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This growing work had inspired us to develop
this alternate web site to reach clients through the Internet. These
days over half our gutter clients reach us on-line, and over 80% of
the custom copper work is for out of State clients. This custom copper
work has begun to over shadowed our gutter replacement business.
I had first published my
web site for the gutter business back in 1996 under
http://dmrgutters.com,
but at that time the web address on the side of my work vehicle got
more attention than the actual web site.
Over
the last decade this has gradually changed to the point that our web
site is now more beneficial to our gutter replacement sales than even
referrals. We have now published over 3,000 photos and put thousands
of hours into it's development over the last decade. Homeowners have
become a lot more web savvy. More and more people are carefully research
the web to find something better than just the normal contractors who
talk a fancy jargon, but only deliver a fraction of what they promised.
Looking in the local hardware stores or in their Yellowpage directories
just isn't cutting it, so Homeowners are beginning to network on-line
through web sites like
Angie's List and
The Old House
Web .
We struggle to find the best quality parts
available at a reasonable cost, yet sadly our suppliers report that
we seem to be the only contractor in our area who consistently buy the
better materials, so it is not profitable to stock them for just one
client. It seems to be true; as I have not personally met any
decent roofing or gutter contractors in our local area.
If you are not able to do the installation
yourself I wish you good fortune finding a reliable contractor in your
area. I have several links to
Angie's List here to help our clients find relatively competent
and honest contractors in their local area to do the installations of
our products. If you are able to find a contractor that you feel
comfortable with, have them look over our web site here to see just
how we do our installations and have them contact me with any questions.
If they claim they completely understand just what to do already, that
is probably not a good sign.
I will be able to provide all the
high quality parts and stainless steel fasteners with detailed installation
instructions for them to use. You will not want to trust them to get
any of the parts needed. Even the lumber. I hope you do not think
I say this to pad my pocket with more sales $. All the contractors
I have met see the building codes as a thorn in their side, where I
see it as a minimal guide line: just as they were intended. I
honestly seek to raise that bar after seeing what commonly fails in
construction over the last few decades. I would not want anyone to work
on my house who's only hope is the parts to last a year. Just
enough to avoid any liability. About 25 years ago, this was the
motivation that inspired me to go into construction, after needing to
figure out how to do everything on my own. Schooling was useless,
since their primary focus was how to get jobs that can be done fast
and cheap, so they would be profitable and contractors would financially
succeed.
We stand behind our quality with our extensive
warranty (see: our Warranty
& Service web page for details). We provide a 20 year
manufacturing warranty on the copper products we sell. The only
reason we do not offer a longer warranty is that it would be unrealistic
and would insult your intelligence to offer more. Where will I be more
than 20 years from now at the ripe age of 65?
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One of my copper chimney caps after
only a few months on a
beach house in New Jersey
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What are Our
Qualifications?
I am personally diligent to respond to
client e-mail within 24 hours, but it can take as much as a dozen hours
of my time to get all the details ironed out over the course of several
weeks of correspondence with a new client on a small one time project.
That is depending on how fast the client responds back with the info
I need. Then several more hours to design, fabricate, box up,
and ship a simple $200 roof cap.
Besides my high standards and good ethics, I
(David) had been tested to have an unusually
high aptitude for math, a 99% mechanical aptitude, with an unusually
good aptitude for spatial arrangement as well. It takes these abilities
to visualize and diagram new original designs for fabrication and make
sure it will be strong to last over a century, easy to install, as well
as decorative. We strive to place a lot of focus on strength and function.
If built well; it should be able to last well over 100 years and be
reused each time it needs re-roofed. That is why we supply the stainless
steel screws along with a new #3 Phillips tip to do the installation
with, so it can be a cherished heirloom.
David was highly interested in art since third
grade. At 17 he got his first professional contract to make a life-size
Darth Vader
for the promotions of Empire Strikes Back (first
release) with working LEDs in the
belt units and a lit light saber. All built on a shoe-string budget
of only $300. One of his artistic passions is authoring these hundreds
of web pages, but most notably is how he is the primary designer and
fabricator of the copper work you see here.
One reason that David has these talents is his
Grandfather (John
William Rich) was a brilliant inventor of several well known
products, but most known for his Rich's Frozen Food Program back East,
and his TV chairs seen at large airports and bus terminals. But his
greatest invention was the development of the Rich's Safety Bumper for
cars and City busses made of a large hollow rubber cell filled with
water for the low-tech hydraulic absorption of the impact. It
made driving like playing bumper cars; with his 15 mph no damage bumpers,
offering drivers a 20% discount off their auto insurance. He stepped
on the toes of the major auto makers here in the USA and his company
was crushed like an annoying bug. You can read more about it on our
Ethics
web page.
Tia has demonstrated a talent in artistic design
and has assisted in designing these web pages
since early 2000 and helps proof read them. She also consult in design
ideas for copper work and helps in the shop. Tia's
Father worked on the robotics of the Disney rides in California, and
her Mother was very involved with crafts and paintings.
This attention to detail and reliable service
has earned me a spot as finalist 2 years in a row for the BBB Business
Integrity Award (shown below).
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What
about contacting you and good communication?
We have been told by numerous clients that in
searching the web for this sort of information; we clearly have the
most comprehensive web site on custom copper sheet metal design and
fabrication in the world, with our 200+ web pages and over 2,500 photos,
that link to full screen digital images for a better look at our work
and price examples that those clients had paid. You are likely to agree.
Some people feel we
have over done it here with so many photos, but these are from the pictures
I take to send to the client each night while working on their project.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I do what I can to
best communicate with our clients through the process.
We feel there are already hoards of simple web
sites that you could navigate and read over within a few minutes, but
that is not the grouping we want to compete with. We virtually stand
alone here on the web for an on-line store front for a small business
like ours.
If nothing else this web
site shows our commitment to good clear communication, which is very
important to us. We are careful to check our e-mail at least twice a
day and respond within 24 hours. If you had not heard back from us within
that time, call our toll free # you will find on our
Contact Info web page to check if we received
your e-mail. We will answer calls personally, but we do not quote projects
over the phone for a couple reasons: (a) it often takes an hour or
two to do the careful calculations and write up a detailed quote.
(b) it is foolish to rely on memory as to what the terms were, so through
e-mail we will both have a written record.
We specialize in custom copper designs.
We rarely get a chance to reuse a pattern or template a second time,
since each clients needs have been uniquely different. We actually encourage
unique designs, as opposed to pushing clients over to generic designs
by offering discounts. The only discounts we offer are for clients
who have carefully read through our web site and have provided us with
all the info we need to provide a quote in the first e-mail exchange.
There is also a volume discount, but that rarely happens.
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