I bought my house in Sherman Oaks in 1997 and while I was out of town on work for a couple months…read moreshortly after moving in, El Nino hit. Fortunately, my garage (which was storing much of what I had that wasn't in the house) was the only thing that suffered damage, Unfortunately, most of my mementos were destroyed. I reroofed, and now almost 30 years later, with rumors are that El Nino is making a return visit, I thought (since we had suffered minor leaks during some of the recent rains) it was time to reroof, so I put Yelp to work to find me some people to interview. I picked five for the information I could glean, asking few questions, since I knew opening my mouth connected to a brain that knows little about roofing, would be a bad idea and also seeing if people were helpful with their explanations. Everyone (maybe except one) was personable enough for me to think I could work with them, but much of the information was kinda the same thing (although I noted some improvements in roofing since 97 that were useful to ask each about). The prices were more or less the same, and close enough that I knew I could find a point that would be roughly around the general price for them all, so it wasn't money. It was rapport and ultimately who gave me the greatest sense of trust.
And. I learned, information that no one else told me.
Roy, with Top Roofing was the ONLY one of the five that I saw who discussed the solar pool heating on my roof with me; each of the people I met with went on the roof. Not one other person mentioned it, and if you have solar panels on the roof - it's a consideration in doing the job. When I called the others who'd come to the house to say I'd made my choice and asked why I picked someone else I told them this - it was determinative that one person told me this was a job that needed to be done in addition to the roofing. He hooked me up with a solar heating company, he'd worked with before and I got on the phone with them and felt reasonably satisfied that between them and Roy it would get done on time, on budget. (It's not a small add-on to have them remove and reinstall the works, so if this affects you, be warned). Roy stayed in touch with me throughout - He came by and we spoke on phone daily. We had agreed that in the cost we he would completely replace and repaint a tongue-and-groove porch which was pretty rotted out) and aside from some permit forms I had to fill out, gave me a date of less than a week every date was kept. His crew was punctual, and so neat - the pool was covered, they cleaned up each of the five days they worked. Roy walked the yard with me before they started so I could make sure my gardener trimmed where he needed to, then walked it again, to tell me where we might need to keep trimming. He touched base with me every day, and when it was over gave me a video of the roof (both the main house and the garage were reroofed), and the porch which looked haggard now looks beautiful. I can't say enough about what a positive experience this was. And it looks really good. And since the last time I put on a roof, the tile now cools down the exterior which is good to have in an LA summer. The roof is up, the solar heating is back in operation. Let's go.
A roof is an expensive proposition, and I think it's ok to know little if you hire someone you believe in (and, I'll admit, test out a little bit at the onset), who speaks to you in a way that is helpful and doesn't overwhelm you, but I think this was an incredibly positive experience in terms of labor, cleanliness, schedule and most importantly communication. I think that if you meet with a number of roofers, you will agree with me. I highly recommend...
