Avenue Road Roofing

As very picky customers (we try to know as much or more than the person we hire if possible), we found Avenue Road to be reasonable. The clean up was not very good, we still find nails in gutters and the lawn (they should use a magnetic sweep - they didn't). On the plus side, the site supervisor had the crew fix things up the way he felt they should be (primarily the flashing), and they messed up the flashing on a bay window roof. However, they sent a specialist (who we knew to ask for) who came and spent a few hours redoing the flashing over that small bay window. During the reshingling, the crew let me go up and cut my own wood to fill in two old vent holes (why not), and did the entire job in one scorching hot day with only a lunch break (we provided ice, juice, and fruit drinks all day - sugar and cool liquids keep workers working...and happy). AR gave us no problems about the 10%, 45 day holdback, and though AR charges more than most, we were able to be sticklers about every detail on the contract without a peep from them. AR was up front to begin with, and we were willing to pay a premium for the honesty - note: we showed every estimator what we wanted in written detail, and still got quotes for jobs with incorrect materials/work.

We hired Avenue Road Roofing because they had a good reputation and also because they were featured on Holmes on Homes. We knew they would be expensive but we wanted a company that could back up their work. The quotation process was very pleasant the estimator explained things in much more detail than the two other roofers we asked to provide quotes. It took over 2 months for them to start the work, but in fairness, the summer of 2006 was plagued with rain. They started a three day job on a Friday, which should have rung the alarm bells, and they assured me that the first layer would protect the roof in the event of rain. Well, it didn't. The good news is, they stood behind their work and eventually repaired the interior. The metal work was not done properly, and that too they fixed. Some of the stucco trim has to be cut away, and this was never properly finished. It took a total of five months from the time we signed the original contract. We were generally happy with the work on the roof and the professionalism of the company in standing by their errors, but they should be more upfront about their ability to do the job in a resonable timeframe. Once they start it, it should be finished as best as possible in consecutive days, not over a period of three months.

These guys saved the day. They tarped the roof in the middle of winter and ensured that we wouldn't have any leaks in the meantime. The sales staff (George in particular) was wonderful and very helpful. He actually referred us to a company of specialists that could help with the clean up of our attic because of the leaking causing mold.

Had a roof done 10 years ago by Avenue Road Roofing. Oct/06 found that the job was not holding up. Called Avenue Road Roofing and they sent out a repair man. He told me that the wood was not replaced when the job was done ten years ago and the wood had broken through. My contract ten years ago said I would pay for wood if needed. The repairman said "that Avenue Road Roofing will look after it." When Avenue Road found out it would cost them money they sent out another service man. He took off a few singles and said the roof was fine and the first guy did not know what he was talking about. He told me the cost to repair the roof would be $1400.00. I hired another company and had the work done. Guess what,when the roof was exposed the wood had broken through just like the first service man from Avenue Road Roofing had said. I called the second repairman and told him what was found once the roof was exposed and he said "I knew that they would find that" After dealing with the company and letting them know about the way I have been treated they said on November 21/06 that they will not cover my claim. I will now be going to small claims court.I have seen Avenue Road Roofing on the Mike Homes Show and I would have thought they were a much better company than they are. Like Mike says "its the small guy who is treated poorly" How right.

Postscript:
Response to company statement below: It does not say from the date on my contract. No where on my April 17, 1996 quote/estimate/warranty does it indicate a specific 10 year end date. The warranty "guaratnees, for a period of 10 years..". My contract work was done in the year 1996 and the contract runs out at the end of the year 2006. Dec. 31, 2006. Avenue Road Roofing is not owning up to the contracted agreement because they do not want to pay for the work that was done incorrectly in the first place. This incorrect work was confirmed by two of Avenue Road Roofing repairman. So... the little guy is supposed to take the loss. Well, you know what, I don't deserve that loss.

We hired ARR to strip existing shingles and redo both the flat section and the shingles on our roof. Our salesperson was George, who was extremely pleasant to deal with. He responded to our questions and requests very promptly, significantly exceeding the service we received from ARR's competitors during the bidding process. He was helpful, informative, cooperative and very professional. The work took three days to complete, which was performed to our satisfaction. The crews did their best to minimize the distruption their work caused to our life. They worked efficiently and cleaned up the site at the end of each day. Once the crews finished their work, ARR followed up with us to ensure that we were happy. They quickly sent an inspector to do a quality check and fix up a minor detail we pointed out. From bidding to follow ups after completion, ARR did an excellent job. All this came at a competitive, but not the lowest, price. Overall, we are very happy with ARR and would definitely consider them for any future jobs.

We had a decent job done on our flat and shingle roofs, however, the process with which the job was carried out was irritating. Avenue Road has definately let their customer service slip and responses to questions throughout the process went unanswered. We were kept in the dark about when work would be completed and when it would be billed. Materials were grossly over estimated for which we paid and were unused. Plywood was left behind resting on our neighbours fence for a week which has been pushed over as a result. We were rushed through the shingle selection process and ended up getting shingles we dislike and feeling like we were duped into getting ridge venting which we are very dissatisfied with. I certainly don't think Avenue Road deserves all the praise it is given, because we certainly did not have a good experience with them.

The sales job was very "professional" and the company frightened us with pictures of every possible thing that could go wrong with our roof. We were told the work would take a week and given an estimate that seemed reasonable if a crew was to be on site for 5 days. In reality, they were in and out in 1 day. They scratched our neighbour's siding which she was very unhappy with and damaged one of our evestroughs but repaired both without complaint (even though we had already paid). I think we were over sold and over charged, but am comfortable with the quality of work.

After a chimney mason caused severe damage to our roof (without letting us know) we called in Avenue Road to help us out. Avenue was a dream to deal with, worth every penny they cost. They even wrote a detailed letter outlining the damage the mason caused and the years of life taken out of our roof.