The percentage of ripoff roofer quotient has risen dramatically lately. I recently spoke with a CCB enforcement guy and he said its getting worse with all trades but roofing is still at the top of the garbage heap. The 'professional roofer' who did this job isn't licensed, bonded, insured but on his contracts it says he is. What an arrogant bastard. He only did about 10 things wrong on this job includidng not using the shingles the owner wanted. I see this stuff ALL THE TIME.    

The buyer had concerns so we had a look. Roofer came back to install drip flashing. Sloppy install. While looking at this, I noticed no underlayment, just shingles on bare plywood. Can't do that, so a roofer will come and check other spots to see how widespread it is. There are three different colors of step flashings on this roof. Usually - for continuity - you put step flashings on that are all the same color. The buyer was happy to learn this - one day before signing off on the purchase. I must say I certainly appreciate all these inept cowboy roofers. It means job security and being booked up forever - and I never advertise! What a great job.    

This job needs a lot of rework.  A two-visit permit was required but no permit pulled. All gutters badly damaged. New skylights resting on the edges of 1/2" sheetrock instead of resting on the curbs. Plus, no weatherstripping on the curbs. Skylights just sitting there, no screws. Plywood instead of matching T&G at open overhang above front entry. This plywood was put on parallel to rafters not perpendicular. Can't do that. Ventilation inadequate at two large attic areas. Loose and mangled chimney and skylight flashings. Other than that it is a really nice job!!   

Sure am getting tired of seeing nice folks getting ripped off. This 'Professional Roofer' appears to be one of those who sits on their brains all day and makes phone calls, and subs everything out to folks who are moderately skilled at best. This hack job was subbed out to a company that doesn't exist - we checked, it's easy to do. The CCB never heard of them. On this job there are four legitimate code violations and there are five items on the contract that do not match up with what is on the roof. Other than that it's a great job! We see this stuff ALL THE TIME.

➲ See our Roof Inspection Report:  
ED_Roof_Summary_and_Attachments.pdf

This was our second visit and the second of two new new roofs. The front is better than the first attempt but there are legitimate issues. Where-ever shingles meet anything there should be a 1/2" 'reveal' or gap for drainage. Shingles here are tight against everything. The two 'B' gas pipe flashings are elevated way above the roof. One has a bent 7d nail in at an angle. Most impressive! This detail work looks like my pet bunny rabbit did it (with sincere apologies to Missy). So, now this 'professional roofer' must come back at least a third time.

Update: The roofer has made necessary corrections and even gave the owners a check to reimburse them for my two visits. Finally! A roofer with integrity!

➲ See our Roof Inspection Report:  
MM_Roof_Summary_and_Attachments.pdf

A contractor was canvasing the neighborhood (red flag) and asked the homeowner if he would like a free inspection/assessment. Owner said OK. Of course the contractor said they needed a new roof. They don't. The owner of this company used to work for the worst of the worst. He learned many bad habits from these crooks and is now using those very same tactics. Honesty, integrity, what's that ?!? **Scroll down to the July 24th 'Beavercreek' entry. This roof will easily last 10-12 years, quite possibly longer.        

Haven’t seen this before. A roofing supplier mistakenly stocked this roof with roofing materials, realized the mistake then came back to get the goods. There is significant damage to the roof.       

We were asked by the realtor representing the seller to inspect this roof. The prospective buyer hired a roofer to look at it and of course this honyock engaged in egregious prevarication and said a new roof was needed. Just to make a sale. This roof will easily last 15 years probably longer.

This 6 year old roof will soon be torn off and replaced. Leaking at the ridge vent which has caused plywood to swell and buckle. The'walls' nearly vertical so each shingle must have 6 nails in a certain pattern as well as 4 patches of plastic cement. Nails are all over the place with at least 50% over driven and NO plastic cement anywhere. Roofer gave a ( generous ) 1 year warranty and said  "yes there are some issues but our warranty has expired". What a guy! Apparently he isn't aware of an Oregon law that says if legitimate code / manufacturer spec defects are found the roofer must own up to it for 10 years. This roofer has a surprise coming.            

A  roofer knocked on the owners' door as they were canvasing the area and told the owner he needed a new roof – for $35,000. A professional roofer would do this for $21-26,000, depending on materials. I told the guy this roof will easily last 12-15 years. He was relieved. These shingles have no granule loss and are not cracking, cupping or curling. Factory applied sealant still strong. Even the rubber collars on the plumbing vent pipe flashings are intact and they always fail long before the shingles do.

The contractor who lied to these folks is known for agressive tactics. High prices, sub everything out and when things go south they are rude and dismissive. Don't return calls or emails. Stall tactics. You name it. They even have a war chest / contingency fund and will try to bribe / buy people off. I have seen at least a dozen of their roofs and all were bad with fundamental mistakes. This outfit the worst of the worst. Beware, there are 'spinoff' companies run by former employees of this outfit and they use the same dishonest fraudulant business model.    

This roof is pretty good overall except one very important thing - the nailing is atrocious! Just like the entry below this one, the install is OK. Unfortunately, if 95% of nails are not applied properly then it's a mis-applied roof. These shingles are IKO shingles. IKO puts an embossed white line showing where the nails go. Nearly all nails here are way above that line which indicates the strongest part of the shingle. It is just as easy to put a nail here as it is to put a nail there. Back in the roofing days I applied millions of nails. It honestly isn't that tough. Yes, I said millions. On a typical roof there are 8,000-15,000 nails. Do the math. Nails must be at a certain place, applied a certain way, period. All shingle manufacturers provide online videos, manuals, and detailed online installation instructions. They don't do this because they have nothing else to do. There is a shortage of experienced, qualified, professional roofers. Companies are stuck hiring folks with moderate skills at best. OK, then train them! Don't send them to a job and say "call me when it's done". There are companies that approach roofing crews and try to persuade roofers to leaving their employer and joining them. True story. For the most part the roofing industry has been destroyed.

This job mostly up to industry standards except one important thing: 95% of the nails are bad.       

We were asked by the owner to inspect these two new roofs. The roof install overall within industry standards. The issue here is the roofer invoiced for doing all of both buildings but 1/3 of one building wasn't done. The difference between the old and new shingles is obvious so the two sections with the old shingles still need to be done.

Poulsbo is up in the Puget Sound area near the huge Bremerton Naval installations.  About a 3-1/2 hour drive. Turn left at Tacoma, go over the Tacoma Narrows bridge, past Gig Harbor, Bremerton and Silverdale then arrive at Poulsbo pop. 11,000.

The homeowners found our website and hired us to inspect their new Malarkey 'Windsor' roof. The install isn't close to manufacturer's instructions / requirements. Bad nailing, offsets and exposere random and all over the place. Owners paid an extra $1,800 for a premium warranty however that warranty is void and invalid and worthless. The roofer is expecting a big check in the mail instead they will be getting a copy of my report along with a letter from very unhappy homeowners. Stay tuned.....................        
 

The owner who lives in Spokane hired us to inspect this recently completed roof.  At first glance it looks really nice and there are many positives here. One issue is that the pipe flashings are the cheap entry level ones that fail long before the shingles do. Code requires flashing at any pitch change. No flashing here. Main thing is terrible fastening. All shingle manufacturers put embossed 'nailing line(s)' on their shingles. That is where the nails go. The line(s) show the strongest part of the shingle - where the 2 pieces overlap, these pieces are called the 'blank' and the 'sawtooth'. Here at least 90% of the nails are above the nailing line. It is just as easy to put a nail 'here' as it is to put a nail 'there'. Applying a nail really isn't that difficult, i've done it - millions of times. 

Actually, this roof overall is better than much of what I see; however, there were three things that required rework. Something about ‘code’ and ‘shingle manufacturers' instructions/requirements. This one is more about the terrible customer service. 

Firstly, the roofer assured the owners that he never used subcontractors. They used a sub on this one. When the owner confronted them about this the company owner said “you just don’t know anything about roofing”. What a guy! When confronted about items done wrong the ‘roofer’ attempted to say all was OK. Example: There was supposed to be a bleeder strip/starter course on all rake/gable edges. There weren’t. When the owner and his ‘project manager’ came for the final walk-through they were asked about this and the company owner assured that there were indeed strips along all rake edges. The owner asked them to show her so they got up on the roof to check. Still no bleeder strips. Roofer said ‘we’ll fix this”. At that point I’m sure he felt about four inches tall. When someone insists on making a fool out of themselves it’s best to just get the hell out of the way. 

Online reviews for this company are pretty bad. You’d think they’d take note and spruce their image up. Nahhhhh. Why should they take responsibility for their actions? According to the homeowner this company was profane, dismissive, rude and contentious. Add egregious prevarication to the mix and you end up with just another hack cowboy roofer. After their work is done that they should have done correctly we will go back again to have a look. If someone is paying fifteen grand for a new roof, then do it right and don’t treat your clients like chumps. These boys have a lot to learn.

Just when we thought we had seen it all, we come across this nightmare. No contract (which is required by law and plus - it's typically a really good idea!); four different kind of rake metal profiles, which we found quite clever; two colors of step flashing, with many of them only 2" on the roof (the requirement is 5"); no starter shingles anywhere.... none; mangled and dented flashing everywhere; field shingle nails way too short; chimney flashing that looks like my rabbit did it; valleys done wrong. Here's the amusing part: this "contractor' actually said with a straight face he knew how to properly install a roof. Talk about egregious prevarication! Can you say FULL REFUND?

Update: The 'roofer' dismissed me as an idiot and paid......I mean wasted money getting his own inspection. His guy said the same thing I did. One of the worst he's ever seen. The roofer has agreed to give a full refund. The owner's were pleased with our efforts.                   

The owners had what turned out to be valid concerns, so we went and had a look. They called Sunday morning at 11:00AM, I was there by 1:00PM, and they had their report by 6:00PM.

All shingle manufacturers put embossed nailing lines on their shingles. That is where the nail goes which is the strongest part of the shingle. This manufacture says "nails MUST be on this line". 90% were way above the line. It's just as easy to put a roof nail here as it is there. Proper fastening is crucial and is one of the most basic, fundamental, rudimentary aspects of roofing. It's actually quite simple and easy. I have actually done it - millions of times.

This contractor subs everything out, doesn't pay much, and charges very high prices. The only use one brand of shingles and have a sweetheart deal with that manufacturer. I have looked at about 14 of their roofs over the years and every one had significant legitimate issues. Many in the industry wish they would go away. The amount of bad reviews they have online is astounding and they just don't care.

What a mess. No text necessary here. These photos speak for themselves. Looks like my pet rabbit 'Missy' was up here doing this.........with apologies to 'The Hopper'.

The owners had ventilation issues, so we drove down I-5 and had a look.  The air intakes were blocked by insulation. Easy fix. The roof pretty much to industry standards. The nails for the ridge shingles too short but that's about it.   

The owner wanted an inspection of this new Malarkey Legacy roof before paying the bill. Lucky she did.

) Note the clever way the skylight was fastened - drive a large nail part way in then just bend it down with a hammer.

) Contract says 6 nails per shingle - there are 5 per shingle.

) Majority of nails under driven, over driven, angle driven.

) Underlayment under drip metal and on top of rake metal. Should be the opposite.

) 18 year El Cheapo pipe flashing on a 50 year roof.

) Ridge shingle nails too short.

) Toe board nails not banged down. Heads sticking up 1/4".

Owner will be demanding a full refund.             

The owner had concerns about his new roof so we had a look. As always we check for proper fastening. With 11,000 nails on this roof some bad nails are to be expected however we discovered that over 90% of nails were way above the factory embossed  nailing line with many over driven. This roof a Big Box  job. All they do is find some hapless chump willing to work for $12 an hour up on a dangerous roof and tack on a large 'middle man' fee for the honor and priveledge of having them involved. How gracious of them! Every one of their roofs I have seen had multiple serious legitimate code issues. They are no longer dabbling  roofing. The owner filed a warranty claim and will be getting a new roof. He was most pleased with our efforts.   

After 'repair', this roof was still leaking so we had a look. The work didn't match up what the contract said - we see that a lot - so the owner found a real roofer that will come out and do it again, this time correctly. The amount of shoddy 'workmanship' we see on a regular basis is astounding! Certainly no shortage of incompetant ripoff cowboy roofers out yonder. Trouble is, they keep getting tangled up in their spurs. 

This was our second visit in three years.  The previous roof was one of the worst we have seen so it was done again. Bad job so it will be done again. I felt sorry for the owner as he got screwed twice. Get this, the guy who did this roof was not a licensed roofer. He somehow got hold of a blank contract of some roofing company and filled it out and telling the owner he worked for that roofing company! What nerve! Talk about egregious prevarication!