We woke up one morning after a very heavy rain to discover a leak in the corner of one of our skylights. There was damage to the drywall and a pool of water on the floor. I immediately began researching roofing companies and ended up contacting three. One of them showed up within an hour, but I got bad vibes. They sent me a "quote" via text message nothing official, nothing to sign, very few details. The message essentially said send me money now and I'll go to the hardware store and get started. The second company told me they'd send someone in a day or two. Someone came, went up on the roof (without even knocking) and disappeared. We never heard from them again despite several call backs. The last company was Canadian Roofing Company. They had great reviews (much like the one you're currently reading).
Darren showed up a day later and was exceptionally professional. He invited me up to the roof to show me the problem which was broken seals on the skylights and a badly worn membrane on the flat roof especially around the skylights. He also noted some soft areas when walking around on the roof and mentioned those could be indicators of hidden problems. He was very patient explaining everything. He prepared a very detailed official quote and walked me through everything. The most critical part was him explaining that there could be additional costs, depending on what they uncover after they remove the existing roof. But he made a point of laying out the worst case scenario, and giving us options.
Turns out, our existing roof was a complete disaster. Tons of rotting wood. Structural problems (the skylights were never properly installed). Almost no insulation. The bathroom fan had been venting into the ceiling cavity so everything was damp, rotting, and moldy. There was a roof vent that was pure decoration (there was no hole to actually vent through). The old cast iron plumbing vent had mostly rusted out. The list goes on. Darren invited me up again to inspect the situation and showed me everything. He walked me through the options including some ways we could reduce the scope of work or use lower quality materials (like shingles and skylights) to save some money. He clearly explained the trade-offs with each option. Even though it was a tough pill to swallow, we felt the right move was to fix everything all at once to the highest quality we could so we moved forward with the full quote.
My number one concern was how long the additional work would take. Heavy rain/snow was expected soon (this was late December/early January). Darren assured me he would have it water tight before the rain. The crew got started immediately and had completed everything within a few days despite the reduced working hours due to the short days of winter months. They got everything done just in time for the next storm.
The crew was great. Very friendly and professional. They took photos at every stage of the project so I could see the progress and what was being done. They did a great job of everything and cleaned everything outside very well. I only found one tiny piece of shingle in the grass after they left.
Interestingly, our house is noticeably quieter now. Must be all that good insulation.
Hopefully I never need to touch my roof again (Canadian Roofing Company did give us a 10 year transferable warranty on everything), but if I ever do, I'll certainly be using Canadian Roofing Company.
I should also note, Darren didn't ask for any money upfront. We only paid once all the work was completed and I was satisfied with the result.
