Bob & Son's Roofing

BLUF: Go with Jarod at JS&R instead.

TLDR; Pushy, unskilled sales person. Made false claims about other local companies. Lacked professional decorum. Lost my trust in minutes. I have no doubt the end product would meet expectations, but you will not get the best service or the best price.

Recommendation: If you want to go local, go to JS&R. If you want to spend more money, but have a better experience, go JP Carroll.

When I asked about a skylight and Bob & Sons told me it wasn’t a good idea, I (naive to roofing) said, “huh, the other company I met with said that, too.” Immediately, Bob & Sons starts bashing JS&R and the other local competition (note, JS&R said he knew the competition, they were buddies, and that he’d happily refer me if he wasn’t a right fit – I loved that approach). At this point, I immediately know Bob & Sons are not the right team for me and my family. False claims made about the competition include:
- “No one else will use CertainTeed asphalt shingles.” They’ll use [insert names, I didn’t write them down], which are cheap brands (JS&R told me that morning they’d use CertainTeed asphalt shingles).
- No one else will put a water-ice protection layer down – “they’ll use paper” (JS&R told me that morning they’d use the same water-ice protection).
(Note, at this point, I know he’s bashing the competition with either 1. intent to deceive me, or 2. without enough information to back his claims. I’ve made my decision, but continue to hear him out.)
- He gives me a price. Then asks my budget (red flag – just tell me how much it is and I’ll decide if I can afford it). I tell him. He lowers the price by 15% IF I get back to him in a week (he’s doing a big project and can get a discount on a huge order).
- He tells me, “that’s a good price, no one will do it for less” (JS&R quotes be HALF of Bob&Sons, JP Carroll quoted me a third less).

I am not appreciative of the deprecating way he spoke about his competition, the perceived attempt to bamboozle me, and the other salesmanship pressure he applied. I don’t need to be “buddy buddy” with my roofer, however, Bob & Sons did not make any effort to establish a personal relationship like JS&R and JP Carroll did. Aside from feeling spoken down to (because facts don’t care about feelings), my trust with him was broken in less than 20minutes.

Things I did really like about Steve was his willingness to educate me on the products, the process, and things to look out for in the competition. If I did meet with an incompetent roofer, I would have known because Steve took the time to educate me (albeit a bit condescendingly, IMO). I absolutely did walk away from our meeting more informed about roofing, and that’s valuable!
I am thankful for Steve’s time and education, and I respect to hustle – it’s just not for me. Or my wallet.

Note: I always prefer giving someone the benefit of the doubt. So, maybe Steve had a bad day when we met or there was something else going on and this was a one-off. However, this was my experience when Bob & Sons examined my roof and provided a free quote.

Came and repaired a shotty job done by another guy. Gave us a more than fair price for the work and didn't stop until the job was done. If I ever need anything for my roof again, I know where to go.

Last year, a branch put a hole in some of my shingles in the back half of my roof that leaked onto my ceiling. So, I contacted Steve, who replaced the entire roof three years ago with the former owners (mind you, $12,500 for a small, manufactured home). Fortunately, I had home insurance because I thought his replacement charge of $2,500 for a few shingles was expensive.

The ceiling leak stopped after that but started again two or so months ago in the same spot. So, when I called Steve to assess the situation, he mentioned that the former owners only paid for more expensive plywood in the front half of the roof but stuck with the cheaper plywood in the back half and said that was why I was having problems.

Steve gave me a costly quote of $6,500 to replace half the roof. I thought that amount was steep, so I called a roofer who recently replaced my gutters. The new roofer inspected the roof and informed me that all the shingles weren't completely hammered in, and you could see inside. They quoted me only $7,300 for the entire roof and $800 for a dumpster to remove the shingles. They also bought two pieces of plywood in the spot where Steve initially replaced the shingles.

Upon the new roofers ripping off the shingles, the entire roof was full of dry rot, and so was his last year's replacement. So, they unexpectedly had to get another 26 pieces of plywood in the middle of the project. They also took at least 40 detailed pictures to show me. Plus, the owner told me that my roof was one of the worst he had ever seen in 30 years and was honestly quite upset for me.

Ultimately, it cost me $10,700 (50-year warranty), a very reasonable price. However, I would have never expected to replace a roof that was only three years old. When I moved in, I was ecstatic that I had a new roof, too.

What an incredible disappointment with Steve and quite a debt he put me in for a single woman financially struggling on disability. :'(