McDonagh Roofing

We had hired Joe a couple of times for gutter repairs, and we learned to trust him when, several months after he told us our chimney flashing should be replaced (but we were too cheap to pay for it), water started to seep into our living room ceiling at that very spot.

So when it came time to replace our roof, we asked him for an estimate. It was much cheaper than the other one we received (from an Angie's List all-star) -- so much cheaper, in fact, that we were a little nervous about it at first! But we trusted Joe more than the other guy, and realized much of the savings was simply due to his lower overhead: the more professional guy would have completed the job in one full day by employing half a dozen workers; by comparison, it took Joe and his brother about 5 days (spread out over two weeks due to some stormy weather).

A couple days into the job, Joe told me that one of our chimneys was dangerously deteriorated and should really be rebuilt before they roofed around it and sealed it. This cost an extra $3K (and two additional days), so I wish we had known about it going into the process, but then again, the other roofing company hadn't mentioned it in their estimate either. I was a little wary -- I've always been told that add-ons are where contractors get you -- but he showed me the damage, and we had been aware that the chimney was in dire need of repair; it was noted in our home inspection and was tilted menacingly to one side. They did a fine job of the rebuild and even built a temporary brace for the steel chimney liner so we wouldn't have to go without hot water for a day.

They cleaned up all around the exterior of the house and had the dumpster out of our driveway the day after they finished, and the roof looks great.