
Bowie Siding and Roofing Inc
About us
Bowie Siding and Roofing, Inc. is a family owned and operated business in Bowie, MD. We have worked here in Prince Georges and surrounding counties for over 48 years. We only use high quality, long-lasting materials and we warranty our workmanship for 15 years on new installations. We specialize in making homes beautiful and energy efficient. Some of our services include roofing and roof repairs, siding, trim, gutters, windows, doors, insulation and more.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Roofing, decks, doors, etc., gutters, insulation, insurance work, kitchen and bath remodels, painting, power washing, siding, trim, windows
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
---|---|---|
69% | ||
12% | ||
12% | ||
7% | ||
0% |
It was very difficult for my husband to have work that he would normally do himself done by contractors, so I wasn't sure how this relationship would work. We were beyond pleased with how responsive their company was to our calls and any questions or concerns we had. They are a family run business and the daughter of the owner was an absolute pleasure to work with.
They were great. The price was reasonable. They did a great job and were very professional.
"I just want to say that your family is one of the nicest customer's we've had in a long time! It was truly a pleasure to do business with you and I wish you all the best in your future with your growing family :) God bless you!"
"Thank you so much for the review. It was our absolute pleasure to help you through the insurance claim. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any future needs."
We have held off reviewing this company because it has taken us a long time to collect our thoughts on our job. In the beginning, this firm's salesman, Chris, did a good, responsive job selling us the deal (although I must warn you that the insulation that most siding firms want to sell you do not provide a great deal of R value and really are not of much consequence in utility savings). When the job started, my husband took a day off work be there to get the job started off properly. We should have been alarmed when the crew did not show up as promised in the morning. They showed up in the afternoon, saying they did not want to get started then because they all wanted to attend a sporting event and would show up in the morning. Great! Dollars of leave flushed away! When they did finally get started, they worked fairly hard, but the job progressed slowly. There is one disadvantage of dealing with a "family-owned" company--they have a small, 3 man crew, who do not have the ability to call in other people to cover for them or to call upon when the weather goes bad and they need to get a job finished. It appears the siding was done o.k., but the gutters are so low in their final, lowest curve that they do not drain well.
When they felt finished with the job, they wanted to be paid immediately, before my husband had come home from work to inspect the work or we had determined if there was anything else we needed to have done. The owner of the business sent his son over (a member of the crew) to collect. I work at home and had started work when he came to the door. I told him that we had not inspected the job and would get with them for payment just as soon as we had. He told me that I could quit what I was doing and inspect it right then, leaving my client (who was a child) sitting alone and losing time paid for by their parent to do so. When told him I could not do that, he insisted that I would. He called my cell phone, my home home and banged on the door extremely loudly, all at once, for 15-20 minutes. When my husband arrived home and was informed of the situation, he said he would inspect the job when the sun was up and would get back immediately thereafter. Apparently that was not good enough. The crew member called his father, the owner of the company, who called and left the most chillingly threatening message I have ever received, stating among other things, that we had better pay right then. My husband finally resorted to calling the salesman, telling him to resolve this situation or we would have to call the police. My clients were so scared by this situation they told me they wanted to leave by the back door and go to their car through a route in the woods in order to not be harmed by these people. Finally, Chris the salesman resolved that we could inspect the job and pay on a certain day agreed upon by all. We did find some things we did not like, but when a member of the crew came by to change these things, I had to endure a prolonged lecture before every change, concerning how many jobs they do in the area and how nobody else had ever registered any complaints. (This is not born out by any ratings I have seen for them. See Checkbook Magazine.) I suppose these lectures were to make me feel like a silly, picky woman, when I had neighbors (male) come over, who had siding done recently come over to look at the job. They picked up these items that needed to be changed. The crew member even chided me for going down the street to look for houses that had the items done the way informed people had stated they should be done. Overall, my husband and I am embarrassed at ever having dealt with these people. We entirely redid the outside of our home (roof, windows) in 2011 and had chosen such great contractors for these other jobs.
"All I will say about this report is that it is unbelievably, un abashedly, over exaggerated. There was never at any point any threats made WHATSOEVER to this person. Only requests for payment when the work was complete. The signed contract requests payment upon completion but this member did not want to do so and delayed as long as possible. I have never dealt with such a dramatic over emotional person in my career. The house looks amazing. There are two sides to every story."
"Member I am so happy to hear that you were very satisfied with the work. It was a pleasure doing business with you and I hope you will call us if you ever need anything in the future. Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review for our company."
"Dear Sir, Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review. I am very glad we were able to help you. Please feel free to call us any time for any future need. God bless!"
The estimate was sent the next day by email and followed up with the delivery of a package outlining all three estimates and included all the specifics on products, etc. My husband and I decided to go with the siding repair (and hope for the best) and put a new roof on. The team that came out to do the siding repair did an excellent job. They got the siding off and on with no damage and wrapped the area in waterproofing to prevent future problems. They also showed us pictures of the area where the leak had come in. They were in and out quickly and left no mess.
The day the roof was to be done, I was concerned because we had rain due in the next day. But the guys were there at 7 am, had the old roof off, and the new roof on by 5:15. They put in a roof vent and even removed our two old skylights and installed two new ones for us. They laid out tarps to catch the garbage, moved my things out of the way, and cleaned everything up before they left. I couldn't even find a nail laying around. My neighbors were amazed on how fast they did the job and so were we. We are very pleased with the service and result and definately plan to use this company when we decide to do a full sididng job.
"Member, you were a joy to work with and I appreciate your kind words. It is very satisfying to know that we helped you solve an ongoing problem. Please do not hesitate to call at any time in the future for anything, big or small. Thanks again!"
However, make sure to be diligent about following the standard rules for working with contractors:
1. Read over the contract very carefully and make sure to double check what you sign for is what you requested.
2. Be at the house when the work is completed and check over everything very carefully to make sure the work is done properly before signing off on the job.
"I'm glad we were able to respond to you quickly and fix your problem. We do not accept credit cards because of the fees and headache involved. However, customers do have an option to use a "credit card check" which works the same as a regular check, or drawing money off of their credit card at a bank or ATM. We appreciate your business Member despite the fact that you were not able to use a credit card. Thank you."
In response to Bowie Siding and Roofing response on the 9-26-2011:
The Chesapeake Siding and Roof truck was painted with the company information. It was NOT magnetic signs on the truck.
The Bowie Roofing and Siding Sign showed up later, not when the roof was done. I removed it, because I didn't approve put the sign in the yard and would not recommend the company.
The gutters were installed a month later only after several calls. At NO time did they indicate a reason for the delay or an estimate of when the job would be done.
"We did respond quickly to do the roof. As far as I know all went well and the Beckwell family was satisfied with their new roof. Chesapeake Roofing did not do the roof. Bowie Siding & Roofing did the roof, however our sub-contractor sometimes subs work for Chesapeake and clearly forgot to change out the magnetic signs on his truck. This is embarrassing and frustrating. Our roofer has been with our company for almost ten years and is an excellent roofer. Sometimes, subs have to work for several different companies if times are slow and one company can not provide all of their work. I wish this would not have happened and am sorry for any confusion this caused the Beckwells. I do remember that there was a Bowie Siding & Roofing, Inc. job sign in the front yard while we were working though. As for the guttering, we always strive to do the job in the time frame we indicate on the proposal. However, all time frames are written as "approximate". We do not promise an exact start and finish date due to weather conditions and workload. At that time, there were so many gutter/trim jobs that needed done that we were a little backed up. The roof and gutters are two different contracts and are not necessarily done at the same exact time. We got there as soon as we were able to do the job. By the time we were made aware of the trash the customer had already cleaned up. If given the opportunity we would certainly have cleaned up everything for the Beckwells. We did respond immediately for their other concern of a loose gutter and took care of it in a timely manner. These problems are not normal for us and of course we are not happy that we did not completely satisfy the members. The issues have been addressed with the mechanics involved."
"Thank you for your kind review. We always strive for excellence in our customer service and were happy to help you."
"Thank you member, it is always a pleasure working for you. Please call us anytime."
"Thank you, it was our pleasure to serve you."
"Thank you!"
"We were happy to help you again. Thank you."
"Thank you, I'm glad we were able to help you."
"Thank you! We always try our best with every job. I'm glad we were able to work together on your project."
"This was some time ago. I am not sure why this happened as I try very hard to satisfy every customer. It is unfortunate that we were not able to live up to the member's expectations for us. If another opportunity arises I will certainly strive to make it a pleasant experience."
Licensing
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