Before you read about my experience with Travis Haessly aka The Roof Champion - think you need to know about me is that I never write reviews and I almost never speak well of any company these days - it seems that the most basic level of service somehow deserves a five star review just for doing what is expected of you.
Last May a storm blew through Columbus and damaged my elderly mother’s roof. To us, it looked like a roof - but Travis was able to spot the damage from the ground. Travis was able to confirm the damage he saw from the ground and find evidence of even more after closer inspection.
Travis then walked us through what he saw and what our options were for repairing the damage to the roof and protecting my mothers’ home, including how to request an insurance appraiser out and assess the damage. A few days later, an insurance appraiser came to the same conclusion that Travis did initially which was the roof had extensive damage and needed to be replaced.
Travis was excellent at sitting down with my mother and explaining all of steps involved with replacing a roof through an insurance claim in a simple and comprehendible way. Travis treated my mother as if she were his own - listening to her questions and helping her feel at ease. He was patient, kind and respectful.
Insurance companies are necessary, but sometimes filing a claim - especially something as complex as a total roof replacement – can feel like an adversarial interaction. My mother is a retired schoolteacher of 30 years and negotiating a complex claim with an insurance company is not something she would claim expertise in. By contrast, insurance companies negotiate claims all day, every day.
In hindsight, the most important thing Travis shared with mom was clearing explaining information concerning her benefits provided by her insurance company. Travis helped mom do everything correctly – right out of the gate.
The day of installation came as Travis orchestrated multiple contractors to replace mom’s large and complex roof a few days later. During the installation – that Travis attended – the roofers shared concerns about the roof deck – as it was not holding nails adequately. Travis assessed the situation and discovered that the existing deck was only quarter-inch plywood (which is not to code in Columbus anymore). The whole roofing crew had to pivot and wait for additional material to install a new deck before they could lay a single shingle.
Despite this interruption, the rest of the installation went according as planned, and they still finished by days end.
However…
Remember how I said my mom‘s roof was complex? Well the house has a 14’x6’ chimney footprint at the roofline, 6' soffits around the whole perimeter (requiring four wraps of ice guard), and on top of all of that, the house is built on a hill - where some parts of the roof are 10' -30' off the ground. During the installation of the new roof some of mom's soffits started to fail and peel away from the house. One call to Travis and he jumped on organizing crews to come out that day and fix the soffits that were failing preventing further damage to the house.
We then went to the Insurance Company and requested to update the claim to include the new deck and soffit repair. These claims were denied for a multitude of reasons. Travis helped Mom provide the insurance company with the information necessary to justify and amend our claim with an appeal, that was ultimately accepted.
It was a scary time for my Mom in particular - as she has told me several times since that she probably just would’ve paid the additional cost after the Insurance Company told her to.
Travis - The Roof Champion Columbus - made it feel easy, and he equipped us with the knowledge that helped Mom sleep at night - knowing she had done everything right and was going to be taken care of. There were obstacles, but there were no surprises.
Would you recommend this service to a friend/colleague?
Yes, absolutely.
Will you use this service again in the future?
Yes, without hesitation.