Advanced Construction - St Charles

I first called Advanced in April 2012. Advanced came out a couple days later and gave me a quote, and said they would contact me again within a couple weeks to get started on the roof. Initially I was not in any rush to get my roof fixed, and each time I called they promised they would be starting within a couple weeks. Unfortunately, months went by and Advanced did not start on the roof until August 2012. Below is a detailed account of my dealings with this company: A contract was signed with Advanced in August 2012 which detailed the following scope of work to be completed: a. Removal of all roofing material and accessories. b. Removal of wooden guard rail at corner of home around flat roof area. c. Install new roofing material to existing shingled (sloped) area of house and garage. d. Install slanted ISO board to flat area to change the grade to drain into the gutter lines. e. Install modified bitumen to flat roof area f. Install new guardrail around the flat roof area of the house including support posts and hand rail using pressure treated lumber. g. Haul away and disposal of all debris. The total fees for the work (for completion of items a-g) was agreed to and documented in the Contract to be $10,185.12. A $100 down payment was made at Contract signing. The remainder of the balance was to be paid upon completion of items a-g. Roofing materials were delivered and work commenced on the sloped portion of the roof on or about mid- August 2012, and was finished near the end of August. The roofers did NOT work on the flat portion of the roof at this time. Advanced?s roofers who installed the shingled roofing on the sloped portion of the roof knocked loose or removed pieces of the eaves (soffits), which were not replaced, repaired, or even left behind to be reinstalled. On August 28, 2012, an email was sent to the manager of Advanced explaining that the flat roof and handrail work had not yet commenced. The manager replied on the same day and indicated that he had ?forwarded the information to the production department.? On August 30, 2012, another email was sent to the Manager requesting an updated schedule as to when the flat roof and handrail would be started/finished because they had not yet responded. The manager replied on the same day that the flat roof and handrail would be ?completely squared away? by Tuesday, September 4, 2012. Roofing materials for the flat roof portion remained on the driveway of the Property through September 4, 2012. However, no work commenced on the flat roof portion. On September 14, 2012, another email was sent to the manager requesting the status of when the flat roof and handrail would be started/completed. The email expressed concerns regarding the materials being exposed in the driveway (certain of the materials were not suitable to be rained on and exposed), and whether Advanced intended to complete the job at all. The manager of Advanced responded on September 15, indicating that he was erroneously informed by another Advanced employee that the job had already been completed. (Clearly it had not been since the roofing materials were in my driveway). On September 19, 2012, the Manager sent me an email advising that the roofers had mistakenly installed some of the flat roof materials on another portion of the roof. Mr. Brenneman indicated that new materials were being ordered to complete the flat roof portion. Work on the flat roof portion of the Property commenced in late September of 2012. Advanced removed the roofing materials, and handrail of the flat roof, and left the debris in the driveway of my Property. Work on the new handrail was not started or completed. The flat roof was not installed with a grade that allowed the water to drain into the gutter lines. At this time, minor leaking from the flat roof was observed in the interior of the Property during rainstorms. Advanced was contacted several times by telephone to seek information as to when the handrail would be installed on the flat roof portion, and explaining the leaking problem with the flat roof and asking for repairs. Despite numerous phone calls, Advanced never returned to pick up the flat roof and handrail debris from the driveway, and I was forced to pick up and dispose of the debris in a dumpster that was ordered and paid for by myself. Advanced?s carpenter began work on the handrail in on or about October 13. During this time, Advanced?s carpenter explained to the owner of the Property that he had ?lost the original plans and measurements of the handrail? and that he would have to complete the job ?from memory.? The carpenter also explained that he was not sure how he would securely attach the railings, but indicated that he would figure out a way to complete the job to my satisfaction. After several days, the handrail remained substantially incomplete, and was not the size or look that matched the original. At this time, the carpenter was instructed to stop work on the handrail. The carpenter actually expressed relief that he did not have to complete the railing, as he then told me he was unsure how to do it anyway. The carpenter then stated he would patch the flat roof where he had punctured portions so that it would not leak. On November 7, 2012, Advanced issued an invoice in the amount of $10,085.12 (the total contract amount minus the $100 down payment). However, on November 11, 2012, major leaking from a rainstorm was observed (and recorded on photo and video) through the flat roof area into the interior the Property. The leaking caused visible damage to the drywall and interior space of the office area. On November 12, 2012, Advanced was contacted via telephone to discuss the leaking issues, debris disposal issues and a billing error (a deduction for non-completion of the handrail), and repair issues of the interior office due to the leaking flat roof. An email was sent to Advanced the same day in record of the phone conversation. The owner of the company then contacted and met with us on November 13, 2012. The owner personally inspected the roofing and indicated that the roofing would be repaired/replaced and no bill would be issued until he was sure that no further leaking would occur (i.e., after a rainstorm with no leaking observed). The owner also agreed that the bill should be reduced to reflect the handrail work not being completed and that they would arrange for the interior surfaces to be repaired. Unfortunately, not a single event the owner promised ever happened. Instead, Advanced sent a worker out who merely caulked a couple spots and left the used caulk tube on my roof. Then during a rainstorm on December 20-21, 2012 (yep, another month went by), further leaking was observed in the same area underneath the flat roof area in the interior office space of the Property causing additional water damage. An email was sent to Advanced on December 27, 2012 informing Advanced of the continuing leak and damage. The owner of Advanced then telephoned the owners to explain that he believed the only remedy to the roofing leak would be to tear off the existing flat roof, and properly reinstall the roofing materials at a greater slope as requested in the original contract. The owner explained that he had a flat roof specialist in the area that could do the job properly, and would have the job completed in short order. On about January 7, 2013, roofing materials were delivered to the driveway of my house but no further work on the flat roof portion commenced. On February 5, 2013, the office manager of Advanced telephoned us to inquire as to the status of the roofing project. I explained to her that the roof had not yet been repaired, and that roofing materials were still sitting unopened in the driveway. The manager indicated that she was surprised, and believed that the roof should have been repaired and would contact the owner about the issue (again). However, instead of ever fixing the roof, another new invoice dated 1/31/2013 was received. The new invoice indicates a balance due of $11,108.98 ( an amount approximately $1,000 more than the original contract amount). The invoice indicates only 3 line items of ?Roofing $8,141.53,? ?Roofing $2,043,59,? and ?Roofing $1,023.86.? The new invoice did not indicate receipt of the $100 down payment, did not reflect a reduction in cost for non-completion of the handrail, did not reflect a reduction in cost for the owners payment of the disposal of the flat roof debris, did not reflect any resolution to the interior damage of the Property, and showed a fee in excess of the original contract amount. Needless to say, I then contacted another roofer to repair the roof. The new roofer did a fantastic job, and found other instances of improperly installed roofing materials that caused leaking around a skylight, and some other issues with improperly installed flashing. I attempted to settle the debt with Advanced via the BBB, which went nowhere. Finally, Advanced had a bill collector call me. After I explained the situation to the bill collector, the bill collector was shocked because they had not been informed of all of the issues and the improper charges on the invoice. Eventually, I settled with the company for less than 60% of their total. Unfortunately for me, this was no bargain as I had to pay the other roofer and repair the interior damage. My recommendation is NOT to use this company.

Overall, pretty good job.

Very Well so far. Will update once everything has been completed.