So would I recommend Rob Franchi from “Titans Roof Works”? Definitely.
OK, so this is a bit wordy, however, for those who know me this says a lot.
Being fairly new to home ownership has its challenges, and one of those challenges it to find top notch trades professionals to make a repair or upgrade to your property or, in my situation, to correct issues left behind when the previous owner had repairs and upgrades made by companies who either cut corners and did not do something correctly or installed low quality material in order to cut down on costs.
Last June we purchased our first house which is a bungalow. We knew the house and was aware of the work that had been done to the property. After a very heavy rain in the fall we discovered the plaster on one of the walls in the living room beside the fireplace was becoming wet and beginning to droop and let go. With a quick assessment, the issue was obvious. Although the roof was replaced only a few years back, the roofer at the time made the serious mistake of removing yet not replacing the flashing around the chimney. This resulted in a ¾ inch gap around the chimney where it meets the roof which was allowing water to run into the attic and down the wall.
In the interest of time I made a temporary repair for the winter until I was able to have a professional carry out a thorough assessment of the current condition of the roof to ensure there were no other potential issues that I was not aware of.
Not originally from this area, I was not able to ask for references from people that I know who had hired roofing companies that they would recommend. This led me to searching on line and to HomeStars where I phoned eight different roofing companies.
With some companies not returning my call or being located outside the service area of other companies, my list was cut down to four possible companies.
With one of the companies not willing to come by to assess the job and provide an estimate, I was finally down to three possible companies all highly rated on HomeStars.
Although the missing chimney flashing was the obvious issue which needed to be repaired, what I was ultimately looking for was an expert assessment of the entire roof in order to determine if additional repairs would be needed now or in the near future.
The first company which came out arrived late and made a quick visual assessment from the ground. With this informed me that to replace the flashing would cost $x, however, would probably not be able to do the work for about a month due to their current schedule.
The third company that came out was punctual, however, again made a visual assessment from the ground, provided me with a quote and told me he would be able to do the work as early as the next Tuesday.
Although, punctual, pleasant and knowledgeable, I was still not satisfied as a full assessment of the condition of the roof had not been made and I was still uncertain if other issues were existing.
Saving the best for last, Rob Franchi from “Titans Roof Works” was the second company which came by to provide a quote for the roof.
Right from the beginning, you could see the difference in his level of professionalism.
Rob listened to what I was asking for. An expert assessment of the condition of the roof so that I could understand if there were any other issues existing apart from the Chimney flashing.
He then did something that was totally different from the other companies who had provided me with quotes. He took out his ladder and got onto the roof to inspect it.
After he was finished with the inspection I asked him a few additional questions such as replacing the roof valley flashing which were installed with roll roofing with metal flashing and the overall conditional of the roof and if I might get another five or six years out of the current room.
Rob answered these questions very thoroughly. The condition of the roof was still good and, apart from something unforeseen, should stand up easily for another five or six years. As for replacing the roof valley flashing, not worth the cost at this time and save this for when the roof needs to be replaced. There were a few other minor “tune-ups” which he recommended which although are common roofing standards were missed in a few areas of the roof.
Afterwards he provided me with a rough estimate and asked if I had an email so that he could send me the final quote later in the evening which I provided.
As promised Rob sent through the final quote later in the evening.
The next day I discussed the estimates with my better half and then she asked me what I thought. I explained that replacing the chimney flashing needed to be done without question. However, what I was seeking to understand was that if the last roofer failed to install a vital component of a roof by not installing the chimney flashing, what else was not done correctly that I should take care of before it cause more costly repairs over time. Of the three companies Rob from “Titans Roof Works” was the only one that provided me with a thorough assessment of the condition of my roof.
Saying this she simply asked me to get at least three personal references to check to make certain.
Rob provided me with the requested references of previous customers who I contacted. As you can see from what I have wrote so far, you would not be surprised of what previous customer’s thought about Rob and the quality of his work. Initially only one contact answered the phone and I was pleased with what I was told. Having left messages with the other two references, one returned my call the next day. A physician who in his own words was not handy but was extremely impressed with Rob’s thoroughness. The third person I called actually did not get back to me for just over a week. When he did call he explained that he was away and just returned. Almost apologetically for not getting back to me sooner he also had nothing but positive comments to make. I thanked him for getting back to me and then told him that Rob was actually on the roof at that moment.
There is one further comment that believe is important to make.
The quote that I received from “Titans Roof Works” was actually slightly higher than the other quotes.
However, the job that was completed was more involved and was actually exactly what I was looking for a company to carry out.
As is the old adage “You get what you pay for”.
Possibly, if the previous owner had understood the importance of this, I would not be required to repair the drywall in my living room.
So would I recommend Rob Franchi from “Titans Roof Works”? Definitely.
Rob L.
Brampton, ON
