Zimmermans Slate Roofing Specialists

This company was great to work with. They cam fairly quickly to estimate the roof. There was a 3 week backlog of work prior to being able to get my repair completed, which is understandable. They came when they said they would and completed the repairs. Michelle in the office was great to work with (our fax wouldn't work to fax back the contract) but she took our credit card info & reserved us a place on the work schedule until she received our contract in the mail.

Zimmerman's was responsive at first when we were searching for a roofer to repair our slate roof. I first reached out to them on September 9th (a Friday) and again, with more details on September 10th (Saturday). I heard back from them on Monday, September 12th. The soonest they could give us an estimate was September 27th (a Tuesday). Due to the severity of the leaks, we accepted their earliest appointment in hopes the work could be completed soon. We heard back on September 30th (Friday) that the shingles were soft, the nails were beginning to fail, and that we needed another contractor in order to have it repaired, but if we wanted to have it replaced they would consider the job. At this point, we searched for other roofers and also had to wait to find out what work (repair or replacement) that our insurance company would agree to. As of October 14th (Friday), we contacted Zimmerman's again with two specific requests: a quote on repair of the shingles, and a replacement of our slate roof. I was told that "Fred" was not in the office until the 19th and we had estimates in hand on that date, October 19th. When I had the estimates in hand, my eye was drawn to the price first and foremost. I saw the roof replacement quote at $2500 and jumped at the chance. We got back to them the same day and accepted the replacement proposal. The next day, after reading the proposal more carefully, I had questions. "Fred" was not in the office again, so I waited until the next day, October 20th, for answers. When we accepted the proposal, we were required to sign the estimate, send a check worth 20% of the work, and that we would be placed on the schedule -- IN JANUARY OR FEBRUARY -- for the job. We went back, expressed our concern over winter coming, and were told that January or February was the soonest they could replace our roof. We were told this on October 21st. The only other option we had was to have our roof tarped -- for $150 additional. At this point, I let a week pass without being in touch. I still had not sent the deposit because, after asking several times, I did not get an answer to my question about whether or not the roof replacement work would have a warranty. I asked the question for the last time on November 1st, a Tuesday. When our questions were answered on November 4th, a Friday, I finally sent the deposit check. On November 10th, it was confirmed that our contract and our payment were received and we were placed in the queue. We were told that we would get a phone call "a day or two before" the work was to begin. On November 22nd I emailed again and requested tarps. I did not get a response until December 1st and was told that "Fred" would have to tell us whether and when we could have tarps on our roof. We heard later on December 1st that we could still have tarps and that the cost was $150. I was so frustrated at this point that I did not address the tarp question until December 15th -- but with a question: did we have to be present at the time of service? I provided dates when we were available, if we had to be present. I got an email reply on December 16th (Friday) that the workers would be there "tomorrow, Saturday the 17th to start your project. It is not necessary for anyone to be home for this." I indicated that we would be home, and that we would have the money for the tarps. I got an email later in the day on December 16th saying that they apologized, but that they would not be able to start the work on Saturday, 12/17, but would "definitely" be there on Monday the 19th - the week of Christmas. We were told the $150 wasn't necessary because they were going to "tear off and watertight" per our contract, and that the work would be completed on Tuesday 12/20 or Wednesday 12/21. They apologized again and indicated that their "guys" had some pre-Christmas commitments. I got an email on December 19th (Monday) saying that there was no charge for the tarps because the men couldn't begin the work that day and that there was a packet of shingles for us to choose. When we arrived home and went to review the samples, all of the shingles were asphalt. I was operating under the impression that we requested/desired to have our slate repaired with slate or replaced with slate. I even put it on the memo line of the check for the deposit. The contract indicated asphalt shingles clearly, so this was my mistake. I am a first time homeowner and wasn't aware that asphalt did not equal slate. I believed that working with a slate roofing company would ensure that we would have a slate roof removed and replaced. I contacted the company again and requested quotes for both slate repair and slate replacement only on the evening of December 19th. On December 22nd I got a quote for replacement of the front part of our a-frame roof with slate and the cost was nearly $7,000! I replied immediately and reiterated our desire for the slate REPAIR per my request. We did not hear anything from Zimmerman's from December 22nd until December 28th. The quote for repair of the slate was $1250. At this point, we were so exasperated that we continued with the asphalt replacement despite our desire for a slate roof. We own a duplex home and the roof which connects with ours has slate shingles and we were disappointed, but having this section of the roof replaced for nearly $7,000 was out of our price range. We informed Zimmerman's that we wanted to go ahead with the asphalt shingle replacement as of January 3rd. We heard back on January 5th saying an additional 2-3 weeks. During this entire process, we were receiving phone calls from our insurance company with serious concerns over the length of our claim. We had interior damage to our home which we could not fix until the roof was done. I reached out to Zimmerman's on January 17th, a Tuesday, trying to explain that the other work inside our home was being held up by the wait for the roof work. I was told the work would begin Friday the 20th or the following week "for sure." We got four inches of snow on Friday the 20th. The work did not begin on Friday, or the following Monday. . I contacted the company on Monday the 23rd and was told the work would begin on Wednesday the 25th (despite perfect weather on Tuesday the 24th), with rain in the forecast. I had scheduled another contractor to start work in the home on Friday, the 27th and needed the roof to be done by then. I had to request confirmation in two different ways, that they would meet their deadline. Ultimately, they did. The roof work began on Wednesday, January 25rd and was complete on Thursday, January 25th. Some of this can be attributed to letting two weeks go before replying back, at two stages of the process. I believe a lot of the delay in scheduling was attributed to a crush in the roofing market after the tropical storms. I also should have done more to understand the exact nature of the contract, but I was reticent to do so because I had to ask questions more than once, often times, before getting an answer. It must also be known that the entirety of our correspondence was done over email, and time would have been saved if I had called on the telephone. All of that said: Zimmerman's was overall not prompt in replying, had to be asked questions MULTIPLE times (details on the contract, tarps, etc.), had a four-month waiting list, and simply relied on emailing you a day in advance of the work beginning as the best method of customer service. I requested a quote for slate repair and slate replacement and got quotes for slate repair and asphalt replacement. The devil was in the details and it was on me for not noticing sooner. However, I believed, during this entire process that my requests were clear for slate work only and operated as such. It was a very frustrating experience and I was disappointed overall.

I originally wrote a wonderful review for Zimmerman's Slate Roofing last year as they were very responsive and basically helped us get our house on time for settlement. We were happy to call them again this past August (2012) to set up the annual check of our slate roof. They came out quickly, gave an estimate and recommendations of work to be done. It then took them 3 MONTHS to actually come out and do the work, with VERY long times in between of us waiting to hear back from them. We would email weekly and they would not get back to us for 2 weeks time spans. Very unprofessional. All we would have needed was an explanation as to why and what was going on. Then the work they were supposed to do looked sloppy, they did not do all of it and never actually scheduled time with us. They just came out then sent us the bill. Unacceptable! The work on our front gutter was not repaired, per their recommendations to fix it and the water continued to pond and not drain. They came back out again to "fix" it, charging us more money to do so, and it is still ponding in the same place and not draining. After, contacting them to let them know the ponding was still occurring it took them several days to reply and proceeded to tell us they told us this would still occur. I wonder why the would have recommended "fixing" it if water was still going to pond in this spot. It was explained to us before the 2nd round of work was done that small traces of water may still lay there, but not the same amount that had been before they did the work. Also, several times we have asked them to call us, email us etc and it took FOREVER for them to get back to us. We are so disappointed with their service this year and will not be using them again.