Replacing my Roof: Roofing Contractor Review

Last summer, we replaced our roof. Our home inspector had warned us about the roof when we purchased.  It was about 22 years old and had the original semi-transparent skylights. Then, a small leak started around some of the chimney flashing. A friend went over the area with roofing caulk for a temporary fix but it was time to replace it.

Shopping Roofing Contractors

I had the job priced by three different roofing companies: Columbia Roofing, Brothers Roofing, and a third no-name company. The job was to replace my townhouse roof, check/repair/replace the flashing and install two new skylights.

The no-name company was cheapest. They were quick to give us a low price but didn’t provide anything in paper. The truck they used wasn’t marked and the contractor just didn’t leave us feeling very confident.

Brothers Roofing and Columbia were very professional. They walked me through the job asking and answering questions. They were thorough and both companies provided written quotes. They have both been around for a while and have plenty of references. In the end, Columbia had the better price.

Columbia Roofing Review: Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Columbia arranged to have the work done relatively quickly. And they replaced the entire roof including two skylights in one day.

• The roof looks great. I don’t look at my roof much but when I do, it looks nice. The skylights look great too.

• Columbia went above and beyond. I had two other concerns that were not exactly roof issues. A piece of siding had come off the firewall I share with my neighbor. Columbia also does siding work and used a scrap piece of siding to fix this. The other concern was an aluminum end-cap was loose. They used some caulk to secure it in place.

• Columbia presented themselves very well. Their estimator was knowledgeable and polite throughout the entire process.

Cons:

• The yard wasn’t cleaned up very well. They left scraps of tar paper, shingles, and plenty of nails. I could have called them back to clean up again but decided to do it myself.

• The drywall around the skylights was roughed up a bit. I expected a nice transition from drywall to skylight frame. Instead it was jagged and didn’t look good at all. I called them about this problem. The original estimator made several trips to repair the drywall. Eventually, he put a plastic strip around the frame to hide the rough edge.

• The repairs took a long time. I let them know about the drywall problem and they promised to address it. About a month and a half later they called me. I didn’t pay the remaining 2/3’s of my bill until the job was complete. I think that gave them some motivation to get the repairs finished but it still wasn’t done until the end of summer (about 2 months after the roof was replaced).

I’d still recommend Columbia Roofing. I’m very pleased with the work they did. I just wish the loose ends had been resolved quicker.

What do you think? What’s your experience with roofing companies?
Image courtesy of Striatic