely as it got used. This Internet exposure has gotten me a lot of attention from non-local clients, and doing the work personally with little to no help makes me not one of the fastest turn-around shops, but I'd like to believe that fact makes me your best choice and well worth the wait. Orders are simply on a first come - first serve basis. I normally sell about half of the projects I bid on, so my time-line could change quickly. Feel free to write or call for the latest lead-time if I have not updated this page in a while. |
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Here's my current Non-local client schedule:
Birger
- copper chimney cap $9k (in progress) |
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Our local client schedule:
Koon - custom copper work $0.9k (in progress) |
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Schedule Reliability? |
![]() The 28 chimney cap Kensington Project in Sunnyvale California (3-6/06) |
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What
about small simple projects? |
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What about Rush Orders
or Emergency Service? I'm sure you would not want me to push out your project in favor of another more lucrative project, so do not try to do that to my other clients by begging me to push your project ahead of the line. If you try to get me to fit in your project in ahead of other clients who came before your's; you would be asking me to commit fraud against those clients. You cannot bribe me to fit your project in ahead of my currently schedule, so it is best not to even suggest it or there will be a good chance I will need to cancel your project all together. |
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What
if your schedule changes before we work out the details and sent in my deposit? This also takes the pressure off in feeling rushed with the need to make a hasty decision about the details of your project. If for any reason we are not able to work out a fair deal, or you just change your mind; that deposit is 90% refundable upon request. No need for an explanation. I'm far to busy to hold clients to a contract, but this has rarely been an issue. |
![]() The Trainor chimney cap being installed in Fairhope, Alabama (2/06) |
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Shipping time? |
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Latest News |
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Latest Move: Plastic Film Cover: Apprentice:
Publications:
We have a new logo shown here engraved
Better Cars:
Resources: |
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How Do We Arrange for a Quote? |
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| Response time: I will answer my cell phone personally (if possible) and I'm happy answer your questions. I love to help brainstorm tricky situations. I am not likely to be able to provide you with a price on the spot though. Once I've a chance to sit at my computer and calculator to wrap my mind around your needs I'll need to put it in writing for both our sake. This process may take several hours to make a diagram and calculations, as long as I have the right measurements with photos and diagrams that you might provide me through e-mail. Also, this way we both will have written documentation of what was shared. I deal with a lot of clients, so I cannot be expected to rely on my memory about each detail, so I do not quote projects over the phone for these reasons. I strive to check and respond to e-mail at least a couple times each day; morning and night. I am prompt to respond to those e-mail within 24 hours even on weekends, unless we happen to be out of town, but that is very rare. So this process should go swiftly. |
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On-line Estimate: If you
e-mail me about your needs I
try my best not to pressure
you in any way. It is very helpful to list these
details in your e-mail, so I have enough to work with: The more info you send the more chance I can give you an accurate quote. I will try to be as flexible as possible, but you will want a ceiling cost, so your project does not get out of hand, like it tends to do working with other building contractors. My final cost may be a little lower than my quote, since on substantial projects I will re-price the final cost to reflect only the material actually in the custom fabrication based on the final weight. This way you only pay for what you get at the quoted cost per square foot of copper actually in these projects. This is an ethical detail you'll not likely find elsewhere, and one you can recheck once it has arrived. |
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On-site Estimate: If you happen to live in or near the Portland Oregon Metro Area and are interested in my high-end gutter replacement, I am required by the CCB to supply potential clients with free bids within a reasonable geographical area from my location. I can usually go out to your place to write up a free estimate within a business day or two, as long as you are local to us (within 20 miles or so). If my wait time to do the actual installation (http://dmr-gutters.com/news.htm) is not a problem, feel free to e-mail me with your address, contact info, and any details you think is relevant to your needs, so I can service you with a bid. If you feel you need to talk to me about your special needs, you can call David's mobile phone at 503 351-7082. |
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What are My Costs and What Sort of Deposit is Required? |
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| The cost
of copper materials: Besides fuel prices slowly rising from $1.50 per gallon to well over twice that amount during the Bush years; it seems that sheet metal prices suddenly rose several times n early 2006, where all metal prices shot up to about double what it had been throughout the prior 15 years that I knew of, with scrap copper spiking at $3 a pound from only $0.80. You can read more on this subject at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/markets/commodities.html This was largely due to China and India's manufacturing growth compared to the supply that could not match it and they were importing a great deal of our scrap metal. The cost had remained high since then, but just this Halloween I brought in some copper scrap metal for recycling and was shocked to see it had suddenly dropped back down to $1 a pound. Of course I do not know if it will stay low like this for long, but we can hope. I still have yet to see this drive down the cost of new material. I still feel that copper is the best value for your money, especially since all metal prices have been effected in this way. More importantly; how the cost of any custom work like this is labor. Not the cost of the metal used. If I quote you a cost for a project and you submit the required payment or deposit within 30 days of that quote, that cost will not change even if my cost of material goes up again before I get to building your project, but if metal cost suddenly drop I may discount it accordingly.
My
base rates: I can make simple roof flashing for about half this cost, depending on quantities ordered. Discounts: For thicker copper than my standard 20oz thickness is harder to cut, drill, and bend, so thicker metal costs a good deal more to use in projects. That is one reason I find it more cost efficient to add more bracing inside the chimney cap roof sub structures, instead of just using a thicker copper sheet metal shell. Deposits: * For projects over $500 I work with you to set a ceiling cost on your project well before I begin, but when I am finished I can weigh it to get the actual amount of cupper used, not including the cut-off waste used (which any other shop would charge you for). I then can adjust the final payment to reflect only what you will receive, so you are not paying for more for an inflated or loosely quoted price. A detail you are able to double check after it arrives to see how honest I was. We all know it is a scary ugly world out there full of liars and cheats. Although, I believe my Business Integrity Award from the Better Business Bureau should give even the worst critics the confidence of my ethical responsibility and devotion to my clients. I have had less than 5% of my potential clients express discomfort with my payment policy. This has not been much of an issue, but if you do not trust me, you should simply not do business with me at all. Note: The prices listed on this web site for custom copper work were the actual costs of those items at that time, but may not reflect accurately how much new projects will run now. |
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Do You Accept Credit Card Payments? |
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I have PayPal set-up on my contact Info web page , but it is not any faster for me than US mail and cost me 3% of your order, so I prefer you just send me a personal check. I have yet to have any clients write me a bad check. Also, not that I had any personal problems with PayPal, but they have had a very poor reputation for providing no customer service, no contact info for merchants, and randomly seizing merchant's funds to help cover unrelated credit card fraud losses. I had closed my account in 2003 because of this concern and removed it from my web site for several years just before Ebay bought them out. I reestablished an account through them again late 2006, and a few clients have reported trouble getting payments to go through. I have looked into other sources, but they are expensive and complicated. Another quick way is to do a funds transfer right from your Bank into my account. I know they charge me a $10 transfer fee to receive it, and I would not know what your bank might charge you. I can provide you with my bank transfer information upon request. Over 95% of my non-local clients just snail-mail me a personal check. That seems to have worked out fine so far. I notify you when the check is received usually that same day. Then send digital photos of the progress. Then the tracking # when it ships with the personalized installation instructions. Note: I will need your daytime contact phone# for the shipping label. |
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My Toll-free Phone # |
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| I tend to do most of my correspondence through e-mail. I had a toll-free phone number for several years, but it was expensive to have each month if it got used or not, and rarely got used more than a dozen times a month. | ||||||||||
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Non-local Client
Orders If you are searching for a reliable contractor; my web sites seem to be the most comprehensive and honest web sites on gutters and roofing standards in the world. You should find the information here very helpful to better know what questions to ask of your local contractors to better to weed out the less reputable. Take notes from that information, so that you have the questions to ask them during the bid. And in so doing you should save a lot of money and future head aches down the road (three or four sets of parts with the cost of installation will cost more than one good quality fabrication). Also check out Angie's list for good referrals: |
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Other
Helpful Roofing Information For some valuable advice with regards to roofing and rain management issues check out my:
(a)
Gutter Installation web pages for answers and solutions that could save you thousands of $ and a great deal of anguish. If you do find this information very helpful, feel free to send us a $ tip for the assistance we so freely have published on the web here for your benefit, like you might tip a waitress. Heck, send us a gift certificate for a candle lit dinner for two. <LOL> |
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Below is a
photo of my |
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I was also a 1997 finalist for this same award. See my referral web page to see how I managed to be honored with this special award |
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"Quality and service is not expensive, it's priceless!" That's the Copper By Design way |
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Company Profile |
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Roof Caps |
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Chimney Caps |
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Custom |
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Gutters |
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Shipping | Contact Info |