Better Contracting Services

Let me begin by saying we (my wife and I) had called another of Toronto's large roofing companies in September of 2009 to fix a leak near the front of the house. The job was never done right and dragged on for months and in the meantime we found leaks in other areas so it was time to get the entire roof replaced, and I was glad I had found out how bad this first company was, and I called two other companies, one of them was Better Contracting, and the other company we'll call company X. Company X had a good estimate but wanted to use aluminum for the flashing on the roof, and we found out that painted steel flashing would be better, for it's weight and heft, especially in regards to wind. We met with Mike Graves, one of the owners of Better Contracting, and he personally did the estimate. He took a long time on the roof. He had the most detailed estimate of all the roofing estimates we had obtained in the last year and a half. We bought the house a year and a half ago, and knew sooner or later we would need to replace the roof, and had many estimates done at the time. It is a low slope, flat roof, originally covered with a barrier, tintex, and BUR, built up roofing, comprising alternating layers of felt and hot tar, and gravel on top. Mike sat and chatted with us for almost 2 hours that day. His office manager had scheduled him early in the afternoon to make sure he had plenty of light to view the roof. The first of many occasions where they looked at every detail. I had good vibes from him, found him very personable, and I signed a contract within a few days. We had to re-mortgage our house to afford the roof. Flat-roofs are expensive to replace, and when you're spending almost $50,000, it better be done right. They had to arrange all the materials, then they would start. Our house is more than 3000 square feet, so a lot of metal flashing and eavestroughing was required. I think the contract was signed on November 18, and they came about 2 or 3 weeks later, which was fine, because I wanted the roof worked on when it wasn't raining, but before the snow, and early December was perfect. I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and I have my issues, and Mike took note of it and was very kind and helpful. He made sure a foreman was there when the materials were dropped off, as well as the 40 cubic yard garbage bin for the waste. They spent about 3 1/2 weeks on the roof before Christmas, and returned early in the new year to complete the job, about another week. During the first 3 1/2 week period, there was even a gentleman working on a Saturday and Sunday! He seemed like a highly skilled employee, and was torching down the materials used in the 2-ply Bitumen process. It was raining on one Saturday, and he made sure the plastic tarps were properly in place over any exposed places while it was raining. The $43,000 included everything, even unforeseen damage, including rotting wood that had to be replaced, extra roof vents (original roofing didn't have enough), and new skylights (covers), one had to be custom made in B.C. Also included were the downspouts, eavestrough's, and siding on a raised portion of the roof (vaulted ceiling). They also included 1" or 1 1/2" of insulation. The foreman was there almost always. The weather was very cold this past December, and the crews showed up consistently around 8:30 each day. They took formal coffee breaks and a lunch break and worked like dogs the rest of the time, often in bitter cold. Several times the Foreman, Randy, knocked on my door and offered me more choices, including asking me about embellishments to the look of the black flashing especially in the front. I was continually reminded of their attention to detail. Randy and the owner Mike always kept in touch. In turn, I could reach the company at any time. I could send an email and be contacted back within minutes. They have a woman in their office named Mavis who I could contact by phone or email. She was always courteous and efficient. Get this, we ran out of money, and they accommodated us. We were about $4800 short, we found another $1000, and they were willing to carry the balance at 2% per month, we just come in every month and give them a few hundred dollars. Very fair. Needless to say, there was a mutual trust between my wife and I and Better Contracting. Randy was unbelievably nice and extremely proficient, I'm pretty handy and technically smart, and every question I had about the process was answered patiently, in detail. They kept saying the job had to be done right, because it would be more expensive and difficult for everyone if they had to come back and re-do anything. Some days there were more than 7 or 8 guys there, especially when the old roof was scraped off. I have several drain cleanouts in the front lawn, one looked like it might have been damaged by them, I mentioned it, they brought a plumbing or drain company around, and put a camera down the cleanout to make sure nothing was cracked and that no debris had fallen in. Turns out just the top extension piece with the cap had come loose. So, overall, $43,000 later, we are very pleased. I expect there will be one or two 'tweaks' needed this spring, and I'm sure they will be very responsive. Look, we're all human beings and no one is perfect, but 99% of the job was perfect. I found the odd roofing nail/screw and a few pieces of gravel here and there, but big deal. They were working under very trying circumstances, wind, rain, and snow, not to mention cold, so if they dropped a few screws or nails, big deal. Plus, I'm very obsessive, so I was probably looking for stuff before they even had a chance to clean up everywhere. Don't get me wrong, they did clean up every few days. I bought a magnetic nail 'rake' from Home Depot and I'll sweep the lawn this spring just in case, because we have 2 dogs. I'm not going to nitpick over trivial details. My concern was that they got the roof perfect. Roof's, especially flat ones, are very tricky, and I'm sure if I notice any touch ups needed that they will work with me, they've assured me they will return at any time if any adjustments are needed. Randy the foreman, and Mike, the owner, and Mavis are all to be commended for their professionalism, and above all, they were all very nice to deal with. My wife and I highly recommend Better Contracting, they did an excellent job replacing our roof.