McCleney General Contractors

One day during a rainstorm, I was sitting in my living room reading when the mirror that hung over my mantle came crashing to the floor. It turned out that my roof had been leaking around my chimney. The chimney is not built into the wall, it is just scabbed onto the house, so water was running down between my chimney and my living room wall when it rained. The drywall was soaked, my fireplace was filling with water, and it was leaking out under the floor. The mirror had fallen because the wall was so wet it wouldn't hold the nails anymore. John McCleney came to look at it this morning and quoted me a repair price of $200. The flashing around my chimney had rusted through and the tar around the chimney was dry rotted. He ripped out the damaged flashing and some bad shingles that surrounded it to allow it to dry out, and left to go finish another job. He came back this afternoon and installed a new water barrier, flashing, and shingles in just about an hour. You know how sometimes you can watch somebody work, and even though you don't know anything about the work they're doing, you can tell that they aren't paying much attention to what they're doing? And when they leave you have an uneasy feeling and wonder if the job could have been done better. Well, I never got that impression watching John work. He and his staff displayed a high level of competence and concern for the details. It looks like they did a great job, and I can't wait for it to rain again so I can see water NOT run down my wall. John told me to put dry paper towels in my fireplace and call him if there was any moisture at all, but I don't think there will be. I will post an update if it leaks! With the wall having been soaked several times, I was concerned that I might need to replace the drywall due to moisture problems. I thought that even if it would dry out, the integrity of the drywall might have been compromised to the point where I wouldn't be able to re-hang the mirror. John explained that drywall is a lot stronger than I was thinking it was and told me there was no need to worry about it or even to pay someone to fix it because it's a simple repair anyone can do. He told me to wait a few weeks to make sure no moisture remained, then fill the crack that had been made with sanding mud, sand it, paint over it, and then re-hang my mirror. Considering my concerns, John could easily have taken advantage of me and talked me into replacing a wall that didn't need to be replaced, but he didn't do that. It is SO NICE to have a repair person leave my house without me feeling like I've paid too much for something that wasn't done well or wasn't even necessary in the first place. While he was here, I asked him to give me a quote for a new metal roof, and his quote was about 30% less than others I have received. He left me some information and told me that if I wind up having the work done by someone else to tell them I want at least a 26 gauge roof and to make them show me the receipt for the materials to prove they didn't put a 29 gauge roof on (which isn't as thick or durable) and charge me for 26 gauge. I have other people coming to give me estimates, but I bet John will be putting my new roof on as soon as I finish saving the money for it.