I hired Barry because he seemed very knowledgable, honest and experienced. And charming to boot. His crew seemed to do a good job, cleaned up well etc. All was well and good until 1½ years later when I heard animals in my roof. The wildlife people came and discovered the fascia boards (just below the roof that attach the eavestroughs) were completely rotten with huge holes in them. Aside from the animal problem this also explained the reason I had been getting damp and mold in my interior wall- water was getting in.
In my mind this would be part of the service the roofer would provide since it's the part that the roof sits on top of. In fact, the wildlife guy used to be a roofer and was surprised Doucette hadn't pointed this out.
So I called Doucette. He agreed to come and have a look, but not without a charmingly manipulative tact.
He denied that fascia boards are part a roofers job. Um. so who's job is it then - the plumber? I don't excactly go up there regularily to check how things are. I asked him why he or his crew didn't even point it out to me. He said they probably couldn't see it since they were on top of the roof. HUH? Isn't that like replacing the brakes in a car and not letting the owner know they need a new balljoint - since human eyes have peripheral vision...?
Charmer then proceeded to tell me how he got a speeding ticket because he drove so fast to get to my house. hmm...what am I supposed to do with that? Let's change the focus to his troubles instead of mine. Bad service compounded with a guilt trip.
The new roofer I hired (yes, roofers replace fascia boards) said he would've let me know there was a problem, and charged accordingly. This would've saved me the extra cost of hiring someone else to go up and do the job, plus the wildlife removal cost, plus the drywall repair cost from water getting in, and who knows if it affected my heating costs too.
I don't recommend this company.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $5,500.00
- Company Response
When we replaced the roof on this home the soffit and fascia were intact.
In the 1 1/2 years since we did the roof *now 2 1/2 years as we just learned of this complaint* this homeowner suffered from raccoon/animal damage whereas raccoons removed a portion of aluminum to gain entry as so many do which is what keeps animal removal companies in business throughout the city.
When we were called regarding her problem we did address it immediately by making an appointment and going right away to check it.
Please be aware that when we go to a home to price for roofing or while working there we will address eaves, soffit, fascia if there is an issue at the time. However, we cannot forsee animal damage which exposed rotted wood fascia and to be sure we did not encounter any animals at the time of our installation as these animals can be extremely danagerous if disturbed.
I should think this wood took a very long time to rot and perhaps the people who installed the aluminum i.e. eaves etc. should have notified the homeowner of this decayed condition at "that time".
We are very happy that there does not seem to be any complaint regarding the roofing which is what we were contracted to do by this homeowner.