As a homeowner, I've never called a service provider based on their TV commercials, opting more…read moreoften for referrals and word of mouth. But I have to confess, of all the roofing company TV commercials that I roll my eyes at, Oz Roofing had a great commercial that just stuck with me. Good advertising does that. So when it came time for me to get my roof replaced, I called three roofing companies: 1 referral and 2 from TV commercials. I'll speak only of Oz Roofing (suffice it to say my experiences with the other two companies were not good from the start, one of them being way too pushy).
Oz Roofing is a truly local and family-owned business, named after its owner Oz. I never met Oz, but his son Rod, who's in the TV commercial. Rod came over with a drone and did an impressive survey of the roof, and even sent me several photos of our property from the drone's perspective. He was able to get extremely close to parts of the roof to zero-in on potential problem areas, and he was able to zoom as far out as the International Space Station. It was pretty cool. He even took that drone on a little tour of the neighborhood to show me other roofs he'd done. That was a nice touch. Gadgets and toys aside though, what I appreciated most, right off the bat, was the no-pressure and no-nonsense vibes I got from Rod. He took the time to answer my questions and explained things to me without being patronizing nor with too much jargon, the latter being important to me without realizing it at at the time.
While Oz's quote came in lower than the other two companies, that was less important to me than other factors: 1) the roof project was going to be mostly covered by insurance, and I got a certain 'song-n-dance' from the other two companies, with one of them applying way too much pressure, insisting that he be at my house when the adjuster comes to do his inspection. That was a red flag to me. There was none of that with Oz. This was my first home insurance claim and Rod helped me understand the way it works, and eased my mind. 2) I wanted a local business. Not a franchise, not a local business that was based out of another state. I wanted a truly locally owned and operated business. I have my reasons, but that was important to me. So, I went with Oz.
When it came time to do the job, a crew of at least six arrived bright and early, and were already stripping the roof by 8am. They were done by 10 or 11! It was truly a sight to see. The crew made piles on large tarps to catch the majority of the debris, and make clean-up later more manageable. They took a short lunch - barely 30 minutes. I was surprised by that, I mean - that's seriously hard work and I'd need a lunch and a nap. But not these guys. They were right back at it and the entire roof was done by the time late afternoon rolled around! I couldn't believe it. The cleanup after was also something to behold. We have a dog and I was getting nervous that we'd find nails, or rather his feet would find nails, but in fact the entire area around the house is cleaner than it was before the job started! It's spotless!
The entire project took less than 48 hours later, from the first ladder to the last, with new gutters and all the loose ends tied off. That's the bottom line that matters most, ultimately. There were no surprises along the way and they went the extra mile for me in a couple places too, making sure I was 100% satisfied. I made sure to tip the crew too, they seriously earned it. Much respect.
Bottom line is this: I went about finding a good roofer largely on my own and armed with only basic research and preparation. I was looking for a truly local, family-owned/operated business. Oz fit the bill, and won my business. Oz has built a great company that does excellent work and leaves nothing to be desired when completed. Rod is the next generation of local business owners, and his father should be proud knowing the business, its people and clients are all in excellent, capable hands.