Note: Since this Blog was written, I did receive a response to my written complaint and J&K is following through on what happened or did not happen- they will attempt to remedy the situation so I am feeling a lot better about the fact that I did write a letter to try to resolve issues. If you would like more information do feel free to email me. J&K has gone above and beyond since my letter to their manager. In fact, I had a minor leak due to my siding and the manager and his best crew came out and took care of the issue right away! It really does help to write a nice letter and try to resolve the issues so you can regain the relationship you have with the roofing company. I have to say, that since this blog was written and I had this experience, J&K has done everything to re-establish their relationship with me and follow through on the roof and the warranty.
I write this after my roof has been completely replaced -- I write this because I hope others homeowners will read this before they hire a roofer to completely replace their roof - it is the single most important decision you will make in the lifetime that you own your home. Very few things are as important as the roof over your head - okay, the furnace in the winter time, but as far as expense and functionality, a roof is critical for your home so my advice to you is to do it right but to pick a good roofer. Everything else will fall into place.
The type of shingle you pick will depend on where you live and your climate but the single most important decision you make is the contractor who installs it because if it is the best roof in the world, the $20,000 roof, it makes no difference if your roofers are not skilled or are horrible.
J&K Roofing came highly recommend by our realtor who has not failed us much in the past with his recommendations on contractors. J&K Roofing Company has been in business in Colorado since the '80s and they repaired our roof when we first moved in too. However, we made the mistake of signing a contract and going under proposal before we saw other jobs in our neighborhood. We should have watched and waited - granted, the mortgage company had our check and was hounding us to get repairs done but a little waiting and watching would have served us well. In our neighborhood, well over 20 new roofs have been put in because of the recent hail storm and many more will get done in the spring and summer but I know we needed to get under contract to get the ball rolling with our mortgage company. In any case, we went under contract with J&K around August 20, 2009 with a request date to have the roof done by September 30, 2009. As you can guess September 30 and October 30 came and went and we had no roof replacement. That should have been another big sign and we should have terminated our contract with them but I called their main office because I had child care issues after November 14 and I was guaranteed that it would be done by November 14. The date we were scheduled for was November 10 and that day arrived - the day of reckoning. The sales guy who came out to sell me the roof and show me the colors was no where in sight. He said he would be. Nope - just a crew of Hispanics and what seemed like just 2 guys on Day 1 of the roof - not much was done indeed. In fact, I was told by J&K, both salesmen, Nick and Chris, that the roof would be done in 1-day. It was not! The foreman on sight told me the salepeople just say that and that this would be a 2-day job or even three! I was losing my head because as you know it is tough to get daycare for your children especially if they are stay-at-home. By Day 1, the skeleton crew had done NOTHING - I mean, nothing - maybe ripped some of the existing wood shake roof off and thus began Day 2 on Veteran's Day. It was loud but I thought for sure they'd be done on Day 2.... after all, they had told me ONE DAY. There was no differing site condition, no unusual construction circumstances or bad weather. There were five guys on the job this time and by the end of Day 2 they had some of the new roof up, and most (but not all) of the old roof off.
Day 3 began and unfortunately, my infant daughter remained at home with all the hammering and all that fun! I was told by the salesman who had never physically shown up to the site that it would be done by noon on Day 3. Noon came and went. The roof was not done. The crew worked the longest on this day and after dark, was still cleaning --- of course, the yard was covered with nails, roofing material, and debris. Our new egress window covers were scratched. Oh, did I mention they had damaged our gutter when backing up into our driveway? So they had to replace that too. Yeah, what fun this roofing job has been for us! Day 3 was nearing the 4pm hour and I was concerned they would not finish but it was "substantially complete". On Day 4, they showed up and eye-picked the nails in my yard instead of running a magnet as they should have so, now my backyard is covered with snow and they will have to return after the big melt. They left a piece of plywood dangling in my tree, did not clean my neighbor's yards where there was plenty of debris, and essentially left my yard full of nails. Even when I walked through with the salesman - the one who was supposed to be there when the job started and daily but failed to show, we picked up over 20 nails just in that walk and does not include the backyard where all the snow was!
I was appalled at how things were handled by J&K roofing, Colorado. They had come highly recommended and all I can say is - do not hire them! The worst part is that on Thanksgiving day, two guys returned with a magnet but the backyard was covered. The guy immediately when I opened the door was unprofessional and yelling at me about where the trash was. I told him (but I doubt he understood) that there was some roofing material hanging from the backyard gutter and the yard (both front and back) needed to have a magnet run through it. He basically yelled at me and made me feel bad for trying to get the job done and showing me what he pulled. I plan on writing a letter to J&K main office when I send them the first payment. I will withhold the second payment until they come and clean the backyard but I am going to request they not send the man that was on the job because he was an asshole - a complete dick wad. He comes to my house on Thanksgiving and treats me like I did something wrong- Are you fucking kidding me, J&K?
The best advice I can give you out there if you are looking for a roofer in Colorado or anywhere else is do your homework, talk with your neighbors, get their advice, but most importantly, watch their roofs go up and go with a company who appears professional in every way, that visit the job site after they complete the job and inspect and are thorough, that clean well, and keep the yard and personal property clean and scratch-free, but most importantly, go with a company that treats you with respect because remember, when things go wrong with your roof and you need to call in your warranty, you want a company who will respond and send people who are professional, courteous, and do the job right and efficiently. J&K Roofing is anything but all of the above in my most recent experience. If you have any questions, post a question here and I can tell you other companies in our area who are doing a good job or that I have heard GREAT things about.
