Better Contracting Services

They did my roof in 2003 October. There was a five year warranty on their work but they did not honour it. I do not know when the roof started leaking because that type of thing takes a while to become apparent. However, there were at least four leaks. Three were from the vents they installed and one was from a gap between the peak of the roof and the dormer. During last years and this years rainstorms, the vents were leakiing to the point the water came thru the bathroom fan vent and the kitchen pot lights.

Better Contracting has been out a few times. The first time was after I talked to them at their display at the spring Home Show in 2006. Someone came by and left a card in my mailbox with no name on it at all. Their business cards have a blank area for a person to write their name. There was NO name on the blank area. I was concerned that the leaf guards on the eavestroughs were not working as the manufacturer claimed. When I phoned to find out who it was who had been here, the receptionist basically was competely uninterested in what I was saying. Three times she called by by the wrong name. In addition my address is at the end of a street with a similar name. I always point this out because pizza, mail and other deliveries meant for me end up misdirected. I had to say this twice to get the receptionist to note it. When I asked for her name because I was bothered by her inattention she said she was just a temp and refused to tell me. That was my first indication that this was going to be a problem. First, the person who left a card with no name, then a receptionist who refused to give me her name.

In 2007 it became apparent that the roof was leaking. The person who had sold me the roof came out to check it. He did not get on a ladder or anything like that. I do not remember for certain if he came into the house to see the damage from inside but I do not think he did. He said that the leaking was likely from ice damming the previous winter. However, they were supposed to have done their GOLD service, which meant that there was some type of barrier against water damage from ice damming.

In summer of 2007 I had a complete home inspection by a certified home inspector. He noted a roof leak. He also found damp plaster in a few areas in the house. When I phoned Better Contracting to ask them to come out and fix the leaks, the person I spoke to basically questioned the credentials of the home inspector.

I then talked to someone else whose name I forget. This was in fall 2007. By this time, the interior of the house was showing evidence of the leaks, as the paint on the ceiling and the dormer area and bathroom was falling off in sheets and damp plaster was falling down. He tried to say the leaks were caused my other people who took down a tv antenna from my roof and fixed my chimney. He was arguing with me and denying responsibility even as his employees were on my roof cauking it. The trouble with his denial of responsibility is that the tv antenna and chimney are on the northwest and west side of the roof, but the leaks were on the southeast and northeast part of the roof as well as the northwest part. Thus, the tv antenna and chinmey flashing could not be the source of the problem.

I then called them again and they came out in August this year. I again showed the guy the problem. By this point I had decided to get a reputable to fix the roof properly, since I no longer had any trust in Better Contracting. I was looking for financial compensation from them. The estimator at the other company, who by the way IS a roofer, said that the roof vents had been installed incorrectly. He also said the dormer was not stepped properly. When I phoned and emailed Steven Graves with this information I got a nasty email in return.

This is an updated review. Steven Graves did reply to my original review. He certainly sounds reasonable when he replies that they are willing to speak with you to fix the problem. However, his email and his actions say otherwise.

I went to three other companies for estimates on my roof and eaves and decided to start with the eaves. Better Contracting gave me the best advice and helped me divide the job into phases in order to manage my finances better. The quotes came in under the competition, they delivered on their promises and did excellent work.

We had a leak in our roof which the salesman quickly diagnosed without an actual inspection. He wrote us up a contract with a promised inspection on itfor the job we chosewhich was a sure fire resolve for our problem according to them. A couple of weeks later the workers arrived, very hyper and in a hurry climbed on the roof and down in 10-15 min having completed their $400.00 job. They left without saying anything; I just happened to see their truck drive away. Meanwhile the company is on the phone asking for payment. They promised they would work with us if the job they reccomended didn't work. The first rain we got after their repair we still had a leak and it seemed to get worse. We explained to them the repair din't work and that we were willing to pay more money to have it fixed but there was no interest from them only insult. The manager said to me that he didn't know why his salesman took on such "little jobs". I told him it may be little for them, but to us it is a lot of money for a repair that didn't work.
We contacted them repeatedly kindly and angrily and finally put in a complaint with the BBB because we never got an inspection that was promised with the job we requested. We have since gone with another company from Home Depot who charge half of what they charge.
I can't believe Mike Holmes has them on their list of contractors If only he knew.....Unless you are Mike Holmes I would just skip giving this company your hard earned money.

Better Contracting Services: Every aspect of the job was handled in a timely and professional manner. Communications from the admin staff, estimator, scheduling and the installation crew made working with them very easy. Their quote was the best of the three that I obtained. They scheduled an install date but actually were able to fit my job in earlier than expected. On the day of the job the installation crew showed up on time, completed the job within the time frame that was estimated, did an excellent job of cleaning up afterwards and took the time to answer my questions. The job cost was exactly as estimated. I would hire Better Contracting again in an instant and I recommend them highly.

Keith

I have nothing but good things to say about them. I have had quite a bit of work done to my home since I first purchased it and the only company I would bring back to do more work out of them all is BC. They responded quickly to my calls even though they are very busy, they were extremely clean around and inside my home, very polite and they helped me to understand the work they were doing. The job was finished in one day and I have not had a single problem since. It was nice to deal with someone who actually seemed to care and that was so professional. Thank you Rob and the rest of you at Better Contracting for such a great roofing experience!

After receiving a number of quotes with a variety of prices, I contracted Better Contracting to replace my roof. My first impression came with the salesman who insisted on meeting me face to face to discuss the project. I was reluctant at first but am now very grateful for his persistence. He was very professional in explaining the entire process, including the different types of materials, and answering all my questions. This was after he actually got on my roof to inspect it (the only salesman that did). Although their price was a little more than the others (a few hundred dollars) I decided to go with them. I really liked the idea that they are a family business and had already received great customer service. I had to wait awhile to have the work done but it was only because they were so busy. They showed up when they said they would and completed the job in just 1 day! The crew was pleasant and even put up with my neighbour, who isn't so pleasant! The roof looks great! It has given my house a refreshing new look. A little extra cost and a bit of a wait were more than worth it!

I had several companies come out to quote, and figured they would be way too expensive. I was pleasantly surprised when they were only a few hundred dollars off the other smaller companies.

They are busy, so the roof was scheduled far in advance, but they came when they said, did the work, and cleaned up afterwards. I'm embarrassed to admit it looked cleaner then before they came!

Only issue: they removed the existing gutter guards and binned them. I called the account rep and he drove out another new set to me within 48 hours, no questions asked. I was happy the way they responded to the issue.

The crews were very pleasant to deal with and performed the work in a very timely manner. I received a new roof, eavestrough and an eavestrough cover system. The overall job looks great and has saved me many messy hours cleaning my gutters. I have had many compliments on the shingles.

The contractor was able to start the job within a reasonable amount of time but took 4 days instead of 2 days (per quote) to complete it. Overall the job appears to be nicely done but with one flaw - the new eavestroughs were set below the level of the old eavestroughs, leaving an ugly gap between the new eavestrough and the existing fascia at the front of the house. It took more than 6 weeks of calling to get them to come back and patch the gap.

Referred from the home show 2005. They came out and did an estimate and gave advise as to what I could do myself. Excellent advise. When back to the home show 2006 and asked them to come and do estimate. They came within two weeks and explained everything that had to be done to code. Had all necessary paperwork, everything at hand, all info, referrals, everything ready to go. They were prepared and after they did the roof you wouldn't even have known that they were there. They even raked the leaves for me. It was a pleasure and highly recommend them.