Advanced Level Roofing

I want to preface this by saying I never talk to door-to-door salespeople. But for some reason, I talked to Devon when he came by, saying he was doing a roof in the neighbourhood (which was true) and asked if I'd like a roof inspection. Our roof was original to the house (~25 years), and very steep; and the shingles on the detached garage had started to peel and shed those annoying little asphalt bits all over the yard, so I gave him a chance.

While I waited, I looked them up on Google, as well as on HomeStars, and they had great reviews, which eased my concerns. He came back the next day, at the time he said he would, with a competitive but fair quote, and a timeline of 8-10 weeks. I was still hesitant, but Devon made his pitch, without being pushy or aggressive, so we took the plunge. 50% down to start, and 50% on completion.

If I have any complaint, and it's a minor one, it's that I had to be the one to call them after eight weeks to see if they had an updated timeline. But when I called, Devon was quick to call back, and was able to give me a very accurate timeline update.

The supplies arrived and were hoisted up onto the roof by crane, which was done quickly and as quietly as could be done, and I received a call that the roofers would begin the next day.

The three guys they sent showed up a bit earlier than expected, but dove straight into their work, and despite it being a pretty warm day, they hustled and hauled harder than any work crew I've ever seen. They were able to complete the two roofs in a single day.

They were meticulous about keeping the yard clean, having tarped off areas for old shingles to come down, and swept the area with magnets to pull up any loose nails. Two additional packages of shingles were left behind, and those were picked up the next day.

The inspection process happened while I was at work, but I got a detailed set of photos by email that showed the final product, and I have to say, I'm extremely impressed. The roof looks fantastic, and the overall experience with Advanced Level Roofing was top-notch.

There are certain areas within this organization that are fantastic, the sales team, the receptionist and the guys out their completing the roof. However when there was a question on a issue of the work completed that I needed information on (whether they would fix it) it took over 3 times of follow up with the team over the course of a month for them only to say "But this is not something that comes free of cost". They could've simply put it's not within our scope of work or not covered under the warranty, we are willing to come out and fix it for a cost. Very unprofessional and the fact I had to chase them down for answer already left me feeling unhappy. And to think I had referred my neighbors to this company, let's hope they don't need anything fixed or had a question because you will be chasing an answer.

I was hoping for an easy experience with my roof replacement as I know I was paying a small premium for this contractor.

However, this is not the case.
Small gripes:
1) My roof replacement was a week late due to the weather. I knew it was coming but some communication would been nice instead of me wondering when this is going to get done.
2) Same with the time of the replacement. The day before is not enough time to get ready especially with the noise and commotion.

Major issues
1) Friday, the roofer comes to start the replacement. He asked to borrow my shovel as there was snow on my roof. I obliged and advised him to leave it beside the driveway when he's done with it. I checked back and he destroyed my shovel. The metal bar was torn from the shovel on the right and left side; creating a metal V in the middle of my shovel. This is right before a huge snowfall. I was left using a small foot wide shovel for my whole driveway. He broke the one side and then kept going. There no apology (oops I made a mistake). This shows you the lack of respect this company have for their client's property.
I emailed the ALR administration about this issue on April 22nd and was told this will be fixed. I'll be getting a new shovel! (spoilers: I did not get one)
2) The roofer was not done on Friday and so they back on Saturday. I did not know this as there was no communication from anyone. So I woke up nicely to the sound of the sky falling on an early Saturday morning. The roofer created enough commotion and noise to wake up the kids. A majority of my shelves in the house was cover in white dust from the pop corn ceiling. Plus nails were on my driveway which made taking out the car a fun expedition. Once again the lack of communication is noteworthy.
3) I work from home and drink coffee and peer outside my window daily as I reflect on why I hired these people. On the Monday, I noticed the metal bar under my roof was loose . Later, I was told it's called a soffit. I thought it might have been from the roofer thundering down on my roof with my shovel among opther utensils of banging. The inspector came later that week and I advised the inspector of the issue. He assured me it's an easy fix and to email the admin. I emailed the admin with the pictures and waited for some communication back regarding this.
A couple of days later another administrator called asking my for second payment. I advised them this issue is still outstanding. The Project Coordinator emailed me back and advised that the roofer said it's not possible since they use ladder that have 'big round bars on them' that doesn't do damage. I emailed the coordinator back with my account of the story you're reading now.
But I'm tired of this. I'm waiting for my shovel (May 2nd and nothing), emailing back forth to various people who think I'm either fibbing or don't seem to communicate with other parts of their team.
I paid for a service which I did receive so there is that. The extreme lack of communication, the horrible run around I got, the damage to my property and the little nuisances I got from this company does not make you run away from them then you and I have differing opinions on good service.

The sales guy was great, really knew his stuff, explained the product and process well, and they stuck to the process as outlined. It was a pretty big roof and it was all done in a day, the clean up afterwards went well, and the impact on us was very limited. The garbage bin was in our driveway the evening before the install and removed the day the install was completed. No complaints about the process, the install, the installers, or the clean up.

Part of the service/product is an inspectors report, the inspector took a few weeks to stop by and complete the inspection. However the accounting department started hounding me for the final payment the first business day after the install, but before the inspector completed his review and provided us with the report as agreed. I had to reach out to the sales guy to get them to back off, which they did.

We have two concerns about the final product 1. One part of the roof the ply wood is exposed and not covered by the drip edge 2. The front roof above our garage has a sizeable dent that is visible from the front of the house, that was not there before.

We have been in contact with the project coordinator to high light our concerns. He is a very pleasant person, however not very helpful in getting our concerns addressed. Regarding issue #1 they are blaming how our fascia of part of our eavestrough was originally installed, saying that it should be higher. They are indicating if we want to drip edge to cover the ply wood we need a custom drip edge that would have to be installed at our cost after the fact. Regarding issue #2 he is blaming our framing saying the plywood underneath is uneven.

So for both issues they were very understanding, however ultimately unhelpful saying that is just the way it is.

In neither case did their expert roofers and estimator alert us to the fact that a custom drip edge would be required to ensure the ply wood is adequately covered and aesthetically pleasing, or that our roof ply wood was so warped to see if we wanted it replaced or provided us with other options. What is surprising to us is that our previous roof did not look this warped.

UPDATE: the company did come out and install a more appropriate drip edge so addressing concern #1 at no extra cost to us.

I would advise people to review the quality of the plywood personally on their roof after the old shingles have been removed and before the new ones are installed, as the installers on our job installed the shingles in areas that needed new plywood.

Advanced Level Roofing has done an excellent job with my roof. I appreciate their competitive pricing, polite and friendly team, and due to the number of people on their team, they are fast. They've done my house in a matter of hours and left just after noon, which is some crazy speed. The quality of the installation was also top-notch -- no corners cut. I also like they carefully cleaned up the gutters and the area around my house, not leaving a trace of anything at all.

There are a few areas that frustrated me though. They were excellent in initial communication and any routine notifications, but pretty poor beyond that.

Firstly, the delivery truck leaked some oil on my driveway. I emailed my main contact at ALR and I was completely ignored.

Secondly, they texted me and said they will show up between 7 and 9am the next day to work on my roof. I didn’t see anyone at 1pm, so I had to text them for an update and it was not until then that they said they were not coming on that day. I wouldn’t mind if things were an hour or two behind, and I don't even mind if another project slowed them down that they couldn't show up on the said day. That's the nature of the construction business and I understand that. However, not proactively communicating that they are not showing up until I reach out is simply unacceptable. When they did show up though, the work they did was excellent as mentioned.

Advanced Level Roofing did an excellent job replacing our roof. We had a cedar shake roof that was at the end of its life and not an easy job. The roofing team completed the job quickly and left our property in pristine condition. They have a great selection of quality materials and we really appreciated the customer service. Our roof looks great - "5 Stars" - we are very happy with the job!

this company is very dishonest . they walked on the street, check people roof. then knock the door. asked a 90 years older senior to change roof. force senior paid $200 cash ( the senior has lots of healthy issue. not totally understand what they said ). Advanced Level Roofing estimate replace half of roof ( the house was built in 1978. only need done half of roof)) is $3654. but the marketing is under $2500 , some company has senior discount ( one is charge $2400 tax included). the senior try to cancel. asked money back, they agree return. but never return. then the roofing company owner changed to $ 2600 plus tax. insane. try to over charge $1200. this is rob senior money.

Fantastic company! Immediately responded to my request for a quote and came out the next day and provided a thorough assessment. Very high-quality work and very reasonably priced. Superb customer service!

They are the most professional roofing contractors in Calgary. They installed my new roof so quickly, beautifully and at a reasonable cost. The products used are premium quality. Thank you guys for giving my house a new look.

This company met all expectations and then some. Crew was courteous, detail oriented, and took the time to make sure the cleanup was efficiently performed. I would definitely recommend this company for your next roof install project.