My uncle and I were looking to re-shingle our 2 roofs and decided to go with Better Contracting. We ended up having 2 very different experiences. The crew that arrived at his house were very professional and meticulous. They covered areas where debris would be falling and 1 employee’s sole job was to go around cleaning.
Unfortunately, my experience was nothing like this. The job site looked like a war zone with lots of material that didn’t make its way into the bin all over the grass in the front and backyard. One guys spent 20 minutes at the end of the day quickly picking up only the larger pieces of debris. I had to go to the neighbours property and clean up the debris on their side. The crew tried rushing to get the entire roof done (3100 sq. ft. house) in a day. Originally, all the materials didn’t show up. I had wanted some of the plywood replaced and noted that in advance and was included in my invoice. The crew lead tried talking me out of it likely to speed up the day not to mention when the plywood did arrive, they only brought one as opposed to the 2 sheets that I had reminded them of some 2 hours earlier. I had to remind them of the extra vents plus bathroom exhaust vents which also did not arrive.
While I was in the attic trying to install the exhaust vents for the bathroom I noticed a hole in the plywood that could easily fit my fist through it. I told the crew about this who told me that they had already covered it with aluminum. They didn’t as I had to wait in the attic and show them as they returned from their break. The crew also failed to install the vinyl underlay on the top 2-3 feet of the roof (on both sides and along 2 peaks) again as they were rushing to finish the job in a day. The crew also didn’t know that my house required the installation of 2 additional roof vents. Again, something I had to remind them of. They did however ask me where I wanted my bathroom exhaust vents installed so I have to give them credit for that.
Following my complaint, Better Contracting did come back and re-do the underlay but I can’t help but wonder that was only because I was home, took pictures to show that they installed the shingles without underlay thereby voiding the warranty on the shingles. Additionally, if I was not home and in the attic and watching the crew, my 2 vents, additional plywood (1 only) and hole in roof would NOT have been fixed. I paid good price for the roof and to this day I’m just not happy with the decision to go with Better Contracting. While the roof looks good now, and I am grateful they came back to fix it, it should have been done right the first time. I paid to have it done right and such would not have been the case if I wasn’t home watching these guys. I also believe that this crew were sub-contractors.
The crew (a different one) that came back to re-do the roof was much much better. George was really good, knew his job and did it as if he was shingling his house.
I also had Better Contracting re-do my evethroughs and downspots at the same time as the roof and have to admit the crew was awesome and would recommend their metal crew to anyone.
Oh, and despite my calling Better Contracting some 8 times in the 2 months following my installation, I have still yet to receive a Final Receipt showing what I paid. I only have an invoice along with proof of downpayment. Everytime I called, they told me they would look into it.
My low score reflects the lack of trust, quality of work (original crew) and lack of a final receipt which is just poor business.
