Who am i bidding against

I wanted to share what is happening here with many companies on this business which probably your used to .

Last week i went over to visit an old installer i know who works for a contractor here on my area .

I went because i was passing by and dropped him some sodas on my way and said hi.

The installations i watched left me speachless .

  • he used self adhered Liberty on a dead flat roof with parapet walls and scuppers with tons of penetrations and ac units on top it also had water ponding areas.

  • everytime they would come up to a conduit instead of installing the proper pie flashing it was the old cut around it and mastic later deal.

  • this roof had a metal panel with lightweight concrete and some plies mopped and coated on top with some white coating , he nailed a ma base and covered it up with a SA cap .

  • all this over a comercial building with dentists and all.

  • City permit was required and got ignored.

  • overhang had 2) 3" abs pipes that got cancelled going thru it and instead of replacing the board he just put a tin shingle over the hole which is visible from the ground and roofed over it.

  • On another house he installed a 20 yr 3-tab roof with a crooked pattern and also went around satellite dishes, solar panels, conduits with tar only.

  • he was short of felt and left an area about 3 feet by 35 feet without felt and nailed the 3-tabs directly on the plywood.

  • This is a two story home next to the ocean and got installed using 3/4 coil nails on a high wind area.

  • Areas of sheathing damaged only got a 2x2feet square replaced . completely weakening the roof.

  • On this area also permit was required and got ignored .

  • nails al over the yard was a nice memory .

I asked my friend why all this was happening and the contractors answer was F… IT !!

This contractor has been in business for a loooong time and He has referrals and almost always has work regardless.

Many more are just like that .

Some people really dont care they do this to them since they got a good “DEAL” .

On the other hand state requirements are getting tougher and tougher also city requirements ( $450 for a 20 square roof permit??) is ridiculous.

I still find people who are willing to do what it takes to install a good roofing system.

But the less it rains the more comfortable they feel with purchasing with this guys .

Today rain was on the forecast, And this contractors answer was :

I dont want it to rain!!

Thats crazy, It’s only a matter of time before he ends up in court or doesn’t get final payment for a job. Just another bad contractor that makes us good contractors look bad. What a loser.

I went to a h/o who had shingles blown off his 3 month old house. The shingles blew off were the shingle piles must have been because no felt was visible when I repaired the three missing shingles. Upon further inspection found 15 things unacceptable and with the help of my father and I the h/o got a new roof. Only problem it was done by the same company who originaly did it!

Seen some pretty wild stuff over the years. Just the other day got a call from a contractor I roofed a couple garages for over the past Winter. A dormer was built off a house and he had a church guy do the roofing and siding. First rain and it leaked as you could see light on several spots of the building. The roofer insisted on using one piece flashing for the tin courses but the contractor sent out pre-bent shingles tin. Guess what the “roofer/sider” did? He just laid the tins along the wall and nailed them all down and went right over them with the new shingles which were three tabs and nothing lined up. My brother was out there and he said on some spots the shingles even over-lapped each other. Cost to repair right $1K+ for a square of shingles and a couple squares of siding.

I didn’t want to say I told you so but… wow, is this a tough market for the good guys.

Q this is everyday. No matter what you do this will happen. Hope all is well. Maybe i will give you a call this weekend q if thats cool with you. Chat later Kevin