Author: John Cotey

Big Or Small, Taylor Gardner Gutters Meets Your Home’s Needs

If you’re like most homeowners, you probably haven’t put a lot of thought into your home’s gutters.

They generally aren’t admired by your neighbors while sitting out by the pool, like a fence might be, or like when you’re enjoying a cold drink in the driveway while basking in the glory of your perfectly manicured and green lawn.

But, those gutters might just be more important to your home than any of those other aesthetic changes you can make to the outside of it.

At Taylor Gardner Gutters, there is nothing more important, or serious, than making sure homes are equipped with the best gutters possible, because without them, the foundation of your house is susceptible to water damage that can create big problems down the road.

“I tell customers that gutters are the least expensive thing you can do to your home to improve the quality of the look of the home and quality of the life of your home without spending a fortune,” says Taylor Gardner, the owner of Taylor Gardner Gutters since taking over from his father Ed in 2019. “A fence can be five grand easy, and new floors can cost you $5,000-$10,000. But, new gutters? The average is $1,500-$2,000, tops.”

Why are gutters, which Taylor Gardner Gutters can customize, install and repair, so important? Well, Taylor says there are many reasons, but one of the most important ones is that they take the downpour from those heavy Florida rainstorms and redirects the water away from your house.

Without gutters, the chance of water creating a river between you and your neighbor and settling at the base of your home’s foundation are much greater. When saturation occurs, the water gets under the house, and can cause the wood or laminate floors in your house to pop, or pucker up.

The water also can bring erosion to the side of your home, which can cause cracks in the stucco and window ledges, and form unsightly trenches.

“Gutters will protect the integrity of your foundation, and that’s the important thing,” Taylor says.

Sarah DiMonarco, a Tampa-based Realtor, was referred to Taylor Gardner Gutters by a friend and hired Taylor and his crew for a house she was flipping.

Sarah was so impressed with the work and the price that she recommended the company to her friends and clients, and even her roofer.

When she had her gutters installed, the crew rerouted her downflow.

“I asked why they were doing that, and they said it was because the water was washing dirt out to my driveway,” Sarah says. “They made sure it was redirected where it should be going. I’ve been very happy, and the price was right.”.

At Taylor Gardner Gutters, Taylor and his five crews take the job seriously and set out to prove that not all gutter companies are created equal.

The company offers a thicker gauge aluminum than many of its competitors, which prevents the gutters from ever buckling under the weight of the water.

Taylor’s crews use rivets instead of screws. Unlike screws, rivets are made of aluminum and won’t rust.

“Most of our competitors use screws,” Taylor says, “and unless they are zinc-coated screws, they will rust. But, zinc-coated screws are more expensive than rivets, so no one does that.”

Rivets also are a stronger way to hold things together, and Taylor says he tells his customers to consider how airplanes are constructed. “They are riveted together,” he says, “and there’s a reason for that.”

However, what may separate Taylor’s company from its competition more than anything is the warranty. He says he offers a lifetime no-leak — and no questions asked if it ever does leak — warranty. Taylor says he is unaware of any other gutter company that offers a lifetime warranty.

And, for the best results, Taylor recommends an aluminum, seamless gutter system. While he says a handyman may be able to throw gutters on your house, they are probably using vinyl gutters purchased from a big box store.

“I never paid a lot of attention to gutters, but they are kind of like crown moulding,” Sarah says. “They really do enhance the look of the home.”

A Legacy Of Honesty

Taylor learned the gutter business from his father Ed, who started Gardner Gutters back in 2000 but passed away following a long battle with cancer in 2020. Ed was highly regarded for running his business with honesty and dignity, and Taylor says the business he now runs strives to continue much of what his father taught him.

Taylor, who did a tour of Iraq while in the Marines for nine years and earned a Business Administration (B.A.) degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, afterwards, took over completely in 2020 after Ed passed away. Gardner Gutters was rebranded that year as Taylor Gardner Gutters.

He says the business was flagging at the time, but now is booming. Taylor opened a new office in Land O’Lakes, added more crews with new equipment and trailers, and has pivoted to working with builders on new construction, especially in the busy Wesley Chapel area, to help the company grow.

Taylor says the fact that his company is trusted by big builders like GL Homes and David Weekley Homes, suggests that Taylor Gardner Gutters does exceptional work using the best quality materials. It also offers free estimates.

And following in Ed’s footsteps, Taylor is hoping to build a following by sending out salespeople who are there to build relationships and explain the need for gutters, not just sell them. In many of New Tampa’s communities and some of the older ones in Wesley Chapel, most homes built 20 years or more ago or so were built without gutters, but many have added them because, well, it’s just smart.

“I don’t hire a salesperson to be a salesperson, I hire them to be an educator,” Taylor says. “They have to understand (our business) to be able to explain it to the customer, and not just give a sales pitch.”

So, if a customer is complaining about a flower bed against the side of the house flooding or cracks on the outside of the house, the company offers solutions.

“If necessary, we’ll tell them you need gutters or you are going to have a serious problem,” Taylor says. “That’s not a sales pitch, it’s just the honest truth.”

In addition to custom gutter installations and repairs, Taylor Gardner Gutters, which is proud to be veteran-owned-and-operated, also provides screen room installations and window replacements.

Taylor Gardner Gutters is located at 6202 Land O’Lakes Blvd. in Land O’Lakes. The store hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, visit TaylorGardnerGutters.com or call (813) 515-0844.

Gutters

Plan Your Weekend For SR 56 Disruptions

S.R. 56 will be closed to all traffic at I-75 from 11 p.m. Saturday, April 30 to late afternoon on Sunday, May 1 as crews prepare to place the interchange into the new Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) traffic pattern.

No traffic will be allowed to travel through the work zone across I-75. S.R. 56 traffic will be detoured a variety of ways:

Eastbound SR 56: Eastbound S.R. 56 traffic will be detoured to the northeast on Wesley Chapel Blvd. (C.R. 54) to Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., then south on BBD back to S.R. 56. Additionally, the right turn lanes on the south side of S.R. 56 at Grand Cypress Blvd. onto eastbound SR 56 will be closed and the left turn lanes at Grand Cypress Blvd. on the north side of SR 56 will be closed to prevent travel onto EB SR 56. The eastbound S.R. 56 ramp onto southbound I-75 will be open; any traffic traveling on eastbound SR 56 past Grand Cypress Blvd. will be forced to enter southbound I-75.

Westbound SR 56: Westbound S.R. 56 traffic wanting to cross I-75 will be directed north on BBD to SR 54, then southwest on C.R. 54 (Wesley Chapel Blvd.) to S.R. 56. Any westbound S.R. 56 traffic between BBD and Cypress Ridge Blvd. will be directed to U-Turn at Cypress Ridge Blvd. to head back east on S.R. 56 to BBD and follow the remainder of the route outlined above.

Access to I-75: Available at the S.R. 54/CR 54/Wesley Chapel Blvd. interchange north of S.R. 56 or BBD interchange south of S.R. 56. The only access to I-75 will be from eastbound S.R. 56 onto southbound I-75.

Northbound I-275 and northbound I-75 to SR 56: Access will only be open onto eastbound S.R. 56. The northbound I-275 (Exit 59) and northbound I-75 (Exit 275) exit ramps to westbound S.R. 56 will be closed. Drivers wanting to go west on S.R. 56 will continue north past S.R. 56 and use I-75 Exit 279 to SR 54/CR 54. At the bottom of the ramp, turn left and go southwest on Wesley Chapel Boulevard/C.R. 54 to S.R. 56 and S.R. 54, west of I-75.

FDOT says to expect periodic backups. on the Exit 279 ramp to westbound C.R. 54 (Wesley Chapel Blvd.), so northbound I-75 drivers wanting to go west of I-75 on S.R. 56 might consider using Exit 270 (the New Tampa exit) to BBD and continue traveling north on BBD to SR 54/CR 54 (Wesley Chapel Blvd.) or take alternate east to west routes.

Southbound I-75 to SR 56:

Detour Route to S.R. 56, east of I-75: Use Exit 279 to S.R. 54/C.R. 54. At the bottom of the ramp, turn left and go east on S.R. 54. Turn right onto BBD and go south to SR 56.
Detour Route to S.R. 56, west of I-75: Use Exit 279 to S.R. 54/C.R. 54. At the bottom of the ramp, turn right and go southwest on Wesley Chapel Boulevard/C.R. 54 to SR 56.

When the traffic pattern switches to the DDI on May 1st, it will not be at full-capacity until closer to project completion (summer 2022) as the contractor will have additional work to do to open an additional through-lane on both eastbound and westbound S.R. 56 and an additional turn lane from the northbound exit ramp onto westbound S.R. 56.

During the above closure period, two ramps will be available to use at the I-75/S.R. 56 interchange: the eastbound S.R. 56 entrance ramp onto southbound I-75 and the northbound I-275/I-75 exit ramps onto eastbound S.R. 56. All other traffic wishing to use the I-75 / SR 56 interchange will be directed via detour signage to use the I-75 interchange at SR 54/CR 54.

DDI road

Cypress Creek’s Tiffany Colin Sprints Towards Her Dream

*Tiffany Colin is hoping to become the first Pasco County girl to run a sub-12-second time in the 100m since 2016, when Pasco High’s Alfreda Steele did it.* (Photos: Charmaine George)

Cypress Creek High track and field coach Steven Rivers loves coaching, but as his team showed up for the first day of practice in 2021, he was contemplating making this his last season.

Then he saw Tiffany Colin, and she was running. Her stride was a little unrefined, but it was graceful, fluid and, heck, maybe even special.

“I saw her and I got mad,” Rivers says, with a wide smile. “I had one foot out the door and this girl had the nerve to show up here. I called my wife and told her this new girl could be really really good, and she said, ‘Well, it sounds like you have another adopted daughter,’ and she hung up the phone.”

What Rivers has is the fastest girl sprinter in Pasco County.

Colin, a junior, has posted the county’s fastest times in the 100- (12.19 seconds), 200- (25.09) and 400-meter (58.9) races this season.

When the Class 3A, District 7 meet is held at Cypress Creek on April 28, Colin will be favored to win all three events. The top four finishers in each event advance to the Class 3A, Region 2 meet, which will include teams from speed-rich areas like Lakeland, Orlando and Tampa.

Rivers says Colin also currently has the top times in the 100 and 200 in the region, but now is the time of the season to begin shaving time off.

She has lowered her 100 time from 13.17 as a freshman to 12.19 (and has run a 12.14 wind-aided time as well), and has taken more than two seconds off her 200 time.

Most remarkably, Colin ran the 400 for the first time this season and posted a 1:01.79. The second, and only other, time she ran it a few weeks later, she did it in 58.9 seconds.

“It’s probably my second favorite race, next to the 100,” she says of the 400m.

Heading into districts, Colin is hoping to become the first Pasco County girl to run a sub-12-second time in the 100m since 2016, when Pasco High’s Alfreda Steele was dominating the local scene and winning state championships before competing at the University of Miami and nationally.

Rivers coached Steele, and a few other speedsters currently in college, and thinks Colin could be next. Especially if she can get her 100 time under that 12-second mark.

“She has an outstanding work ethic, and is just a joy to coach,” Rivers says. “All those kids in college are there because they wanted it. They beat me to practice. They didn’t complain. That’s Tiffany.”

Colin was rezoned to Cypress Creek after spending her freshman year at Wiregrass Ranch, where she golfed, played basketball and ran track for fun after winning the county middle school title in the 100.

She has golfed since she was six years old, learning the game at the First Tee program at Tampa’s Rogers Park. She played a number of junior circuit tournaments and even qualified twice, she says, for the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) State Championships.

Colin and coach Steven Rivers share a laugh at a recent workout.

However, during quarantine, her dad Eddy showed her a YouTube video of the day in the life of Texas Tech track athlete Rose Njoku. Colin was fascinated, and decided then she wanted to run track in college. She even practices in a Texas Tech t-shirt these days.

While she also golfed this past season for the Coyotes, Colin says she is hanging up her bag so she can focus on getting faster.

“I like golf, but not that much anymore,” Colin says. “When my dad showed me that video, it opened my eyes. I was just like, ‘Oh man, I want to run track seriously.’”

Rivers says he knows she will reach her goals, because of the one time she failed to do so. After going undefeated last year in the county, she fell behind against stiffer competition in the 100 at the District meet and even wiped out at the finish line trying to stretch forward, ending her winning streak

Rivers says Colin’s competitive fire burned like he hadn’t seen it burn before.

“She was mad; I’ve never seen her like that,” Rivers says. “She lost, and she shouldn’t have lost, and she knew it. She was hot, and I was laughing because I loved it.”

Colin doesn’t have any college scholarship offers yet, but Rivers says he has had some feelers. When she asks why no colleges have called, he tells her that while she has garnered some attention, she hasn’t done enough yet.

“Not yet,” he says. “But, if she keeps working hard, it’s going to happen.”

Troy Stevenson Kicks Off His County Commission Campaign

Troy Stevenson is running to replace Mike Moore as Pasco County Commissioner for District 2, which represents much of Wesley Chapel. (Photo; Charmaine George).

A harrowing experience involving his wife Iris’ health led Troy Stevenson to explore response times and the needs of Pasco’s Fire Rescue and Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), which led him to think about their needs in relation to the massive growth in Wesley Chapel, which led him to think about traffic and roads and development.

And where did all of that lead him? Right into the Pasco County District 2 Commissioner’s race to replace the Mike Moore who has announced he is not seeking re-election.

“It all got me thinking,” says Stevenson, “about how I could help.”

Stevenson, a registered Republican and Land O’Lakes resident for the last 20 years, entered the race in February and held his kickoff event April 6 at Design & Construction Innovators, the office of North Tampa Bay Chamber Board member Roberto Suarez. Roughly 75 supporters showed up.

“I know I’m the underdog,” he says of what is now a three-candidate race, “but I’ve received so much support that I’m starting to feel like I’m not the underdog anymore.”

You may not know Stevenson’s face, but you’ve almost certainly seen his ACME On The Go trucks — which are those high-definition LED mobile billboards — driving around the county.

In fact, Stevenson, an active, involved member of both the Wesley Chapel Rotary Club and the North Tampa Bay Chamber, has used those trucks to support a number of causes, raising tens of thousands of dollars over the years for a variety of projects and businesses. The trucks operate as a billboard, but have also shown movies at some local charity events, whether for kids with cancer or Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco’s K-9 Officer program. He also has helped build homes for Habitat for Humanity.

That’s one of the things he says separates him from the other Dist. 2 candidates, race favorite Troy Weightman and Cynthia Zimmer. While both have political experience, Stevenson says he has been more of a boots-on-the-ground guy, literally getting his hands dirty behind the scenes with community involvement — he has been an active part of FEMA’s National Disaster Medical System group for 16 years, and has been among the first people on the scene following many major hurricanes, including Hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Maria (2017).

“Katrina changed my life,” Troy says about having being deployed to New Orleans for two weeks. “It’s when I became a Christian and made me more thankful for my family and for people who help others.”

Troy is complimentary of the current Pasco Board of Commissioners (BOC) and says they have done a “phenomenal” job. If elected, he would like to continue along much the same path that Moore has paved.

But, he also says he would like to see the BOC become more proactive when it comes to infrastructure. And, while he is a believer in development, he also thinks the Board has to provide for the police, first responders and local residents who have to get around on heavily-populated roads.

“It feels like they (the BOC) are always playing catch up,” Stevenson says. “I’m not political. I’m analytical. I see things that need to be done and I am always ready to jump in and help.”

Weightman has collected a number of big endorsements, including Moore’s, as the Republican Party has coalesced behind him.

Stevenson says he has been endorsed by former Pasco County Clerk of Court Paula O’Neill, who spoke on his behalf at the kickoff event, but adds that he doesn’t place much emphasis on endorsements.

He has already put $50,000 of his own money into his campaign coffers, and hopes that those who know him and have benefitted from his community efforts will turn out at the polls for the August 23 primary.

“I don’t need the money, I don’t need the popularity,” Stevenson says. “I just feel deep in my heart that I want to help the county, and help the people in the place I live and love.”

For more info, visit TroyforPasco.com.

Wharton Girls Make A Little Tennis History

The Wharton girls tennis team is headed to state for the first time ever. (Photo courtesy of Michelle Sacks)

Everything was lined up against the Wharton High girls tennis team.

With a berth to the Class 3A State tournament on the line, the Wildcats were facing Wiregrass Ranch, which had beaten Wharton 7-0 earlier in the season.

This time around, the Wildcats were trailing 2-1 after the three singles matches, and their remaining two lines were headed to 10-point tiebreakers. They had to win at least one of them just to stay alive.

And, even if they did, the Wildcats would then have to win both doubles matches to clinch the victory.

Turns out, that’s exactly how it went.

Sofia Manzanares kept her postseason win streak going at regionals. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

Thanks to a clutch performance at No. 4 singles, where Kelsey Fusco lost the first set but stormed back to win the second and the 10-point tiebreaker to give the Wildcats a chance, the Wharton girls tennis team advanced to the Class 3A State championships for the first time in school history.

“I knew if we gave ourselves a chance to make it to doubles, we were good,” said second-year head coach Jason Doughlin. “The girls were definitely excited afterwards. Beyond excited, to be a part of history.”

Trailing 3-2 after the singles action, both doubles lines took the courts at the Temple Terrace Recreation Center with the Bulls needing only one win to advance.

However, the No. 1 Wharton doubles team of sophomore Sofia Manzanares and freshman Lisa Maeda beat the Bulls top combo of Sydney West and Natalie Andelova 6-1, 6-1 in quick order, leaving two seniors – Fusco and Julia Sacks – to complete the comeback, which they did 6-3, 6-3.

“It was obviously very nerve wracking,” said Sacks. “We just tried to keep it cool, to make sure we had a good time because we knew it could be the last time we play together in high school.”

Manzanares and Maeda were already headed to State, as the district champions at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles automatically advance to the individual competition. But, the goal was to win the Regional in order to also be able to bring the others — Fusco, Sacks and Paulina Giraldo — to the State’s team competition.

“I think a lot of the girls remembered what happened the first time we played Wiregrass, and didn’t want it to happen again,” Doughlin said. “But the first time, we didn’t have Kelsey, and Sofia lost at singles and couldn’t play doubles because she was suffering from a migraine. A lot of things have changed since then.”

Manzanares, who missed tryouts last season and did not play, lost to West in singles the first time the Wildcats met the Bulls. In the rematch at Regionals, she posted an easy straight-set win.

Doughlin says the team just came together at the right time. Manzanares and Maeda, both first-year players, meshed with the veterans and everyone is playing their best tennis of the season. Despite a few losses during the 8-4 regular season, the team won Districts, beat Hillsborough 5-0 in the Regional semifinals and then finished off Wiregrass Ranch 4-3 in the final.

“It still hasn’t sunk in,” said Sacks. “At the beginning of the year we were very happy to have two new girls so we had a good. But as we got closer to districts, I didn’t know if we were able to pull it out. I saw the girls determination, though. Once we won districts, things kind of got real. It’s still crazy that we’re going to states.”

The Class 3A State finals will be held April 25-28 in Altamonte Springs. Wharton plays Viera High on their opening match on Monday.

tennis Wharton