Academia Roofing & Attics

I've dealt with many contractors and Gord is one of the tops on my list for his meticulous attention to detail through all phases of his work. I have peace of mind with my roof now! He replaced a leaky skylight and discovered other roof and moisture issues that have now been dealt with and repaired.

Dave Sorbara
Rosedale

Large section of roofing shingles ripped off after the major windstorm last week. Called Gord and as always, he was so helpful and had my roof fixed within 24 hrs even in the cold weather. Dependable and quality work. Have used Academia for several years now, and will continue to do so. A+++

Called Gord from ACADEMIA ROOFING & ATTICS Wednesday morning following the wicked wind that hit Toronto. Told Gord that a huge chunk of shingles were ripped off by the wind leaving behind the wood frame exposed. WITHIN HOURS OF THE INITIAL PHONE CALL, GORD SENT HIS TEAM TO THE HOUSE. The Academia team was in touch with me several times during the job explaining what was needed and giving me several options as well to correct the problem.
Gord's team WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT WAS EXPECTED as the team found other areas that needed attention that I did not see. The ACADEMIA team addressed those weak spots on my roof even though it was not part of our original contract and did NOT CHARGE ME for that EXTRA ATTENTION even though they had to stay longer than expected.

THIS WAS SIMPLY JUST THEIR PERSONAL TOUCH.
FAST. PROFESSIONAL SERVICE. ATTENTION TO DETAIL.
I AM VERY HAPPY THAT I FOUND ACADEMIA AND EXTREMELY SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS.
YOU WILL BE TOO.
Thank you once again for providing step by step info on the process including before and after photos and the follow up afterwards.
peter the barber

We had a few problems in the past with a leaky roof and it just started again in a different spot a few weeks ago. We called Gordon on a Saturday and his assistant came at 10:30 AM on the Sunday. He fixed the leaks and noted some potential problem spots. I spoke to Gordon on the phone after (and when he came by to inspect the house) and he's extremely knowledgeable. He looks for any problem areas around the house and looks to prevent water from getting in top to bottom. If you need help, I highly recommend Academia!

After having a terrible time trying to find a company willing to come out and tackle a nasty leak in an older metal roof, I finally reached Gordon at Academia Roofing. He couldn't come right away, but when he was able to make it out, he and his assistant completed the repair in one visit, (despite wasps living in our vents!) We've had a couple of heavy rains since then - but no more leak! He was very knowledgeable and took the time to advise us on maintaining an upgrading our tricky roof. Would definitely recommend them.

I called Gordon from Academia roofing to come to our home to try to understand why we were having flooding in our basement and 2 floors of our house built in 1885. The drain from our 3rd floor deck runs down the inside corner of the house between the outside brick wall in the inside plaster walls. We knew that the drain pipe had been replaced in 1970 when the house was gutted and rebuilt. During the ice storm in Dec 2014 we had flooding in our basement and the main and second floors of our house. We called our insurance company and they sent a roofer out and said that our newly installed roof was leaking and applied some temporary material to stop the leak. the leaking did not stop. we called them again and again the roofer applied materials to stop the leaking. the leaking continued. In the meantime we called Gordon at Academia to come out check out the roofing job we had just had done and he suggested doing an infrared scan of the drain to see if there was a blockage. He came promptly and looked at the roof and did the scan pointing out a blockage at 19'6" down in the drainpipe. He charged us $500 for the scan. We asked if we could have a receipt which he said he would email us. Gordon also suggested that we engage him to re do the roof for an approximate cost of $10.000.00. The roof is 8 x 16 feet. We paid $4500 just the month before to have the roof redone. We called a drain company that Gordon kindly found the next day and they came and did a scope and found a blockage where Gordon said it would be. They could not determine what the blockage was...ice or other material. They said that the pipe was cast iron and was cracked in a number of places...explaining why the leaking on 3 floors of our house. The drain company suggested we put a temporary plug in the drain to see if the leaking would stop. This led us to believe that the roof was not causing the leakage and the cracked pipe was. We temporarily plugged the drain Feb 3. No further leaking occurred in the house. We decided to wait until it got warmer to see if the blockage would melt if it was ice. In the meantime the insurance company sent out one of their contractors to do an infra red scan of the drainpipe again. The scan revealed no blockage. The insurance company then suggested we remove the interior walls around the drain on 3 floors to see if the pipe was damaged as suggested in the scope. that was done and to our surprise the pipe was not cast iron but PVC..in perfect condition. In May I decided to have a the same drain company come in and re-scope and remove the piece of pipe around the area that Gordon had suggested there was a blockage. They re-scoped and found a blockage at 26 ft. they cut out the pipe at that location and found the pipe to be full of organic material very densely packed. We still could not understand why the we had leakage on the upper floors. Finally the insurance company at my insistence sent their own plumber out and we found the problem. The drain from the flat roof on the 3rd floor had an aluminum flashing installed by the roofer with an attached 8" long drain pipe. the pipe had been set into the existing PVC drain pipe without a seal around it. when the drain got blocked the water backed up and came out from between the two pipes ...running down the PVC pipe and into our floors and walls on each level and flooding the basement. The drain pipe had a very large blockage of roots in the pipes below the basement level which we have had removed and the drain pipes replaced. I don't think we will have further water leakage problems ...at least from the drainpipe or roof areas. We were grateful to Gordon for his early advice of a blockage in the pipe. The existing roof, as it turned out has been great and completely watertight. Because we had a temporary plug put in the drain...the roof has been flooded for a number of months. there have been no further leaks in the house. it took months to find out what was really the cause and follow the insurance company's protocol.... I feel Gordon is a very knowledgable contractor and was helpful in pointing me in directions that I might not have thought of . thanks Gordon

Gord repaired my flat roof about 5 years ago and haven't had any issue with it since. What is perhaps even more relevant to this story is that he dropped by last week to inspect the roof to ensure it was still in good shape. Now that is service. I will use Gord again; he knows what he is doing!

I would say to anybody looking for a contractor to do any job in the attic, talk to Gordon first. As much as I didn't want to get into the nitty gritty details of the attic ventilation, I realized I had no choice after I had talked to Gordon. He explained what should be done and how and more importantly what should not be done. I've had several projects in my house have gone sour because I didn't educate myself about the possible solutions.

I originally noticed at the foot of my skylight well that there was some brown water staining on the corner of the drywall ceiling. I originally assumed it was a flashing issue around the skylight. Our house always had uneven heating and cooling in different rooms on our second floor. I was referred to Gordon by Insta-Insulation as a ventilation expert and someone I should contact due to the low pitch nature of my roof. Gordon was able to come by within 20 minutes upon returning my phone call for a consultation to spec out a statement of work to tender out. Both unfortunately and fortunately he was able to thoroughly walk-through all the red-flag issues with my attic, duct work, and the soffits. He took the time show me all the problem areas and went over similar remediation solutions from previous projects that would apply to my house. And also outlined the bandage work-around that would cost me more money in the long-run. The breadth/depth of his knowledge and experience was incredibly valuable.

I recently discovered my attic had a light coating of frost during a recent cold snap. I was forced to check the attic when the bathroom fan stopped working. I was initially convinced it was dust or other debris. After cleaning and checking the connections I discovered there was a little bit of water in the sock and that’s when I thought I should check the attic. I was dismayed to find the frost in the attic as the attic never had these issues. I religiously check the attic 3 times a year and a month before it was fine. The only thing that really changed was earlier in the year a new roof was installed with additional vents by a previous roofer.

After calling the roofer and our handyman they advised me that some frost is normal in the attic. That may be the case if there was frost only on the nails but there was a fair amount along the wood too. My opinion is that any frost or water in the attic is too much and something must be wrong. Discouraged to hear this from professionals, I did some research on the problem and to see if anyone could help…..and that’s when I found Gordon.

His reviews and information about him was impressive. I contacted him and found him to be well knowledgeable and educated on roofing/attics/gutters. He tried to explain a couple of theories over the phone but we both agreed that something must be wrong with the new roofing system put in by the roofer. We setup for a date for an onsite consultation so the exact cause of the problem could be verified.

He confirmed the attic had minor pre-existing issues that may have contributed to the frosting but he did verify the main catalyst was not only the additional venting but how it was installed. 1.) Too many vents for a small attic 2.) They were put to close together 3.) The biggest problem: The vents were installed on different sides which caused them to work together or compete which messed up the air flow. Traditionally vents should be installed side by side on the same side, distributed evenly to ensure even air flow and venting of the attic. I was also disappointed to find out that that one of the vents was installed to close on the top part of the roof which weakened the wood and broke a piece which means if I stepped on that specific section I would go through the roof. We also found out the socks had blocks of ICE due to poor connections on both ENDS of the bathroom fans. Gordon did advise me the best time to this job would have been when the roof was done but unfortunately that time was passed. Due the small size of the attic this job would be extremely difficult and he would have to improvise in some areas. He only took this job because he was training his colleague Ferdinand and it would be a good learning experience. I was thankful because I was concerned about damage to the wood and MOLD. He did tell me there was a real possibility that he could go through the ceiling because of the space he was working with but thankfully that didnt happen.

I felt Gord was right for the job because he sounded like he knew what was talking about and he would do the right job. In addition to putting in new venting (Maxi-Vent)/removing old venting, he topped up my attic with additional insulation, cleaned my soffits (which was a hard and difficult job due to the confined space in the attic), replace attic hatch, put in a new bathroom fan (including vapor barriers, installed new steel vents in the front of the house including the garage to vent out CO. He also addressed further minor issues without asking for the additional money. Gordon and crew including Ferdinand did a fantastic job in the attic and they were really careful not to go through the ceiling. He also ensured that everything was organized and clean before he left which shows someone who cares about your home. The house feels warmer and the heater runs 1.5 hours less. The best part is they worked to address my problem fully even though it was really cold and the roof had snow. They both took pride in their work and ensured everything was completed to my satisfaction which it was. It was worth the money to ensure I would not have any more problems in the attic which is the most critical part of the house.

Finally Gordon pointed out some minor problems with the downspout which could cause big issues later on. He said he would come back in the early spring to address the issue for free. That’s what I call AWESOMENESS!! Gordon also give us a substantial discount after advising him my girlfriend and I were just starting out and we didn’t have a lot money.