Consumer Protection

Importance of Drip Edge

May 21, 2019
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Of all of the ways that contractors can drive up their profits, skipping the drip edge flashing is unwise and is likely to hurt the homeowner down the road. Drip edge is a piece of flashing that goes on the gable ends (also known as rake ends) of a home. Sometimes fly by night contractors…

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Roof Raking Causes Damage – Inspect your Roof

April 25, 2017
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Roof raking can damage your shingles and if you’re a roof raker, it’s time to climb the ladder to inspect what damage has been done. It’s understandable that many people go into panic mode when they hear of widespread water infiltration in the winter caused by ice damming.  Home improvement shows scare folks about the weight of snow…

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Roof Repair Scam Alert

April 9, 2017
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This week I got a call from a customer in New Berlin who had a leak.  Earlier in the week another company had come over and told them they could fix the leak for $1600.  They then proceeded to replace cap shingles on parts of the roof that weren’t even close to the leak. When…

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For Gardeners Needing A Roof, Timing is Everything

February 14, 2017
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Each year I get customers who want to be assured that their plants won’t get damaged when they put on their new roof.  I’m faced with a dilemma — how do I quickly strip off thousands of pounds of shingles off of their roof, all while guaranteeing that their plants will be fine? The short…

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Manufacturer Lawsuits are the New Norm

September 14, 2016
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Interested in a specific shingle?  Type in the name of that shingle manufacturer on google followed by the word “lawsuit”.  Chances are you’ll find someone who feels they were wronged, or in some cases just want something for nothing. Many of these lawsuits are from homeowners who are realizing that the cost of a roof…

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Too good to be true? It probably is.

April 13, 2016
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When a homeowner gets a letter from a supply house explaining that they were never paid for the new roof materials that went on from a contractor who gave a great price, homeowners start to panic. Due diligence should have told them that the cheap price was too good to be true.  Rather than listen…

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Nonreputable Contractors Use Mold Scare Tactics

December 20, 2015
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Be careful when a contractor tells you that you have mold and without having the experience or medical background, alerts you to an issue that may not be a problem.  Two or three times a year I visit customers who have had contractors come by and just scare them — and for what reason?  Sometimes…

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Q: How much are gutters by the foot?

August 15, 2015
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Some companies try to shortcut the details of how they’re going to do your gutters by telling you a “per foot” price.  This misleads customers into thinking that a linear foot counts as a gutter foot.  Be wary of companies that offer the “by the foot” pricing. Here’s why: Marketing hype sometimes sucks people into…

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Roof Inspections — You get what you pay for

May 29, 2015
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Yesterday I saw the face of a new homeowner go ashen when I showed her what the price of replacing her roof would be.  She had a home inspection and the inspector didn’t tell inform her of the extent of her roof problems.  As part of his quickie-inspection he recommended in his report that she have a…

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Ridge Cap Shingles Important as the Rest of your Roof Parts

May 13, 2015
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Customers sometimes ask, “why is your quote higher than another contractor”?  The answer is simple — they’re not using the same quality materials or they’re shorting you on underlayments all together. I’ve gone to houses only to see that the roof would fail the inspection of any city inspector if they actually checked to see how…

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