Home Questions
Prices & straight answers
Everything we get asked before someone books, answered without a phone call.
General.
Are you insured?
Yes, fully insured and bonded. Ask and we will send you the certificate before we start.
Do you charge extra to come out to my area?
Everything inside Calgary is the listed price with nothing added. Outside the city - Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, Okotoks and Strathmore - there's a flat $24.99 fuel surcharge on the job. It's $24.99 whatever the service and however many services you book on the visit, and you'll see it on the quote before you agree to anything.
Do I get a discount for booking more than one thing?
Book two services on the same visit and the cheaper one comes off 15%. Applies to work our own crew does.
How do I book?
Call or text (403) 607-1129, or send the quote form on this site. For anything with a published price we can usually give you a date on the first call.
When are you open?
Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm. Text outside those hours and we will pick it up the next morning.
Do you charge to come and quote?
No. Quotes are free, including the ones where we tell you that you do not need the work.
Christmas Light Installation.
When should I book Christmas lights in Calgary?
September and early October. Installs run from October 15 to November 30 and the good dates go first - by mid-November we're usually turning work away. Booking before October 15 also gets you 10% off.
Do you take the lights down?
Yes, and it's included in the leased price. We take them down in January, and we store them for you so you're not finding a tangled box in your garage next November.
What happens if a section stops working?
Call us and we come out and fix it, no charge, for the whole season. It's rare with commercial-grade LEDs but it happens after a bad wind.
Is leasing or buying better?
Leasing, for most people. Your first season covers the lights and the install, every season after that is noticeably cheaper because the lights are already cut to your roof, and you never store, replace or untangle anything. Buying makes sense if you plan to stay in the house a long time and want the same display every year - we'll price both when we quote.
Gutter & Downspout Cleaning.
Why is a two storey $70 more than a bungalow?
Height. Above a bungalow eave we work tied off, which means rigging before we start and moving slower once we are up, and the longer ladder gets moved more often. That is real time on site, and the price covers it instead of pretending a two-storey is a bungalow with a taller ladder. It is the same $299.99 whether the gutters are half full or overflowing.
How often do Calgary homes need gutters cleaned?
Once a year, in the fall after the leaves drop - that's genuinely it for most of the city. We won't sell you a spring clean you don't need. The exception is heavy-canopy neighbourhoods like Elbow Park, Mount Royal and Altadore, where mature poplars and spruce can justify a second visit.
When in the fall should I book?
Late September through early November, after the leaves are down but before the first hard freeze. Once debris freezes into the trough it has to be chipped out, which is slower and harder on your eaves.
Why does it matter?
Blocked eaves overflow against your fascia and down your foundation. In Calgary the bigger problem is freeze-thaw: standing water in a blocked trough freezes, expands, and pulls the eavestrough off its hangers. A $229.99 clean is cheaper than a re-hang.
Do I need to be home?
No. We work outside, we photograph anything worth showing you, and we invoice after. Most of our gutter customers are at work when we come.
Gutter Guards.
Are gutter guards worth it in Calgary?
For most homes under trees, yes - they turn an annual clean into a check every few years. They're most worth it on two- and three-storey homes, where the cost of getting someone up there is what you're really paying for. On a bungalow with no overhanging trees, the honest answer is probably not.
Will I never have to clean my gutters again?
No, and anyone promising that is selling you something. Guards stop leaves and twigs. Fine grit, shingle granules and spruce needles still get through and need clearing every few years. What guards actually buy you is far fewer clogs and no more autumn emergencies.
What about ice and freeze-thaw?
Guards don't cause ice dams and they don't cure them - ice dams come from heat escaping your attic. What guards do help with is keeping the trough clear so meltwater has somewhere to go during a chinook instead of pooling and refreezing.
BBQ & Smoker Cleaning.
How much does BBQ cleaning cost in Calgary?
From $224.99 for a two-burner up to $299.99 for a five-burner or built-in. Smokers are $249.99. That's a full strip-down clean - the price doesn't change based on how dirty it is.
How long does it take?
Two and a half to four hours. We do it at your house, so you don't need to load a filthy grill into your car.
Are the products safe for something I cook on?
Yes. We use food-safe degreasers, and everything gets rinsed and heat-cycled before we hand it back. You can cook on it the same evening.
Is it worth it, or should I just replace the grill?
If the firebox has rusted through, replace it. If it's a decent grill that's just filthy - and most are - a clean costs a fraction of a new one and it'll cook properly again. We'll tell you honestly which one you've got.
Is it messy? It is happening on my deck.
It would be, which is why the first thing out of the van is a tarp. The grill comes apart on it, and anything that could be stained or damaged gets moved clear before we start - cushions, rugs, planters. Degreaser and burnt carbon will mark concrete and wood, so none of it is allowed to touch your surfaces. You should not be able to tell we were there apart from the grill.
Do you clean grills in every part of Calgary?
Yes - all four Calgary quadrants at the listed price. We also run out to Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, Okotoks and Strathmore, where a flat $24.99 fuel surcharge is added to the job.
BBQ Repair.
My igniter stopped working. Is that worth fixing?
Almost always yes - it's usually a cheap part and it's the single most common call we get. You don't need to replace a grill because you're lighting it with a match.
The flame is uneven and yellow. What's wrong?
Usually blocked burner ports, which a proper clean fixes. Sometimes it's a failing regulator. Either way that yellow flame means incomplete combustion, so it's worth sorting.
Can you get parts for an old grill?
Often, yes - Napoleon, Weber and Broil King parts are widely available and we can usually source for discontinued models too. If we can't find it, we tell you before you've spent anything.
Window Cleaning.
When's the best time for window cleaning in Calgary?
Spring right through to fall, and plenty of people do both ends of the season - once after the winter grit and again once the leaves are down. We stop when it is consistently below about 5°C, because water stops behaving on the glass and you cannot get a clean finish.
Do you do interiors?
We quote them separately. Most people book exteriors only, because that's the side the Calgary dust and winter grit lands on.
What about the white marks that won't come off?
That's hard water - usually a sprinkler or an irrigation head hitting the same glass season after season, leaving calcium and magnesium behind every time it dries. We do remove it, but not with the pole. Stain removal is done off a ladder with a traditional squeegee and a compound worked over the glass by hand, because it takes contact and time rather than water pressure.
Can every hard water stain be removed?
Most can. The honest exception is glass that has been left long enough for the minerals to etch into the surface rather than sit on it - at that point the glass itself is pitted and no amount of work brings it back. We can usually tell which one you have by looking, and we'll say so before you pay for the attempt rather than after.
Why a water-fed pole instead of a ladder?
The pole runs purified water through a filtration system, so there are no dissolved minerals in it. It dries without spotting, which means no towel-drying and no streaks, and we reach upper storeys from the ground instead of putting ladder feet in your beds. Calgary water is hard enough that cleaning with it straight from the tap leaves marks as it dries - which is the whole reason the filtration matters here.
Roof Cleaning.
Why won't you pressure wash my roof?
Because it works, and that is the problem. High pressure blasts the growth off along with the mineral granules that protect the shingle from UV. The roof looks brilliant for a season and then ages years in a couple of winters. Every shingle manufacturer says the same thing, and pressure washing will generally void the warranty.
What are the black streaks?
Algae - Gloeocapsa magma. It feeds on the limestone filler in asphalt shingles and it spreads downward, which is why the streaks always run with the slope. It is not dirt and scrubbing will not shift it, but sodium hypochlorite kills it outright.
Does it hurt my plants?
Not if it is done properly, which mostly means the boring part: soaking everything underneath before we start, keeping it wet while we work, and rinsing it down afterwards. Dry foliage is what gets damaged.
How long does it last?
Usually four to six years in Calgary before it is worth doing again. Our dry summers slow regrowth, but north-facing slopes and anything shaded by spruce hold moisture and come back sooner.
When is the best time to do it?
Spring through early fall, when the roof is dry and there is no frost coming. It also pairs naturally with a gutter clean - everything we kill on the roof washes into the eaves, so doing both on one visit saves you the second call and takes 15% off the cheaper one.
NanoClad Roof Shield.
Why does the roof have to be washed first?
Because coating over algae, moss or lichen seals the growth in underneath the film, and then you own it. Nothing can be done about it afterwards short of stripping the coating. Washing first is the whole reason the job lasts, and it is why we will not skip it even if you ask.
What is the warranty?
NanoClad warrant the coating themselves and the warranty is issued to you, not to us. The term is set by the condition of your roof on the day it is applied, so it is not something we can promise up front - the installer assesses it and NanoClad set the tier. We would rather tell you that than quote you a number we do not control.
What has to happen before you coat it?
Two things, in order. Anything broken gets repaired - lifted shingles, failed flashing, hail damage - because coating over a fault seals the fault in. Then the roof gets soft washed, because coating over algae or moss seals the growth in under the film. Repair, wash, coat. Skipping either of the first two is how a coating job fails and it is why we will not do it.
Is this instead of a new roof?
It can be, on a roof that still has life in it. It restores flexibility to shingles that have dried out and stops the UV damage that ages them, at a fraction of a replacement. On a roof that is already curling, bald or leaking, it is money after a lost cause, and we will say so.
Will it hurt my plants or my gutters?
Not the way we do it. Everything under the run-off gets masked and covered before the sprayer comes out, and the gutters get flushed after. That masking is most of the setup time on the job.
Roof Repair.
Is it hail damage?
Calgary sits in hail alley, so often yes. What you are looking for is bruising - soft dark spots where the granules have been knocked off and the mat underneath is exposed. It rarely leaks immediately, which is why people miss it, and then the shingle fails two winters later. If we find it we photograph and document it properly, because that is what your insurer will want.
The wind lifted some shingles. Is that urgent?
More urgent than it looks. A chinook can break the seal on a shingle without moving it far enough to notice from the ground, and once the seal is gone the next wind gets underneath and takes the whole course. Resealing a few shingles is cheap. Replacing a section after it has peeled is not.
Should I repair or replace?
Repair when the roof is otherwise sound and the damage is localised - a section of shingles, some flashing, a few hail strikes. Replace when it is bald of granules across the whole slope, curling at the edges, already on a second layer, or leaking in more than one place. We will tell you which you have and we would rather sell you the repair, because a customer who trusts that answer calls us for the replacement in five years.
The repair is done. Can you make the rest of the roof last?
Usually the better question, and it is where most of the value is. Once the damage is fixed and the roof has been washed, a NanoClad coating soaks into the shingle and restores the flexibility it has lost to UV - which is what actually ages an asphalt roof, not the weather people blame. Repair, wash, coat, in that order, is the sequence that buys a tired roof another decade instead of replacing it. We will not coat over damage or over growth, so the repair always comes first.
Can you find the leak?
Usually. Water almost never comes in where it shows up inside - it runs along the deck and the framing before it drops, so the stain on your ceiling is often several feet from the actual hole. That is why we look at the whole roof rather than the spot underneath the stain.
Soffit & Fascia Repair.
Why does fascia rot?
Water, almost always from above. A gutter that overflows sends water down the back of the fascia instead of through the downspout, and it sits there. That is why we look at the eaves before quoting the boards - replacing rotted fascia under a gutter that still overflows just buys you a few years before the same bill.
What does soffit actually do?
It is your attic's air intake. Air comes in through the vented soffit, runs up under the roof deck and out the roof vents, and that airflow is what keeps the underside of your shingles cold in winter. Block it or damage it and you get ice dams at the eave in January and a hot attic cooking your shingles from beneath in July.
Something is getting into my attic through the eave.
Common, and usually a gap where the soffit meets the fascia or the wall. Birds and wasps take the small ones, squirrels widen them. We close the gap properly with material rather than expanding foam, which they simply chew back through.
Can you match what is already there?
Usually. Aluminum fascia capping and soffit come in standard colours and most Calgary houses use one of them. If yours is an odd colour or a discontinued profile we will tell you before we start, rather than after you are looking at a patch that does not match.
Siding Repair.
Will the new panels match?
Honestly, sometimes not exactly, and it is the thing that surprises people most. Vinyl fades over years of Calgary sun, so a brand-new panel in the same colour can still read slightly brighter than its neighbours. If the colour is discontinued it gets harder again. We will tell you what to expect before we order anything, and where it matters we can sometimes pull panels from a hidden elevation and put the new ones there instead.
Is my siding hail damaged?
Quite possibly, and it is routinely missed. People claim the roof after a storm and never think about the walls, but hail cracks and holes vinyl - especially on the north and west elevations that take the strike. Cracks are often hairline and easiest to see in low sun. We photograph and document what we find, which is what your insurer will want.
A panel is loose. Does it matter?
Yes, more than it looks. Siding is a rain screen, not a seal - it works by shedding water down and out. A lifted panel or failed J-trim lets water in behind, where it sits against the sheathing and does not dry. That is how a fifty dollar panel becomes a wall repair.
Repair or re-side?
Repair when the damage is localised and the rest of the wall is sound. Re-side when panels are cracking in multiple places, the colour is long discontinued, or water has already got behind enough of it. We do both, and we would rather do the repair - the same way we would rather patch a roof than replace it.
Roofing & Replacement.
Do I actually need a new roof?
Often not. Shingles that are dirty, streaked or growing moss usually need washing, not replacing, and shingles that have dried out but are still sound can be coated. What genuinely needs replacing is curling, cracking, bald of granules, or leaking. We will tell you which one you have got, and we would rather sell you the smaller job and keep you.
Who actually does the work?
Roofing is the one thing we bring in outside crews for rather than doing ourselves, and we would rather say that plainly than let you assume otherwise. We only use certified crews, because when the work is not our own hands the certification is the guarantee of quality. We inspect, quote, schedule, stand on the job and handle the aftermath - you deal with us throughout, not with a crew you never met.
What roofing materials do you install?
Four. Architectural asphalt shingle is the Calgary default - good value, 25 to 30 years, and available in impact-rated grades that stand up to hail. Metal costs more up front, lasts longest and sheds snow. Cedar shake is the best-looking of the four and the most maintenance, and some insurers price it accordingly. Euroshield is a rubber shingle made in Calgary from recycled tires, built specifically for hail, and worth a conversation with your insurer. We will tell you which makes sense for your roof rather than steering you to the one with the best margin.
What about the mess?
It is the single most common roofing complaint and it is entirely avoidable. The property gets protected before the tear-off starts, the ground is swept and magnet-rolled for nails afterwards, and your gutters get cleared - a tear-off puts a remarkable amount of grit into them.
When is the best time to reroof in Calgary?
Late spring through early fall. Shingles need warmth to seal properly, and asphalt laid in the cold does not bond the way it should until the following summer. An emergency repair happens whenever it has to, but a planned replacement is worth timing.
Solar Panel Cleaning.
Does cleaning them actually make a difference?
Yes, and it is easy to underestimate because the loss is gradual. A film of dust and pollen you can barely see still blocks light, and bird droppings or a packed edge of grit shade cells outright, which costs more output than the area they cover. If your panels have never been cleaned, the first one is usually the one you notice on the app.
Why not just use soap and a hose?
Detergent leaves a residue that attracts dust straight back and can affect the anti-reflective coating, and most manufacturers are clear about not using it. Tap water is worse here than most places - Calgary water is hard enough to dry to a mineral film on the glass. Purified water leaves nothing behind, which is why it is the standard for this work.
Can you pressure wash them?
No, and nobody should. High pressure can force water past the seals around the frame and damage the cells underneath. It is the same argument as the roof: the fast way is the way that costs you the asset.
How often should they be cleaned in Calgary?
Once a year suits most homes, usually in spring once the pollen has settled and the winter grit has come off the roads. Arrays under trees or near a field pick up more and are worth doing twice.
Do you walk on the panels?
No. We reach them from a pole wherever it is possible. Panels are not designed to carry weight and microcracks from someone standing on a cell do not show up until your output drops.
Pressure & Soft Washing.
Why won't you just quote a price per square foot over the phone?
Because the surface changes the job completely. Stucco washed at driveway pressure gets damaged. A cedar fence run above 1,200 PSI is ruined and can't be fixed. We look first, then quote, and the number we give you is the number you pay.
Will pressure washing damage my siding?
It can, which is why we don't pressure wash siding. Siding and stucco get soft washed - low pressure plus a cleaning solution that lifts the growth chemically instead of blasting it off.
Can you wash my deck?
Yes, at low pressure with a pre-soak and a long dwell time. Wood is a third category, not a variant of concrete. Anyone who runs your deck at driveway settings will leave it furred and raised.
Fence & Deck Refinishing.
When should I stain a fence or deck in Calgary?
Late May through early September. The wood has to be genuinely dry and the overnight temperature has to stay above about 10°C for the stain to cure. Staining too early in spring is the most common reason a finish fails in one winter.
How often does a Calgary deck need re-staining?
Every two to three years for a horizontal surface. Our UV load and freeze-thaw cycles are hard on a finish, and the flat boards go long before the railings do.
Want a straight number?
Tell us what you need and we'll come back with a real price - not a range that doubles when we turn up.