Richards & Swift Roofing

After coming out to look at my roof, the estimate came out $3000.00 more, on top of the $6000.00 I had already paid for the "Big Deal". So as it turns out, it was not a deal at all, it turned out to be regular price. I know this from other quotes I have received since. I will be using another company that came in under the original bid.

It did not go good. We originally had Jim (the salesperson) out for ice dam damage. Jim explained since it was a two layer roof it probably didn?t have ice shield on it. So I signed a contract for six feet of ice shield, with the other box marked to include valleys. Please keep in mind, six feet of ice shield is what sold this job. It is the reason for us getting the whole roof done. And it is in the contract. The dumpster arrived earlier than agreed (6:30 AM). So we were still in bed when the doorbell rang. The crew began to arrive after that, but at no time did anyone identify themselves as a foreman or make themselves known as a person in charge. Until later when we noticed they were not installing the ice shield I agreed to, and I had to remind them twice to install it. I did my best to support the crew and be a pleasant customer while they were here. I made several pots of coffee, provided water, offered snacks, and even the use my generator because they kept tripping my breaker). About an hour after they started my wife and I went out to mark new garage footings, and noticed they were only installing three feet of ice shield. I asked them to correct it, and I was immediately questioned about my understanding of the contract. When I offered to bring it out to prove six feet was required, they said they would tear off a few rows and install more. (Keep in mind six feet of ice shield was the reason for the whole roof job in the first place.) After another hour I went back out there and saw that they were not replacing wet sheeting that had been damaged in the storm. This stuff was very wet, one of the workers confirmed. The worker asked someone if they should replace it and they said no. So I took a picture of this spot, figuring that I may have an issue in the future. After having the roof inspected but separate roofers, there are several soft spots on my *new* roof that were never fixed. Also noted during tear off, the crew was tossing materials far off of the blue tarps set down. My neighbor had several nails in his lawn up to 16 feet away from where the tarps were! Little attempt was made to respect my or my neighbor?s property. Towards the later afternoon hours I overhear the crew discussing how people had called off but they were happy to have their buddy stopping by to help. I feel this could be a reason for the poor workmanship. After about another hour I went outside and noticed they were not installing the full six feet of ice shield again, as stated in the contact and corrected by me earlier. Again I spoke with a couple of the crew bout this. And a person I later found out to be the crew supervisor/foreman began to get short with me. This is the second interaction that I should have never had with the crew. At this point I was becoming a babysitter to make sure the crew was doing the job I paid Richard?s Roofing to do. I attempted to call the salesperson several times after this second incident to inform him that his crew was not installing the job I was paying for. And I was not being paid to supervise his crew which I was forced to do. He eventually called me back and said he would discuss with his crew what needed to be done for this job. After about a half hour I went outside and asked the foreman if Jim had called. He said no, but he spoke with his office and they told him I was NOT to get six feet of the ice shield. But he was going to do it anyways to make me happy. Later in the day I caught one of the crew jumping from the roof on my garage into the garbage bin, then onto the ground. This was not professional, and not safe or appropriate behavior. When the crew ran short of materials the owner stopped by. He said he was sorry that his brand new van broke down, but he is always out on the jobs when they start. Which was fine, but he had a cell phone and never bothered to call. So until my run-ins with the foreman, I didn?t know who to address my installation concerns to. Aside from that I told him trash from my project was getting into my neighbor?s yards, and I asked him to correct it. He went outside and told one of the guys to pick it up and pay attention to where the trash was going. I figured this was going to be the end of trash in the neighbor?s yards? it was not. When the crew ran short of materials the second time (they had ran out earlier), the owner stopped by again. At this point most of the crew had left, two remained on the roof and one gentleman was running his magnet around the yard and putting equipment away. Embarrassed that trash from my project was going into my neighbors? yards again, I began picking up trash. I advised the owner AGAIN that his crew was not making any effort to contain the trash to my yard and had still been throwing it off of the tarps. While I was bringing another load of trash in from the neighbor?s yards and along the street, the owner asked me for payment. I advised him that the job wasn?t even done yet. He said fine Jim (the salesperson) would collect it later. I asked if later was today or tomorrow and he said Jim would call me. I asked him if he could help me pick up his trash, he (the owner) said he had more estimates to do. I said I am not on the payroll to do this or babysit his crew, and asked him what he was going to pay me to pick up after his crew, he said $50 and left. At the end of the day there were still plastic, nails, and old roofing material littering three other properties, not including mine. The crew and owner left my property in this condition. The next day Jim and the owner came by to do some additional clean up and collect payment. I was forced to go up on the roof to get Jim to see the shoddy workmanship on the roof. This was compounded by the fact that I am an 80% disabled veteran with a brain and spine injury that makes even walking on level pavement a challenge. But at this point what choice did I have? I had to risk my safety to go up there and try to get these two to try and get this roof fixed. The issued I found included: Several exposed nails (required by contract to be in accordance with standard practices) Crooked shingle overhangs (required by contract to be in accordance with standard practices) Crooked ridge vents (required by contract to be in accordance with standard practices) Damaged shingles (required by contract to be in accordance with standard practices) Awful calking to the point where it is rendered useless (required by contract to be in accordance with standard practices) Garbage and nails still on the roof (removal required by contract) AND an exhaust fan which was covered with shingles, which Jim denied up to the point when he left. These are the things that I, with no roofing experience, was able to notice. And the responses that I got from Jim and Dale were constantly in defense of their crew such as: ?No roof job is perfect? ?There are always going to be nails left in the grass? ?It doesn?t matter if Owens Corning?s warranty isn?t valid; you are getting our 20 year lifetime warranty?. ?Our crew wouldn?t do that, most of them have been with us for years?. At that time I advised them that the crew had not followed Owen Corning?s (OC) installation instructions. I advised them I had already spoken with OC about what improper installation means for me as the home owner, AND I printed out both OC?s Warranty and installation instructions. I even called OC on speaker phone. At the end of the call we ALL heard the supervisor at OC say that this improper installation WILL put me at greater risk of having a claim denied by them in the future should something happen to the roofing. This is a fact. Never, not even once, did Dale or Jim admit to me their crew had a bad day and messed up or apologize. Dale demanded payment in full, claimed I was ?trying to run him out of business?, that I was ?trying to destroy his business ?. But I went ahead and paid him in full. He quickly left. I asked Jim for the address that I would need to mail legal paperwork to, he provided it to me and his company?s 20 year lifetime warranty. That has the last of our contact. So after giving the owner two chances to correct the outstanding issues, I have called two roofing companies. Both agree that a ?subpar? and ?below average? job was done on my roof, respectively. One was even kind enough to bring down another handful of nails he found while inspecting the roof. The issues found by the other companies include: Loose nails Poor/insufficient calking (required by contract to be in accordance with standard practices) Soft spots in the roofing An exhaust fan that was covered over with shingles (even after I told Jim I had paid for new vents just a year earlier (four total and was positive one was supposed to be there) Crooked overhangs (required by contract to be in accordance with standard practices) Crooked ridge vents (required by contract to be in accordance with standard practices) Improper staggering according to Owens Corning (shingles were staggered but not to Owens Corning specifications which the warranty REQUIRES to be valid) (required by contract to be in accordance with standard practices) Remaining job debris (required by contract) And poor workmanship that did not meet standard installation practices (required by contract to be in accordance with standard practices) I think this work is probably not typical of this company judging by the review on Angie?s List. But this substandard job is not my fault; I paid Richard?s Roofing to do it in accordance with standard practices. But it was clearly not. The owner refuses to move from his position that the roof was done correctly. I have had to spend days cleaning up after this company, and I have had to get another company to correct the defects. This is an unfair burden that I require remediation for.

Jim (sales guy) was very professional, crew members were clean and proficient. Very happy with the entire job. Price was very good. Owner even showed up to make sure that the job was completed correctly. Only issue (not a big deal) was that the trailer was left over night and not picked up until the next day (early in the morning). Typically not a big deal but we have a dog and couldn't close the gate. They do a good job cleaning up but as with all roof jobs, if you have kids, will need to get a magnet and pick up the hard to retrieve nails.

They accidentally tore off the gutter and fascia. I paid for their service anyway, and they promised to come back to replace the fascia at my cost. I called the company 4 times over a period of 10 days to come back because I was having company coming to the house and the torn away area looked terrible, but they never answered one phone call. I had to get another company to do the replacement work.

Quick response when I called for service. Gutters clogged due to ice dams on ranch style home and rain forecasted. Somewhat expensive for time it took to complete. But, it was necessary to prevent other possible property damage. Afterwards. I noticed one prominent area on front garage gutter area was not completely cleared. My fault for not checking, it was extremely cold and icy that day and of course I had no way of seeing all of the areas of ice with the roof being snow covered.

Very fast, efficient, service with excellent customer feedback considering all instructions and communication was to and from U.K. Highly recommended. Would use again without a doubt.

After calling a nearby contractor a couple of times without success I called Richards Roofing even though they were much further away. Jim answered the phone and said since he was busy he would call me back in ten minutes with the name of another reputable contractor. Well within ten minutes Jim called back and told me that he would stop what he was doing and that he would provide the service himself. In about 30 to 35 minutes Jim was at my home and on the roof removing a very thick ice dam. I was extremely happy with Richards Response and Jim's professionalism. I would recommend this company to anyone without hesitation.

First winter in our house. Despite decent amount of insulation in the attic, we had ice dams building around the house. Having just had knee surgery, I was not up to the job. Dale and his crew arrived when they said they would, and cleared the dams within a half an hour.

The work was excellent. They were very accommodating and professional. We are very pleased with what they did.

Jim was so wonderful! He stopped by my home to look at my roof and the ice dam which had formed from this crazy winter. I had not been home all day and apparently over 1/2 of the dam had melted. He told me he thought I would be all right and not have any damage to my home then after inspection we found a spot which had been leaking through the soffit. He admitted there may be a bit of a problem in this one area and said "I'll clean it up for fifty bucks". He hopped on my roof and about 15 minutes later the mess was all cleaned up! What GREAT service! Very nice phone etiquette, professional demeanor, and all around nice gentleman! I would recommend this service to anyone!!

I called them late in the evening and was impressed by the professionalism over the phone. They made it out here very early the next day, which was a huge relief. Very courteous and professional. They took care of everything and charged a very fair price. I will definitely hire them again for maintenance and other work in the future!

Greatly appreciate the prompt response - I called them yesterday, they were at my house today. I wanted to avert a catastrophe and they were there to support my roofing concerns. Kept in good communication with me throughout the job.

I called in the morning, was scheduled for a time within three hours. They showed up 15 minutes earlier than they were scheduled to do so and were extremely fast about their work. They did in less than half hour what would've taken me all day and were absolutely hassle free. Will definitely use this company again.

I was up a creek. My husband was in Lansing and we had a terrible ice dam on our roof. I had recent surgery and couldn't do anything to help. I called Angie's List and asked for someone really good and near me. I called and left a message. (I thought I wouldn't hear from someone until the next day.) Within a half hour Jim called me back. I explained the problem and he said he would be over before Noon--not to worry. I asked him if I had to be home, because I had a doctor appointment. I was afraid if I wasn't there to pay them that they wouldn't do the work. Jim told me I could just send it in with the bill he'd leave or call with a credit card. I couldn't believe he was going to just trust me. What a nice change! People who go through Angie's can feel really appreciated. I got home around 12:30 and the ice was all gone and No Mess was left behind. Thank you Jim and Richards Roofing. We want to change our gutters to a large style in the Spring and now I don't have to hunt for someone then either. We will call Richards and know that it will be done fast, neat and fair priced. They are GREAT and so is Angie's for having such Quality companies on their list. --John & Cristina Pappageorge, Troy

A contractor was in my house painting today and suddenly came to tell me that water was pouring on him from the attic above the coat closet. Sure enough, the 6" thick ice dam on the roof finally backed up into the house. I called Richards Roofing and they immediately adjusted their schedule and arrived within an hour. Thirty minutes later they had chipped a big channel in the ice and poured calcium chloride on it, and the water started pouring down off the roof within minutes. I could not be happier with their response, on a day that was already going very badly for me. They saved my sanity!

When I made the appointment for the roof snow removal, I also requested an appointment for an estimate to fix the roof and attic ventilation issues. The appointment was scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m. I let Jim know that I had to be finished by 9:30 to get to a 10:00 a.m. meeting. He assured me it was no problem. At 9:30 that day, I called to check in because he hadn't arrived. Jim apologized and said he had completely forgotten because of the number of calls they'd been receiving. I understood because it's a rough winter and very busy time of year. He assured me he would be out the following Tuesday at 9:00 and was writing down the appointment so he didn't forget. He didn't show up then either and didn't call to say if he had an emergency or another issue. I wish I wouldn't have already paid for the snow removal because I would be tempted to subtract the value of the time I spent waiting needlessly.

Excellent. Quick response no extras just came did the job excepted payment and left. Very nice as well. Will use again in the future

Same day service - we discovered a leak which appeared to be at a ridge on our roof and it was obviously due to freeze/thaw and snow and ice build up. We called Richards and they immediately had a very good sense of what was going on and came out with the problem in mind prepared and ready to abate the problem. They did everything they said they would, when they said they would at the price agreed on the telephone. Jim was our contact and he called 24 hours later to ensure the job was done to our satisfaction, theta the problem was fixed and only at that point was payment expected. I would recommend Richards and will get them back for any roofing needs.

It went awesome!!! Water was coming in my house so I called Richards. Jim answered, then said that they could help. He said that they had a couple jobs ahead of me but would make it by the end the day. I told him I was leaking so he changed their schedule and had somebody at my home within 1 hour. Mike and Erik removed the ice dam in about 45 minutes and added some calcium chloride. Charge was $ 250.00, much less than I expected for the GREAT service.Thank you again. Jim, Mike and Eric.

Worst experience I've ever had with a company. We had a leak coming in from the roof of a small sunroom, so we called them to come out and inspect/fix it. "Jim" answered and said they'd be at our home at 2pm that same day. At 3:30 when no one had showed up or called, I called and left a voicemail. Finally at 5pm, someone called and said they were a half an hour away. No explanation, no apology. We agreed to $250 just to remove the snow/ice from the (flat) roof of the approximately 10'x10' room because he said it was the minimum charge, but it took all of 5 minutes! Upon further coaxing, we discovered it's $250 minimum charge for a 1/2 hour of work (oh, and 'drive time'). But he very clearly did not want to tell us that. After he was finished, he had no suggestion of how to fix the problem. He said to have someone come back out some other time and look at it. To top it all off, they didn't have any type of receipt or invoice for the payment and they were very unprofessional when we questioned this, as if it were a request they had never heard of. I left another voicemail for Jim, since he didn't answer, again. You don't give your contractors invoices to hand out in receipt for payment???? How about the rickety van with no logo or other identifying features that pulled up in front of my house? Do you think I felt comfortable answering my front door? How this company got so many stars I have to wonder if they just have an extended family.

Roofer was very good and roofing was good and price was reasonable. They did a very good job. I am pleased with it

They were prompt, courteous, and professional. I will definitely call them again for any roofing or installation needs I have.

I called the provider early this morning to have the snow/ice removed from our roof. He came in 2 hours and after checking the snow and ice on the roof told me we probably don't need a cleaning at the moment. Only cleaning the back side of the roof would cost you a lot of money. The worst is gone and if there is another big snowstorm leaving 4-5 inches of snow on the roof then call us he said.

After one not returned call during the worst of the weather while I was understanding they were swamped all went well. I called a couple of days later and spoke with someone who offered to come out the next day while I was at work. That was done and he left a written quote for the work. I called back giving the ok to complete the work and when I came home from work the next day it was done and no more banging on my bedroom wall!! While not returning the initial call was a turnoff the weather had been extremely severe and perhaps they didn't get the full message and number so I'm giving the benefit of the doubt and still giving them an A overall. I work 9-5 with a long commute I never saw/met anyone at my home yet it was taken care of promptly.

UNPROFESSIONAL - DO NOT USE RICHARDS ROOFING! We originally had them quote a new roof and replacement of all the gutters on our 1,600 sq ft home with an attached garage. The quote for the gutter replacement was $980. Recently, we discovered a hole in one of the gutters, so I called them to provide a revised quote to replace only that 60 ft span of gutter. I spoke with Dale on a Wednesday, explaining the situation, and he agreed to come that Thursday at 5 pm to provide a quote. After a no call and no show on Thursday, we called Dale on Friday morning. He mentioned he'd forgotten about the quote, but would come out at 5 pm that day to provide the quote. He showed up after 6 pm (late) and after looking at the gutter provided a quote for $690. The second quote included gutter screens, which were not quoted originally, but he stated that cost was $140. I asked him to explain the comparison of the new quote to the original quote - $980 for the whole house and now $550 (minus screens) for one-third the work. He said it was likely since the original quote included the roof, and that they do not do the gutter work themselves but sub-contract that work. I asked to explain why the $980 would be cheaper with the roof if the work is a pass-through sub-contractor cost. His response was I could get any gutter guy to quote the job and they'd provide the same quote (did not answer the question). He then went on to say some gutter guys may do it for cheaper if they wanted the work, but his guys want to stay home due to the cold weather. I asked again to explain why the estimate was over half the cost as the original quote for one-third of the work. He said the cost per foot goes down the more work is done, but offered zero details or examples. I expected much more from this company - a no call, no show for a quote is extremely unprofessional. To then show up late on the re-scheduled time, exhibit a poor attitude, and essentially provide a high quote without explanation (reading between the lines = he didn't want the job) is a total waste of my time. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH RICHARDS ROOFING, find another roofing/gutter company.