ROOFING DOCTOR

John was on time, knowledgeable and quick. Cleaned up when finished.

Roof Doctors came out and gave a free estimate of repairs for a house I was buying. The inspection was done quickly to meet a contract deadline, with a written estimate delivered in a timely manner. Checked into other repair services and Roof Doctors was comparable, so had them do the repairs before the rains set in. Again, the service was prompt, efficient and as agreed. I would recommend them to others.

Two words: dishonest and shoddy. The contract explicitly stated old roofing jacks and flues would be replaced with new jacks and flues. The contractor painted the old jacks and flues and reused them, several of which were clearly damaged, and he used sheet metal screws to secure them in place. He also used plastic capped roofing nails even though the contract stated metal capped nails. Anyone know what happens to plastic when a propane torch is used to melt and seal the roofing material to the underlying roofing substrate? There are also 3 sewer vent pipes penetrating the roof and two were properly sealed with roofing cement, but the third was not sealed. He wrapped a scrap piece of roofing material around the pipe and later claimed this made the seal stronger, displaying either his ineptness or dishonesty. The contractor came to my house at 8 PM on October 24th to collect the final payment, but I returned from work after it was dark and I was unable to see the final work. I said I'll look at the roof first thing next day and send him a check, but he demanded immediate payment. I told him I won't pay until I see the work and he said he would return the next day at 7 AM. On Saturday, October 25th, just after 7 AM the contractor arrived, and I brought him up to the roof and pointed out the problems to him. The look on his face was that of a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar but he didn't want to fix the problems, just said to deduct $50 from the final payment of $3000. I knew why he was so adamant about immediate payment, before his shoddy work was discovered. I didn't want to have him file a lien on my house so I paid under duress, and filed a complaint with the California contractor licensing bureau. Edit 11/10/08 - I asked the Roofing Doctor for receipts for the roofing material for warranty purposes and he was unable to produce any. The contract stated Flintlastic GTA made by CertainTeed would be installed. The contractor instead provided a warranty flyer for "Torch Granule Products" made by GAF Materials Corporation. Flintlastic GTA has a ESR report number and is approved for use by the City of Fremont's building department, the material used by the contractor does not. It appears the contractor substituted an approved material with one that is not.