I had contacted 5-6 roofing companies for a bid and then narrowed them down to two. I had then…read moreasked the last two how much more it would cost to install the gutters. Dallas Stars Construction said they had a promotion going on, so they would install them at no additional cost. I had researched them on several sites, had read good reviews, so I felt comfortable hiring them. Their bid of $8K was the most competitive. They had asked for $4K upfront and the remainder after the job was completed.
When I wrote them the first check, they decided to cash it at my credit union. My credit union doesn't have any cash on its premises, so they went to another place to cash it. I got a phone call from that place asking me to verify: did I write the check, check number, do I have the funds in my account, how can they verify that, etc. In the end, the roofers deposited the check in their bank account.
On the first day, they arrived at the house and started piling up new bundles of shingles on the roof before removing the old ones. They were throwing them down so hard on the roof, a picture in my bedroom moved sideways on the wall. When they took the old shingles off, they approached me and said that my old decking would have to be replaced and it would cost $12K more. They wanted the whole amount upfront. My decking was original boards, not plywood. When they took it all off, 8 trusses were broken and had to be replaced. Throughout the process, they workers had stepped through my ceiling in 3 different places and had made holes in my sheetrock that had to be replaced and fixed up. Insulation flying around the house and extra cleaning that could've been avoided.
I had installed radiant barrier in my attic (metallic material that reflects heat). The roofers had detached it in many places and never reattached it properly, even though I had asked them several times and they did attempt to do it. I had to hire the original installer to fix everything up. I had installed a solar fan that roofers reinstalled in the opposite direction. The original installer had to fix it, too. I have 2 whirlie birds on my roof that were reinstalled crookedly. My mother and I had fixed those ourselves after they left. I had 4 solar lights installed and the roofers had mangled them so badly when they reinstalled them, I was shocked. Had the original company come out and replace them. I told Dallas Stars that I'd have to deduct the cost of repairs from their remaining $4K.
Dallas Stars had subcontracted the installation of the gutters to another company. When they were finished, the roofers wanted me to pay them from the $4K I was withholding from them. The other repairs hadn't been completed yet, so I refused. After the first rain, I went up on the roof and had noticed water pooled up in several places in the gutters, so they were installed improperly, wrong angle of the gutters. I had been given an "explanation" as to why they were installed that way. They haven't been fixed still.
A lot of the work on the roof was done sloppily - the first row of shingles is hanging so far out that they started bending down already and will start breaking off at some point; in several spots they didn't bother to put little pieces of decking in the corners, they just put shingles over the holes; some things weren't even nailed properly, etc. I had to hire another contractor to fix up all those things. Every time I pointed out those things, the owners of Dallas Stars had an "explanation" as to why it was done that way.
I have a back porch attached to the house. Dallas Stars hadn't reroofed it because, according to them, it's not part of the house. They offered to give me another bid to replace that if I wished to.
Several days after the roofers finished the job, one of the roofers who was working on my house, had showed up on my doorsteps. He said that Dallas Stars owners never paid him because they hadn't been paid by me. I explained to him why I was holding on to $4K of their money and made it clear to him that they had $16K already. He said some lawyer he was working with was going to put a lien on my house. I called the Dallas Star owners, they told me to call the police and threatened him with his immigration status. I still don't know if he got paid or not.
Before writing the final check, I had asked the Dallas Stars owners to have the final invoice and some other documentation either emailed to me or have it ready during the check exchange. When they came to my house to pick up the check, they didn't have any of that. After arguing for 10 minutes, they went to their truck and filled it all out. It took them longer to explain to me as to why they didn't have time to do it than actually doing it.
What was supposed to be a one-day job, ended up being a 2 week ordeal by the time everything was fixed and repaired. There were several heated and uncomfortable confrontations with the owners of Dallas Stars and it had cost
