Smith General Contracting Inc

I’ve used Smith General Contracting twice. Both times were for shingles blown off my roof because of high winds. First time, everything went well. It was raining and needed a responsive service and they showed up within an hour. Fixed it but the cost I thought was extreme for replacing 3 shingles. Second time was this past week where 3 shingles again were ripped off. Wasn’t happy to use them again but no one else even called me back. So they are responsive! But they decided to replace several more, including the area they already worked on earlier in the year. They tell me I need a new roof and I should put in an insurance claim. They again charge me a massive amount of money for 2 hours of work. The son calls Gary after I complain who starts saying his employees make $35/hr, material cost, and taxes. Well added it up and added an extra hour of service time because they had to run and get a packet of shingles. Took them another 30 minutes, but I add an hour. What he charged me was $200 more than the numbers he threw at me during our conversation. Ridiculous. He says you around on Saturday? I say yes. Says I’ll be out at 8:30 AM sharp. We’ll walk the roof, take pictures, and get an estimate for an insurance claim. He ghosted us. No call, didn’t even show up. Steer clear of this company unless you want to overpay and be treated poorly.

They did all the work that was contracted to do.

unknown

All the work was done great...We hired them for the gutters and roof another time, and they are the best roofers and hire a great sub-contractor for the gutter work.

I called Smith General contracting to ask about putting new gutters on my home. They were extremely friendly, informative and responsive, and not to mention, very fast. They are clearly inundated with other business but they made me feel like my job was just as important as any others. When they came and quoted the job, I gave them plenty of opportunity to over-sell and they didn't. They were straight-forward an honest about what I needed to do sooner than later. They clearly understand the full spectrum of customer service. These guys run a solid operation. The contractors they hire were also extremely friendly and professional. It seemed like everyone went the extra mile rather than do the bare minimum. I will absolutely hire them again.

unknown

The putting in the new roof was good but they put the chimney down. All they did put a piece plywood on top of chimney and now we have moisture in our paddy and mold up there now. My gutter was also gone so I refused to give them first payment. I complained them about the chimney and they did not offer anything to solve the issue.

Best roofer in Springfield and did an excellent job on the gutters.

unknown

unknown

We want to keep an excellent looking  building, there was a small problem with the gutters after installation,  Gary Smith and Seth worked it out with me and came back within two weeks and fixed the problem. This was for the gutter work....small problem worked out,  end result great gutter system....looks and functions great. For the roofing work, we had them do the roof on a multiunit building last year....I got three bids...they were priced pretty much the same as the other two bids....Smith Contracting brought a large crew and had the work done in two days, the other two bids from local roofers were nearly the same price (same product line for one, different product line for the other ) but the work was going to take a week.  Smith also cleaned up the property as part of the contracting.

  I believe smith general contracting is the best roofer in the city...never have we had a problem.....the roof work went totally smooth....they are great....as I said the gutter work there was a small problem but they worked it out to our satisfaction within 2 weeks.  I highly recommend Smith General Contracting...I think they are great.. Plus they upgraded the warranty now we have a labor and materials warranty for 15 years and a prorated warranty for 50 years and Smith General Contracting upgraded the warranty for free.

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LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR A CONTRACTOR
We hired Smith General
Contracting, Inc. in November to repair minor damage on our elderly mother?s
home that was caused by a raccoon.  Two
employees were sent to make the repairs. 
One cut and installed three triangles made of fascia card to 3 of the 4
corners of her house to reinforce the soffit areas.  The other employee talked mostly on his cell
phone.  The total time on the job was 45
minutes.  The bill arrived a few days
later with the charge of $204.00 for labor and $25.00 for materials.  We contacted Gary Smith about the labor charge
and were first told it was for overtime, which we disputed.  Then he changed his story, quoting equipment
use, insurance, etc., to justify his outrageous charge.   To
fight this, we contacted the IL Attorney General?s Office, Consumer Fraud
Division to file a formal complaint for the ?labor? charge and; after spending
2+ months of writing back and forth, we were informed that further action on
our part would require either hiring an attorney or possibly going to small
claims court.  The possibility of further
legal fees and time spent outweighed the final result so the bill was paid in
full.
To avoid both the headaches and outcome of what we encountered,
we highly recommend you look elsewhere for a contractor.

said they would be here here at 6am.they   and they where. a a great job'

Upgraded gutters on a corner of my roof where existing gutters were unable to handle capacity.

They did an excellent job of rebuilding the chimney and repairing the roof.  The were clean and fast.  No debris was left from the tear down of the old chimney.  They did an excellent job of cleaning up and had the new chimney built in record time.  They arrived early in the morning with a full crew and the new chimney was completed and they were gone by around noon.  We couldn't be more pleased with their service.

It was excellent.  They showed up when they said they would.  They finished in 5 1/2 hours(they came at 6am and ended at 11:25 am.).  They were very efficient.  It was the best laid out plan I've ever seen.

Perfect.  Called them, they came and took pictures and sent them to me and told me what they were doing; done fast!

When I requested the bid they were very prompt in coming out to my house for the estimate. When it was time to actually perform the service we had some trouble getting the date set. They wanted to come out and tear my roof and gutters off when there was rain in the forecast. I wanted them to wait because they said it would take a week to get the gutters back on since they use a different company to replace gutters. I didn't want my house to be without gutters when there was a possibility of rain all week, so it took about 2 weeks of not knowing when they would come out, partly due to weather and also due to them not calling me to let me know when they would be out. When they finally were able to start work, they had to replace some of the wood because it was rotten. They said my chimney was built improperly and was allowing rainwater under the roof. They also put a temporary fix on the chimney. I was not impressed by the supervisor who was sitting on the roof threatening to fire a couple of his employees for being late. Overall they did a great job and I'm very happy with my roof. Their bid was one of the lowest that I looked at and the quality of the work was great. I also liked that they didn't ask for any payment up front.

You are going to think that you've read this review already because we had the same experience as a couple of other previous reviewers.  Smith was the first to respond when we called four companies for estimates.  Seth came out that morning and went up on the roof for actual measurements and inspection.  He then printed up a very detailed estimate right in the truck.  He stayed around and answered numerous questions I had about how the job would be done.  He explained the Certainteed warranty options and left us with their brochure.  He was very knowledgeable and professional.  When two more companies came out and gave us a very simple estimate without ever going up on the roof, I was sold on Smith.  The bids were all about the same, but their price went to the lowest due to the $250 discount coupon from Angie's.  They reluctantly agreed to wait two weeks to do the job because we were going to be away on vacation the next week, and I wanted to be at home for the work. 
As it turned out, the weather delayed their start an additional week, and I was back at work on the Monday that they came out. 
They had called on Sunday afternoon to let us know we were scheduled for the next day.  The caravan of trucks arrived at exactly 6:00 Monday morning, and while several guys started covering shrubs and moving deck furnature, several others unloaded equipment and started ripping the old shingles off.  Before I got to work at 7:00, Gary called me to confirm our color selection and to advise me that we had some water damage around the chimney ridge.  I gave him a verbal ok to repair the damage and keep us advised.  When I came home for lunch at 11:30, the repairs were done and shingled, as was half of the roof.  One of the guys described the damage and the repairs to me, but I never did get to see the old damaged wood or the repair itself.  By 2:00 they were done and packing up to go.  Seth arrived to present the final bill to my wife, and to apologize that he wasn't there to photograph the damage as he said he would.
When I got home from work at 4:30, the roof looked great and you never would have known that six trucks and a dozen guys had just been there.  But, the bill turned out to be $1200 higher than the estimate!  The addendum was a detailed list of repair materials and labor, and an additional square of shingles and an additional roll of moisture barrier.  I took a day or two to digest the shock, and to formulate my response.  I decided that I had no issue with the repair costs except that I had no idea what the damage or the repairs looked like.  My problem was with the added $315 for shingles and moisture barrier.  How could they underestimate what was needed when Seth did such a detailed measurement and inspection???
I attempted to call Seth, and instead got Gary.  He was at another job site at the time, and I could not understand him over his mobile phone.  We tried three times.  Finally, I gave up, and he later left three voice mail messages.  Again, the first two I could not understand, and the third I thought I heard him say to call him back.  No way.  By then I was pretty agitated.  We had three phone numbers for Smith General Contracting, and you never knew who you were going to get on which number.  My wife finally called and told them that I wanted to talk to someone in person to explain the extra materials before we paid the bill.  They sent Gloria over on Monday evening to pick up the check.  Poor Gloria was the one to hear all about my discontent, and could not really answer my questions.  I really wanted to speak directly with Seth or Gary.  Anyway, I passed my concerns and comments over to her, (along with the check for the full amount), and she said she would relay them to Gary and Seth.
To summarize:  They were excellent with their response to my call for an estimate, and very thorough (I thought at the time) in that regard.  They were right on time to begin work, and seemed very good at what they did.  They cleaned up after the work and the new roof looks great.  I did cringe at the sight of all the guys going up and down the one ladder that was up against the gutter right over our front door, and later I noticed that the gutter was scraped and dented pretty bad from all that.  They also had their air compessor and gasoline can on the front lawn, and the grass was yellow and damaged all around that spot a day later.  Finally, when I was up in the attic trying to see their repair work from the inside, I noticed that one of the bathroom fan vent hoses was not attached to the new roof vent, but was laying inside against a rafter.  These instances of carelessness detracted from an otherwise good job.  I attached the hose myself, the grass will grow back, and I will probably replace the front gutter with a larger one some day anyway....  
All in all, we're happy with the work but the lack of communication at the end was very disappointing. They should make it a practice to have a camera handy so they can document damage and work performed, to show the homeowner exactly what was behind the extra charges.  The homeowner has to take their word for it that the costs are justified, and that is an uncomfortable situation.  Finally, without a face-to-face explaination of the charges for the extra shingles and moisture barrier, I will always have my suspicions about them.  Too bad.  Because of this, we can't recommend them, nor would I hire them again.

great, a large crew showed up on a Friday began work right away and came back on Saturday and finished the job. They do good work at a good price.

Excellent service. They showed up exactly on time and completed work in a timely manner.

After my call, they sent someone out the same day to allegedly "measure" the roofs.  I then met with the owner that night & he gave me the written estimate which included, at an addtional cost, a certification from Certainteed that would extend my warranty.  However, during this meeting, the owner never got out of his truck to talk to me or give me the estimate; I stood at the side of his truck.  At that time, he said that "he bid the job low because he wanted the work."  The estimate was around $6,000.  The estimate seemed reasonable based on my experience with roofing costs & based on the reviews on Angie's List.  So, I agreed to go with them and decided to do the extended certification.  They also accepted my Angie's List coupon.  We then arranged for them to come back in 3 days to come & do the work.  They arrived that date on time at 6 a.m.  They immediately began tearing off my roof & the owner gave me another copy of the estimate for the work.  Still $6,000.  By 7:30 a.m., the roof was off; by 8:30 a.m., the roof was felted.  They placed tarps down for debris collection.  However, without my permission or notification, they tore out a yard ornament & a wired landscape light. RP Lumber delivered the shingles & I saw them stack the shingles onto the roof.  They started shingling around 8:30.  I had work committments & had to leave around 9.  I received two voicemails from the owner at 10:29 & 10:58 stating that "they had mismeassured the roof & had to send workers to go get more shingles 2 different times."  I'd like to believe the "mismeasurement" was an honest mistake especially since none of the other reviews on Angie's List at the time had mentioned such a problem.  However, how does a company whose job it is to measure and whose work is based on those measurements, mismeasure a roof that hadnt changed in any form since the date of the estimate and no addition to the scope of work had been requested?  I called the owner and asked what had happened & he said he had no clue how it happened, but that they would be done by noon & he would leave me the "new bill" in my mailbox.  I went home at 1:15 p.m., no bill in the mailbox & the satellite cord, which they said they would reattach to the roof, was still hanging off the side of the roof.  I called the owner & he sent 2 guys out to give me the new bill & fix the cord.  When I came home at 5:05 p.m, the roof was done.  The new bill was $7,500.  When I inquired further about the measuring of the roof, I was told that the person who did it had been working for the company for over 5 years & that he had gone through the estimate again & couldn't figure out where he had messed up.  I had relied on their statements & written estimate stating the amount of squares they needed to roof the house & attached garage.  They were the supposed professionals; not me.  I called Gloria at Smith and complained about the increased cost; especially since it was their fault not mine.  She reduced the additional cost by half.  They claimed they ran a metal detector around the house to find errant nails.  I found over a dozen nails in the driveway, sidewalk, gutters, and perimeter of the house; all locations that the metal detector should have swept.  Also, because the roofers smoked the whole time, there were cigarette butts everywhere to pick up.  Additionally, they used ladders to get to & from the roof.  In the locations where they placed the ladders, they scuffed the paint off of my gutters & fascia because the ends of the ladders hadn't been wrapped.  I was told on August 24, the day I paid my bill, that I would have the roof certification within 6-8 weeks.  I called Smith on October 30, because I hadn't received it.  Gloria told me she hadn't sumbitted it to Certainteed, but that she'd work on it within the next couple of weeks.  I called on December 4 to check on it, Gloria stated she that she had allegedly submitted it to Certainteed on November 19.  I called on April 1, 2013, to check again since I still hadn't received it.  Gloria stated that she allegedly contacted Certainteed & that I should be receiving it within the next 7-10 days. I asked her that if I don't get it should I contact her or Certainteed.  She said to contact her because "Certainteed doesnt like to deal with customers one-on-one."  It is close to being a year since this whole thing started and its still not finished.  It shouldn't take a year to obtain a cerification.  As for whether I'd use them again, I marked yes, but that's only because of the extended warranty; assuming I ever get it.

I contacted Gary because of reviews on this list. He came immediately to give me an estimate, which I appreciated. In doing the jobs he came when he said he would and stayed on the job until it was finished. He was present on the job site to make sure the job was done the way he wanted. He took initiative and if he saw something that needed doing he made sure it was taken care of. His crew including his estimator were very good at what they did. Their work is quality work. Gary was very responsive to all my concerns. I couldn't be more pleased and won't hesitate to use them again or to recommend them.

They came and said they could fix cracks in our brick siding. They fixed it once, cracks came back. Charged us to fix it a second time, and that fixed failed. Then, would not return phone calls and then when he finally did he chuckled and said "Go ahead and call the BBB, I really don't care." RUDE DO NOT USE