APEX EXTERIORS, INC.

I bought an Angie's List Big Deal to have Apex Exteriors put on a new roof on a house. As you'd expect, the Deal contained a lot of fine print explaining various things that, if present, would make the deal cost more. Shortly after I bought the deal, Apex Exteriors contacted me and asked if the house had a driveway. I said no, and they said that it would cost an extra $350 because they would not be able to throw old material into a dumpster from the roof, and would have to spend more time walking material to a less conveniently placed dumpster. I pointed out that the property has a backyard, and they could put a dumpster there and throw material into it from the roof. They agreed that was true, and said OK, they wouldn't charge me the $350.
Then, having inspected the existing roof, Apex told me that the building had two roofs on it already and they would have to charge more money as a result, a total of $6,550, i.e. $751 more than I had paid for the Big Deal. Neither of these charges - the $350 for "no driveway" that Apex Exteriors originally said it would charge, nor the $751 for tearing down the old roofs, was in the Big Deal's "fine print." I think that if Apex Exteriors is going to have conditions that cause the job to cost more it should spell them out. I do not think that either of these things (no driveway, two old roofs present) was unusual or could not have been anticipated by Apex Exteriors.
Unhappy with Apex, I solicited a bid from JZ Roofing of Chicago, Inc. It was less than Apex's. I had JZ Roofing do the job instead. They did an exemplary job. The total cost, including items that they had specified in the contract would cost extra, was $6,412.

Awful--- no showed first appt.  Was not able to provide the service that I purchased-- the final product looked like what one of my kids could have photo shopped.  Rep told us they did not have the program to do the service we purchased.

Service and quality was top notch from start to finish.

We eventually hired Apex for the remodel of the porch but had to wait for installation for other work to be done before they could get started. We paid a deposit, but when we have emailed and called to solidify a date we have not heard back from anyone. This is very annoying because we need to hear back from Apex in order to complete other work on the house. We have still not received a follow up on the start date at this point. 

Update:
We were finally able to get in touch with someone by getting an alternative number. The communication drastically improved after the previous incident and we did not have any issues since. There were major delays in completing the project due to the weather and the workers/foreman gave us updates and when to expect them back. The workers were good, and arrived around 7 - 7:30 am most mornings. Although the project took much longer than anticipated (2 1/2 vs. 3 days) we are happy with the outcome of the porch.

Service was friendly and they did a good job.
I got candid advice and he took time to answer my questions.

Overall, the entire process was great! I called them on Thursday and they were there on Monday on time and even offered to come early. This is important when so many times repair businesses are horrible at timely returning of calls and general customer service. The repair man with Apex thoroughly explained and showed pictures of what he fixed and they have a nice fixed price repair plan. When my roof needs replaced I will definitely call them. They are about mid range in price.

see above!

When I called the company, the young lady who set up the appointment was excellent.  They were able to come out the next morning, did exactly what they said they would do, for the price quoted.  The two men that came out were very professional and very personable.  I was so pleased with the service that I recommended them to my neighbor, who also used them with great results.

The actual work seems to have been done well and timely, aside from not using our matching shingles. The problem came with payment issues. Because nothing was done on the first visit, but issuing a quote, I assumed the $149 I had paid would be applied to the work, The original person who gave the estimate ended up hanging up on us. Worked over several weeks with various financial people and eventually they accepted the $149 off the total project (not the $300 value). We could have gotten an estimate for free from many different companies. Final result, I paid what the quote was, with the Angies List purchase applied. Would be very careful with future issues of this kind. This was my first disappointing interaction from an Anies List deal. Previously had all gone extremely well and no additional cost, unless we added an additional feature.

I purchased a $49 estimate that included a mock up what the house would look like with the new siding.  I never got to that point because the price for doing the project was a lot higher than I expected.  The price from Apex was a little higher than the other two quotes I received, but generally in line.

They were very prompt and professional.  Not the least expensive contractor contacted.

Dave from Apex came with a ladder and took photographs of our roof, found out what we wanted and gave us a detailed estimate. Once we decided to go with Apex. Dave kept in close contact with us until the job began. Then John the foreman communicated well, showed up when they said they would and finished.

Very well

The Apex representative was very knowledgeable and courteous and was not at all upset about having made a service call which wasn't product use of his time.

I responded to an Angie's List Deal for a new roof for, I believe, $5499.  But when the salesman Mike came to check the roof he told me it didn't qualify for the deal because (as stated in the deal) the pitch of the roof was too great.  I guess this increases the time needed to do the job and this exclusion is part of the deal in all the comparable Angie's List offerings.  At any rate, he quoted a price that seemed reasonable based on our previous experience years ago, and after some negotiation, effectively threw in the Leaf-Guard.  The price was about $500 less (and didn't include the Leaf-Guard) than the estimate from a second Angie's List company who had the same exclusion in their 'Deal.'  The salesman estimated that work would begin in 3 weeks, but it actually took 4 weeks.  What should have been a 2-day job stretched into 3 because they lost about 1/2 day to rain.
When the materials were delivered on the first day, the job supervisor (John) noticed that the wrong color vents had been supplied (black instead of dark brown), and instead of just installing them anyway -- we probably wouldn't have noticed or cared given that the old vents were unpainted aluminum -- he went off to the big-box store and got the right color.  The roofers worked into the dark on the first day.  (It was the first work day of standard time and perhaps they hadn't accounted for the lost hour in figuring how much they could get done.)  The second day was cut short by rain, and then on the third day they discovered that they were several feet short on material to cap the ridge.  John assured me that the house was water-tight and said they would finish when they were able to get the additional material in the right color.  It turned out to take longer than he anticipated, but eventually they did finish the job, including a meticulous cleanup.  However, because of the extra day and the need to complete the capping, the dumpster was removed before they were really finished, and they left behind some 4x8 plywood sheets used to protect bushes and siding, and a wheelbarrow full of scraps.  It took several days for them to finally complete the clean-up, but this really didn't affect the quality of the actual roofing job, with which we're very happy.  I should note that we're on the edge of their service area, and coming to finally remove the leftovers probably entailed a 2-hour round trip for John.

After getting quotes from several contractors I decided to go with Apex. The deciding factors for me were that they were a local brick and mortar business, they offered a generous warranty, and the first person I met after a simple phone call requesting a meeting and quote was Joe who was very responsive, knowledgeable, and professional. He met with me at my home to discuss the scope of my work and I never felt like he was trying to sell me anything. I knew what I wanted in advance and he didn't try to sway me from that. When the actual work was started the guys who did the actual job were the hardest working group that I've ever seen. They were working in extremely hot temperatures in the 100's in July for 10-12 hours each day, and they finished in four days which was under the five that I was originally quoted. They were nice, professional, and organized their equipment each day, and at the end of the job the cleanup was perfect. During the process the PM and Joe were available and responsive to my phone calls with minor issues that cropped up. They even replaced two of my gutter downspouts that were damaged in the take-down process free of charge. Overall I was thrilled with the product and workmanship. This was the first major project that I've had to do with my house and Apex made the process so much easier and less stressful than I ever imagined. I would absolutely use them again for roofing or gutters since my siding is done and I am thrilled with the results.

There wasn't anything to show for the $149.00 except for a quote for a new roof. I got similar quotes for free from other roofing vendors. Left me rather underwhelmed.
To be fair, this is a review of the big deal for the Spring roof maintenance package, nothing more, nothing less.
Apex seemed like a very capable company. Mike Hess, my contact,  was very responsive to questions and gave a very detailed quote for a new roof.

Very professional representative.  Provided me with a detail quote of what he recommended be done to the exterior of my dwelling.  He also provided information about the materials that would be used if I chose to proceed with the project.

Overall it was a great experience.  My roof is in shambles and they fixed it so it will last the winter.  I will use them for a new roof when necessary.

Excellent job. My experience was great, the sales rep Mike Hess was great. John the foreman and his crew were fantastic. I will definitely use them for future projects.

Overall experience, good.

Paid to perform a rendering of the house with new windows and siding.  It looked liek a 5 year old with crayons drew it.  I guess the owner did the rendering and didn'thave time to finish it since he was going out of town.  we bought our windows and siding from someone else.

I originally gave Apex an A rating but when cleaning the leaves from my new gutter I found a lot of  the shingles on the roof's edge had been cracked due to their being lifted to replace the flashing. I found a dime size hole in one shingle directlybehind the flashing on an inside corner that would have ultimately caused water damage. Hopefully roofing chalk can repair the damage.

Did not end up using them.

They sent someone out to look at my roof after purchasing the Big Deal. Our house was substantially larger than the details of the big deal. I cancelled the actual Big Deal because of operator error and they offered me a disounted rate for the work. They did a lot more repairs than just the general roof maintenance package. They were very professional, nice, and I think they gave me a great rate. The guy was great! He crawled up there on the roof and repaired the damage caused by an animal and you cant even tell it was there. They handled it very well and were great.