Achten's Quality Roofing

The experience I had with them was very good.  They were timely and cleaned up well.  They were very fast and efficient.  I chose this provider because they could do it sooner than the three other service providers I asked a bid from.  The other service providers were also highly recommended but they were really backed up and they also do a good job but I cannot wait that long.  But I was satisfied with the job that I got from Achten.   

Their price was not the highest and was not the lowest, it was just in the middle.  

I will certainly use them again an as a matter of fact they wil do another job for me come Spring.  

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We had a new roof put on the summer of 2014.  In December of 2014 we had a storm and a tree branch punched a hole in the roof over our deck.  Atchens came out within two days.  They would have come sooner had the hole been in a living part of the house.  We realized we were not the only people affected by the storm so the time frame was fine.  In January 2015 we had another storm with over 7 inches of rain in 24 hours we discovered we had a leak.  At 10 p.m. I emailed Atchens and they had someone out by 9 the next morning.  Mind you we live very rural at least 2 hours from the Atchens main facility.

The only reason Atchens didn't get and A is because they promised and we asked for pictures where they had to replace plywood when they originally put on a new roof.  We never got those pictures even when asked repeatedly.  I don't know if the pictures were never taken on accident but that response would have been better than just ignoring us.  When they called to ask if we were satisfied we mentioned the pictures again.   The lady assured us she would get those to us.  Still no pictures.  All of this would have given only an A minus had that been a grading option.

Update  six months later

We had storm damage to our roof Atchens came out the next day and repaired.  Then a couple of weeks later we had a leak in a different spot Atchens came out the same day and fixed it.

The new roof is perfect, just what we had hoped for & best looking roof on the street!  In the neighborhood!

Achten’s Roofing – The workers were neat, clean and did an amazing job of cleaning up each
day. They started the job, unfortunately we had a huge rain that day. They took
the time to tarp off the open roof which kept the inside of the house dry
overnight.
We did have an issue with the ridge not being cut back far enough to allow the ridge
venting to work properly. Achten’s was prompt in sending their crew out to fix
the mistake. They pulled the ridge venting, cut the ridge and replaced it with
all new materials…no questions asked. There was a bit of a communication
problem between the supervisor and the workers but Jerry was quick to arrive
worked with the crew to do it correctly.
We would definitely recommend Achten’s Roofing to anyone.

IAchten’s Quality Roofing is NOT a company you can trust. We have found that workmanship and knowledge of building codes, honest billing, and commitment to contractual agreements and advertising promises are not practices that this company follows.
In 2011, my wife and I contacted Achten’s Quality Roofing to re-roof our home in Kitsap County. After one
no-show meeting with the company owner, John Joseph Achten, we met to discuss the contract and other aspects of the re-roof. Achten detailed the applicable warranties, work processes and the provisions of the contract including the requirements of a written estimate or change order for any work to be performed outside of the contract. Although I informed him that I wanted to take the contract home for further review, Achten strongly advised me that his schedule was tight and that I needed to sign the contract and supply a deposit “to get on the schedule and get the materials ordered because they needed to
come out of California” (found later to be not true).
Having several years of experience in earlier years as a professional roofer and much more recently as a carpenter building custom houses in Kitsap County (with zero complaints or negative reviews), I believe that I am qualified to write this review.
Several weeks after the contract was signed, and with no advance notice, I arrived home after work to find workers on the roof performing a tear-off of the old roof. Informed that rot was found in the roof structure, I requested a written estimate. In spite of our request not once but several times throughout the week we never received an estimate or change order, written or otherwise. Although we received no written estimate or change order, and had not given our approval, approximately 200 square feet of roof, sheathing, and supporting joists had been removed, leaving several hundred pounds of drywall supported by only drywall compound and tape over the Master Bedroom. On the following Monday after a heated discussion with Achten, the company was fired and asked to vacate the property. When they left, a sizable number of unresolved issues remained including poor workmanship, safety and a bill for unspecified charges. Despite not having approval for the additional work (per contract), Achten presented me with a bill for $8,800 (about 30% over the original contract price) in unspecified charges and subsequently placed a lien against the property (which was withdrawn after my wife and I initiated legal action).
In the next few weeks, after a severe rain storm, we discovered numerous leaks in three different areas of the new Achten installed roof. During investigation of the leaks, we discovered that Achten’s crew had (without informing us) installed roofing over several rotted areas. Along with roofing over the rotted areas, the company had made “repairs” including nailing short 2 x 4 stubs over rotted roof supporting rafters (which were left in place), and failed to support the replacement stubs and sheathing with adequate nailing. They had also removed and bent back the original metal joist support brackets which are required by code for reinforcement of the rafters.
After many long and wet months inspecting, and removing and correcting work Achten’s crew had done on parts of the roof and supporting structure, we requested an inspection by the county building inspector before completing the installation of the new roofing. More rot was found that had been roofed over by Achten’s crew and an official stop work order was issued by the Kitsap County Building Inspector preventing the further addition of any new roofing until removal and replacement of the rotted substructure and additional Achten non-code ‘repairs’. This order from the Kitsap County Building Commission (original in my possession duly dated, inspector initialed and since confirmed by the Better Business Bureau) states: and quot; Replace, remove any rotton, fungus infected etc..etc.. before cover with new roof as per appendix A sec 4.1.2.and quot; The Disapproved block had been initialed. At the bottom of the inspection report of 9-25-12 it states: and quot;If Disapproved, corrections are required and you are hereby notified that no more work shall be covered upon these premises until the identified violations are corrected. When corrections have been made call for reinspection...and quot;
The fact is, without our approval, and without informing us of the extent of the rot damage Achten’s Quality Roofing failed to adhere to at least two International Building Codes during the roof and quot;repairand quot;. An affidavit filed by Achten stated that the
work was done in accordance with industry standards which is definitly not true. Despite written and verbal confirmation of poor workmanship by reputable construction, roofing and engineering firms and the county building inspector, the company still refuses to accept ANY responsibility for those issues resulting in our current lawsuit against Achtens Quailty Roofing. We have had to remove almost all of the roofing applied by Achten to inspect and replace rotted sheathing and supporting joists and consequently we had to repurchase all of the roofing materials that we paid for in the first place and should have covered under the contract. Although we cannot and do not hold Achten responsible for the original rotted components, we do hold him responsible for the failure to inform us of the extant of the rot, the placement of roofing over the existing rot, the poor and non-code compliant ‘repairs’, and the questionable billing.
Achten’s website states: “We offer a standard 10 year workmanship guarantee that covers manufacturer or workmanship defects, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day with no questions asked.” But we found that, by stonewalling and continued denial of the poor workmanship by the company renders all the advertised warranties, bonding, insurance, and promises given to us by Achten absolutely worthless!
In a response to our negative review filed with the BBB, Achten states that we are just angry customers and shouldn’t be listened to. While it is true that we are definitely angry, everything in this statement can be verified by written documentation, expert testimony of reputable contractors and engineering firms, the Building Inspector and by photographic evidence.
Achten would also have you believe that he has a legal action against us pending. My wife and I have never been named as defendents in any case, anywhere. As of this writing only our lawsuit against Achtens Quality Roofing is pending.
As we dug deeper during the course of our lawsuit against Achten we discovered:
1. Achten’s marketing package and advertising cites the large number of positive reviews. But a look on Achten’s own website (www.achtensroofing.com) shows the company is paying for those good reviews ($25 gift card, maximum four to a
customer) rendering any of those “thousands of good reviews” as questionable. Also note BBB does not allow litigated cases to be used in computing the Rating of the business. Therefore, Achten Quality Roofing’s advertised high BBB rating does not include any of the multiple complaints in current or past litigation or any of the multiple complaints on sites other than BBBs website.
2. Repeated failure to take responsibility for workmanship defects (note multiple unsatisfied complaints at the Yelp website (Yelp.com for Achten Quality Roofing) and the court induced payout of at least one claim at the L and I site (https://secure.lni.wa.gov/verify/Detail.aspx?UBI=602644400and LIC=ACHTEQR923CMand SAW).
And finally, to get a feel for the character and ethics of the company, check out the public records on Google/John Achten concerning the legal background of the company leadership.
Don’t be suckered in by the glitzy marketing package, homey radio and television advertisements, self-promoting websites or the fancy paint-jobs on their service trucks; we have

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This is actually the second time we have used Achten's. Darin provided our estimate and made sure the job went well. Darin was very knowledgable and helped us make a great decision on the products we used. I can't say enough about Acthten's work and their excellent pricing. They do a lot of roofing so they get great pricing from their suppliers and pass it on to you. We received other bids and Achten's was the most reasonable. The work was done very quickly with a lot of attention to detail and they were very thorough in their clean up. Thank you Achten's for a great job! (I did not put a price in, but be assured it was excellent).

The service was excellent from start to finish and 7 years later the roof is still looking great.

We initially went to the Achten's showroom in Tacoma where Jerry showed us various types of roofing materials that might be suitable for our house. We made an appointment and a few days later he drove over and conducted a thorough inspection. He e-mailed us an estimate that initially appeared to be about the same as the two other bids that we received. A closer look however, showed that these other bids had some extra charges that would have cost us few hundred dollars more. So we selected Achten's.

We scheduled the project for the following week. The Achten's crew showed up at the scheduled time to remove the old shingles. From that time until the job was completed, other workers would come and go, delivering new materials, hauling away old materials, positioning the and quot;dumpsterand quot; and making several trips to haul old materials away. They also arranged to have a service install my new gutters. All in all it was a coordinated and very efficient operation, including a careful clean-up when they were finished.

I am very satisfied with my nice looking new roof and won't hesitate to recommend Achten's to others.

The crew arrived on time and worked steady for two days. They did a great job cleaning up the mess when they were done. The neighbors commented that the roof looks great and the neighbor across the street has now contracted them to do their roof.

They responded quickly, estimator Jerry was cheerful, knowledgeable and professional. He answered all of my questions and concerns as I have never had a roof installed before.

Jerry also provided me with a folder of information about Achten's Quality Roofing, shingle brochures and a large list of addresses with the brand\color of shingles that they have installed on other houses as references of their work.
He emailed me an estimate that was easy to understand with shingle brand options. When I called Jerry with questions about the flashings for skylights, he responded quickly.
I also visited the main office in Tacoma\Parkland, the office is clean with a helpful and professional office staff, in addition to the sample boards they carry in the truck, the main office has an outdoor area with sheets of wood with rows of shingles attached, so I could see the color and shading patterns of full sized shingles up close before I selected a brand\color.
I accepted Achten's bid because they were the best price and included the added perk of and quot;Weather Watchand quot; a leak barrier watertight seal that keeps water out at the most vulnerable areas of the roof.
The job was scheduled a few days later. Jerry called me in the morning to inform me the crew would arrive soon. The crew got right to work and Jerry arrived on site to make sure everything was going smoothly and kept me informed.
I wandered outside a few times to check the progress, the hard working crew worked together like a fine tuned team, they were always smiling and it was obvious they took pride in their work.

At the end of the job, they cleaned up all the debris and nails so well, you couldn't even tell my house had been a construction site for the day.
The next morning Jerry arrived to inspect the new roof and answered all of my questions. This was a great experience for me, my new roof is so beautiful, I highly recommend Achten's Quality Roofing!

We needed our house re-roofed after about 20 years. Achten's was the fourth bid we had; we were pleased with the price (mid-ranges of the extremes we had gotten) and the salesman Carl was friendly but not pushy. The job took about two days (as we had been told it would). We couldn't even tell they had been there after day one, they did such a good thorough clean up job. They replaced the decking that needed to be replaced and also suggested, after evaluating our exisiting skylights, that we should replace the existing ones while they were up there. Skylights arrived same day and did not delay the installation. They of course increased the price a bit but it was nice to have the entire project completed at once.
We get many compliments on the roof from our neighbors; it looks great and we are pleased with the service and the pricing.

Prompt response to my request for an estimate. Price was better than 3
other estimates. Crew showed up on time and began to remove 2 layers of
existing roofing material. They discovered damage to the edge of my
roof that necessitated the replacement of 9 sheets of plywood
underlayment and repair of 3 roof joists. New roofing was installed
according to the manufacturers requirements to provide a 30 year
warranty. They had to come back a second day due to the extent of repair
but cleaned up better than any contractor crew I have ever hired. Job
completed and the supervisor came the next day to check the work and
cleanup. I was happy with the outcome and would use them again.

I chose Achten's Quality Roofing after reviewing three estimates and going over company ratings on Angie's list and BBB. This was the first time I have had any major construction done so I was nervous going into this.
All three estimates were in the same ball park.
I had a difficult time choosing the color of my new metal roof. The Operations Manager, Jaime, came by and left a 6 foot sheet of metal in the color I had originally chosen, Colonial Red. I quickly changed my mind and called him back with my new color choice, Charcoal Grey.
He contacted me to schedule the installation about a week later after my roof had been ordered and cut. A couple of days later the crew was here and ready to get started.
The original estimate did not include the price for new decking but he did warn me that it may need replacing and told me what the cost would be per board. He had gone up and inspected the roof prior to preparing the estimate and told me that there were soft spots. I already knew this because I had been up there myself many times.
After the crew had torn the composite off they found the existing decking in very bad shape. After I saw what was under the shingle I was shocked. I thought I was very lucky not to have had any leaks. The decking was flimsy particle board and I could see that it had water patterns where the rain had soaked through the shingle. The roof was about 22 years old and I imagine they were the cheaper materials available at that time. I have also been battling moss every year since moving in 20 years ago. I knew it would be bad, but I didn't think it would be THAT bad.
The new decking would amount to just over 3,000.00 for the better quality boards. The original roof estimate was about 9800.00. The added expense was not a surprise, and still within my budget.
As soon as I gave the okay to purchase the new deck boards, they sent one of the crew out to go pick them up. Mean while the rest of the crew kept moving. The boards arrived so fast, I don't recall how much time it took but I remember being surprised to see the truck back so soon.
The crew kept moving non stop from early morning till about 4PM the first day. They covered the new decking in plastic to protect it, cleaned up their gear and made sure there was no debris lying around before leaving for the day.
They came back early the next morning, about 8AM, and got back to work. The second day they began putting up the metal and prepared the sun tunnels, and all of the other components that went with the metal roof including new vapor barrier over the decking, vent boots, and water shields.
I had two big dogs inside with me that would occasionally need to get outside. I kept their trips out to a minimum because I did not want to disturb the crew, but they were very accommodating and polite.
They even had to allow for a satellite service technician to come onto my property to repair a problem.
My niece came over the second day as well and I had her take pictures of the roof from the street. That was the hardest part of the installation, waiting to see what it looks like!
The foreman had to come inside from time to time during the installation of the sun tunnels. He was very professional and polite. He made sure the sun tunnels were positioned exactly were I wanted them. Love the sun tunnels! My windows all face North/South so I always wanted more light.
They completed the work the second day, and just in time. It began to rain as they were finishing up. They cleared away all their tools and equipment. They went over the yard with a giant magnet on wheels and made sure there was no metal anywhere. The foreman kept the crew standing by and came to tell me they were finished.
After they left I could see that there was no sign left in my yard that they had ever been there. Jamie came by during the installation on the second day, then again the day after to collect the remainder of the balance.
I am very happy with my new roof. I had no idea what to expect and the whole experience was not the big hassle I was expecting. They showed up when Jaime said they would. They installation went exactly as he said it would. And that's it. I have a great new metal roof.
If I had to do this all over again I would have no reservations about hiring Achten's again.

I was there at 8 am, but the roofers weren't. Called the company and found out the roofers' truck was stuck and had to get it towed out. So they showed up several hours late. When they started the tear down, the decking was found to be in pretty bad shape, so they had to order new decking which came late in the day. The old shingles were removed, and the OSB decking and underlayment was installed the first day. The 2nd day the roofing, flashing and vents were installed. The roofers worked well together, and cleaned up around the property and hosed down the roof. The job was completed by 1 pm the next day. The roof looks very good.

I had received a bid in the spring and was very impressed with the bid and responsiveness with who I was working with. I could not get the roof done yet so contacted them again in the fall. The guy I had been working with was no longer there and we had to start over. I got passed around a bit but then was told the job could be done at the price quoted before. They delivered the materials and waited for the rain to break and a few days later got the job done. I did have someone I had hired to overlook the job, good thing since the kitchen vent was accidentally covered up. They uncovered it and the job went on. It was done in less than 2 days and looks great, at a very competitive price. Almost half what some of the other quotes I received.

The work required numerous crews each day and took 4 days to complete. The company provided a mobile toilet for their employees' use and all material was placed so that we could still utilize part of the driveway at night. The crews were very professional, experienced and all had outstanding work ethic. The tearoff was synchronization at it's best with several working on the tearoff and others coming right behind with the plywood and paper. The roof provided several sections so we had 3-4 crews at a time working on it and they worked well in unison with each other. Each night a full cleanup was completed before leaving. We did obtain a permit and the city inspector was impressed with the final product. Due to the products that we utilized we also received an additional manufactures warranty beyond Achten's warranty of work was provided after the manufactures inspection of the roof.
The project started early, approved by us first, and Jerry, our project manger/estimator, was on vacation so John, company owner, was our onsite project manager and he was here numerous times for each day to oversee and inspect the work. Communications each day from John on status and the next day's plan were excellent and when Jerry returned he also called to make sure the work meet our satisfaction. Overall an impressive operation.

Initial contact via e-mail
Phone contact from Achtens to set up appointment to meet my schedule
On site inspection and discussion of roof issues
Pricing options
Work schedule options
Achtens kept in touch.
The job was scheduled, partial payment made,and completed within the time frame.
Additional plywood was needed and I was called to inform me of the need and the cost.
The job was finished and inspected within 3 days, all withing the agreed upontime frame.
Final payment was made.
All took place within 2 months from my initial contact. The scheduling, work, and completion happened within 2 weeks.

The owner was prompt in my response to request for information and bid and got the work after I requested bids from 2 other roofers, as well. One never contacted me until a year later; the other gave me a less than professional bid. I checked references (provided by Achten) by randomly selecting people in the neighborhood and they couldn't speak highly enough. I also drove by addresses listed in the references and looked at the job before selecting them.The workers were punctual, worked hard and dealt with my steeply pitched roof. They cleaned up after themselves to the point they picked nails out of the lawn. They were terrific.

went exactly as specified. started on time finished on time. Cost what was estimated

I called for an estimate to repair my roof because of an issue with the prior roof vent. They promptly came out and started the job and only asked me for the final payment after I was fully satisfied. They even coordinated the inspection with Land I. I would recommend them strongly.

It was great.

Came out immediately following initial call. However, after we found they didn't fix the roof leak it was difficult to get them to return. We had to call multiple times and tried twice to get it fixed. Some days they promised to come out then never did with no apologies. They left a piece out of the gutter installation and have still not returned to fix it.

I was satisfied with them. I thought they did a very good job. They were reasonably priced compared to others. They were well within the pricing range other companies had and very quick to respond. I thought everything went fine and I am happy with the end result.