Easling Contracting LLC

I paid one-third down, the metal arrived and they started the job on schedule. The crew consisted of Simeon, a friend of Simeon?s and the friend?s 14-year-old son. They worked long hours and ?slapped? the roof together in a week. Upon completion, the roof appeared to look acceptable and I paid Simeon. However, after the first rain, I noted the chimney was leaking. This is where the nightmare starts. I phoned Simeon and he said he would be out to check it when he got back from vacation. Two weeks later, I phoned Simeon and he said he would check it when his son and ex-girlfriend went back to California. Third time I phoned Simeon, he ignored my call. I phoned a chimney sweep to inspect the chimney and he stated that the flashing was improperly done, causing the leak. I called Ben, who still has a local number but now resides in another state. He said he would send another boy, Gabriel Pearl, to inspect the chimney and that he would stay on the job until it the leak was repaired. Gabriel and Simeon are best friends, of course he thought the flashing was fine so he caulked around it. The chimney still leaked. So after I called him again, he came back out with Simeon who blamed the leak on my bricks and mortar. So I hired a masonry man to tuck-point all the chimney joints and apply new mortar. He sealed the entire chimney and caulked all around the sides of it. The chimney still leaks. I called Gabriel back out and he said the brick work all looked great and he would order more metal and re-build the flashing. Two weeks later I had to call him again since I had not heard from him. He showed up with another boy, applied about five tubes of caulk and did not replace the flashing. I texted him again that it was still leaking. No response. I texted him asking if he was coming back out to fix it and he said he didn?t know what else to do. I called another chimney sweep out for an estimate and diagnosis. He took photos and said the flashing was substandard and was the most likely cause of the leak. I tried to send Ben Easling pictures of the shoddy roof flashing and his email address no longer works as the mail is returned, his website page no longer exists and he does not return my calls. I discovered these guys are gypsies who worked together in California flipping houses, Ben had a business in Texas, then Tennessee, now Ben is up in Michigan, I believe, buying a new company. I am a widow with a limited income and they took all the insurance money I received from storm damage to repair my roof. Now 9 months later, I have a moldy wet fireplace in my house and I am facing a huge expense to replace the roof and flashing around my chimney. I have just filed a report with the BBB. UPDATE 03/29/2012: Apparently Angie's list contacted Ben Easling as Ben has phoned me (3/26/2012) and we are once again in discussions to resolve the situation. He has provided me an updated email address and I have sent pictures of the flashing. He is sending another man out to look at the flashing this coming Saturday (3/31/2012). After speaking with my masonry expert, Keith Walls, who has also worked on the chimney, Ben has verbally agreed by phone (3/28/2012) to replace the flashing (date undetermined). I just received confirmation from the BBB (3/29/2012) they have just now processed the complaint. Thank you, Angie, and I will keep you posted as to the progress. UPDATE 04/07/2012 On Saturday, Ben Easling did send a third roofer out, Marcus White. He replaced the flashing and some of the metal roofing around the chimney. He was polite and professional and the new flashing has a much better cosmetic appearance than the original job. Marcus feels confident he has repaired the leak. We are waiting for the first good rain to determine if the new flashing has finally solved the leaking issue. UPDATE 04/21/2012: After a solid night of rainfall, I inspected the chimney and no signs of a leak. I believe the chimney flashing was repaired successfully?finally! My feelings on the overall experience is that Ben Easling is most probably an honorable business man who unfortunately had to leave the area for family reasons shortly after I hired him to install a new roof on my house. He entrusted the job to a subcontractor (Simeon McDonald) who didn?t have the same work ethic as Ben, which backfired on all of us. If you consider using Easling Contracting, be sure that Ben himself is overseeing the job. I appreciate the fact that Ben was able to send a third roofer out (Marcus White) who did repair/replace the flashing. I just wish it hadn?t taken 10 months and a lot of runaround by the first two roofers before that could be accomplished, it would have avoided a lot of stress and aggravation and I would have given Easling Contracting a higher rating.