Smith Roofing & Exteriors

Stripping off all those roofs could have made a terrible mess but they were careful and picked up all the debris. Wow, I thought the house with its new architectural shingles looked great but the finished work on the out buildings was very handsome. Everyone comments about how great they look. They were done in bright red roofs with soft yellow trim and downspouts. Yes, the workshops and barns all had gutters and downspouts. The previous owner told me he had them installed because one of his friends had a gutter installation company so it wasn't expensive. The siding and trim work was perfect. Every seam was just right. Every trim piece had to have been meticulously measured, cut, and installed. They even took the initiative to hand make trim pieces to put over column caps inside my porch so birds couldn't roast there and make a mess. Wonderful! The crew arrived when I was told they would and took the expected amount of time to get the work done. This was a large job for a residential property and they showed up fully ready to get it done, then did so. As a purchasing manager, I work with a lot of contractors. I can say without exaggeration that the team did excellent work. The punch list was small and handled quickly to my complete satisfaction. If I knew how to attach pictures of the great work they did, I would!

This is my original feedback: "We live in a house in the historic district. We had a slate roof that had to be replaced with a slate roof. He was one of the only contractors that understood what we needed and how to get the materials for us. We couldn't go with just regular slate, it had to be an architectural slate. He found it for us and he put it up and it looks beautiful. He came when he said he would come, which has been a problem for us in the past with other roofers. He went to bat for us with the insurance company to explain what was needed and why and that it was storm damage." Smith subsequently repaired the roof to our garage apartment (regular shingles) and we are satisfied with the job. I've since come to the conclusion, however, that the owner overstated his expertise with architectural slate. He mentioned not being able to "bend the shingles" for the hips and roof ridges. They used metal, which is okay, I guess, since that is what was there before, but a Google search reveals that there are specific tiles for those applications which would have been more appropriate. (Actually saw some at Habitat for Humanity Resale Store in Charlotte. ) The total price we paid was based on an estimate that involved ordering the material from a supplier, but he told us he'd been able get the tiles as builder surplus. We have no idea how much he actually paid, but I'm guessing he pocketed a nice profit, as we paid him the total from the original estimate. He actually had so much tile, that he used it on all the roofs, not just the one that had previously been slate, including a small tin roof over the basement entry, for which his workman did not use proper nails, and left the longer nails exposed. (He says it's not an issue structurally, but aesthetically, it looks pretty awful. He was unwilling to cover it. "It's your problem." A few months after the job was completed, we discovered some moldings near the facia on the uppermost roof were rotten and needed to be replaced. Again, we were told that wasn't included in the job, and it was our problem. The condition of moldings had to be pretty obvious when the workmen were up there. We wouldn't have minded paying for something extra if it needed to be done. He really should have reported it to us. Also got a nasty surprise when I went up to my attic a few months later. Everything was covered in silt, debris and roofing nails. Had I known, I would have moved the things I was storing up there, or at least put a tarp over them. Spent hours cleaning up the mess. Yup, not too thrilled at this point...

I submitted a complete report on Angies List under A Plus Roofing and Contracting for this same date.