Kraftwerks Sheet Metal & Slate LLC

The work was completed within a few weeks and mostly met our specifications.  Shawn removed the existing mesh leaf guards as he said they were incompatible with his repairs.  We were concerned about needing to clean the gutters going forward but Shawn assured us he would take care of cleaning them during the "yearly inspection".  After more than a year I called and left a message that the gutters were full.  They were cleaned, poorly, and a few days later I recieved a bill.  I left a message reminding Shawn of our arrangement and heard nothing further.  During year 3 the roof began to leak.  I called and emailed Shawn to no avail.  It seemed to me that his 5 year warranty consisted of doing the work and then never responding to us again.  I would never use Shawn again and I am sure to let anyone in my neighborhood know how shabbily we were treated. 

Flat roof areas started fine and was completed timely.  Crew was courteous, took their time and did a good job.  After the flat roof was complete, Kraftwerks ran until some difficult times and work suspended for about 3 months on the main copper roof.  We had a watertight underlayment material so it was protected over the winter.  After some back and forth, Shawn picked back up again and completed the work as contracted early April of 2013.

I was looking for a slate roof expert as I needed a few slates replaced on my roof, and I needed to have the entire roof inspected for any other issues.  I also needed to have some masonry done on a few broken stones from my chimney. I was VERY short on time, and I contacted about 6 roofers to give me estimates.  Several of them flat out said that they couldn't handle my job as the roof is very big and the back of the house was four stories high.  The estimates were all over the place price wise, and Kraftwerks was not the highest or lowest.  However, they were by far the most knowledgeable about slate roofs, and their work comes with a FIVE YEAR WARRANTY transferable if the home is sold.
The other reason that I used them is that the owner got back to me right away after I left a message, and he was even on vacation at the time. He was prompt and professional.  He got me an estimate very quickly and he was able to begin the work very quickly within my time frame.  His crew was prompt and finished the job in the time that I was told it would take.  The paperwork was handled by email, and everything went smoothly.  All in all, it was a great experience.

Update 2015:  We would like to make use of the 5-year warranty that Shawn included in our contract to have some slates tiles replaced.  We have not been able to reach him and understand from other Angie's list reviews and an internet search that he may not be in the roofing business any longer.

Though the work quality was good, I would hesitate to recommend Kraftworks at this time as it looks like they're no longer operating.

UPDATE 6/16/14: At time of repair in 2012, I received a 5 year warranty. At the end of last year (2013), I contacted Kraftswerks due to a few slate tiles falling off roof. At that time, the owner replied to an email saying he had cancer and would send someone out to the house immediately. I was understanding, wished him well, and said that was great. Since then, I have followed up several times without any luck. Inititially I was worried about the owner and his battle with cancer. However, I recently saw a lot of professional activity by the owner on LinkedIn in my newsfeeds and his postings about his brother playing well in the PGA. Needless to say, I'm extremely disappointed in Kraftwerks and can only attribute his actions as dodging his warranty. I would not recommend doing business with them as they do not stand behind their warranty. They were far more expensive than the competition, but I ultimately decided on them at the time for the meaningless warranty and his false projection of morality. Beware. 




After discovering we had two substantial leaks in our slate roof, we got several estimates.  Shawn was the most expensive of the estimates, but we felt more comfortable him.  He met us early in the day to accommodate our schedule and his estimate was thorough.  He also guarantees his work for 5 years and provides a written warranty.   Shawn was great to work with from start to finish. They replaced many slate tiles, installed copper collars around vent pipes, intalled copper counter and apron flashing around chimney, intalled an attic vent, and coated the rear flat roof with elastomeric coating. As work progressed, he provided before and after pictures. Even though I could not be home during the work, I felt like I was a part of the project. I feel confident that if we have any issues in the future, he will respond quickly.  We will definitely use him again in the future.

They were very thorough in their evaluation and proposed several different solutions to our problems.  They were responsive in communicating but did take a couple of weeks longer than anticipated to get started (I think this may be common in the roofing business given weather variability and the time involved on some jobs).  The owner is very professional and helpful.  Most impressively, they noticed an additional leak around our skylights when doing the work and replaced and improved the skylight flashing while they were up there at no additional charge.  Overall, a very good experience.

The quality of the work performed was fine, with a few minor issues that Shawn eventually addressed (he could have been much more prompt in addressing our problems). However, the real issue occurred when I asked for a copy of the written warranty I was entitled to that he promised he would mail once my roof was replaced. I asked for a copy of this warranty (via both phone and email) at least six (6) different times. I gave up after my last request on Sept., 15, 2009 went unanswered. To this day, (over 2.5 years later!) I am still without a copy of that written warranty. I would give Shawn an F for customer service and professionalism. I would never use him again nor recommend his services to anyone.

They could have done work a little more quickly. The roof is holding up well.

Kraftwerks serviced and repaired our slate roof on a new house. Shawn was extremely responsive to my inquiries and provided a quote with detailed descriptions at no cost. (This was particularly helpful to us because we were moving from out of town and required information regarding the state of the roof before committing to purchase the house.) The repairs were then competed in the timeframe promised and quality was good.

Shawn the owner came out to give the estimate. He took quite a bit of time up on the roof educating me about slate roofs, brickwork and the various issues and non-issues he saw, his advice was very helpful. I liked where he's coming from regarding perserving old buildings, which was one of the reasons I hired him. (I had others recommend replacing the slate with rubberized shingles - ugh.) The work took 2 days, they were able to do the work wihout expensive scaffolding. Job site was clean, the work good, no surprises. One of Shawns strong points is communication - he was always in touch throughout the process, had a good contract that we both signed for mutual agreement on scope. My only regret - there was one chipped shingle visible on the dormer that i wish I'd pointed out, a cosmetic issue not loose, or cracked, so I'll get that one replaced next time around. All in all an excellent experience - I highly recommend Shawn.

June 2012 Update - I experienced a leak this month and contacted Shawn.  He had some workers in the area, who came by and diagnosed the source - a few  slates that had broken since his earlier repair.  His guys came back a week later and fixed the four slates at no charge.  Nice service.

Shawn has done multiple roof repairs for us. This was the third time we hired him. After the blizzards, our gutters (and some slate tiles and soffit and facia) were ripped off our roof from the weight of the snow. (Note: Shawn had not done the prior work on the gutters -- these were existing when we bought the house.) Shawn was great about sending a team out within a day or two of my initial call to clean up the gutters (which crashed to the ground in front of our house) and to put plastic sheeting over the rest of the damaged portion of the roof. He couldn't get to the repair right away (due to all the homeowners with damage during the snow storm), but the plastic sheeting worked really well for the week or so until our project could be done. His team did a great job once they got out to our job. The are super respectful and polite. The work was great! I really appreciated them making the effort to come out in the midst of all the blizzard clean-up to help make sure we didn't get water damage until they could work on the roof. We also had him fix our 40+ year old slate roof when we first moved in the house. No leaks since the work was done. Shawn and his team definitely know their business of slate roof repair. I called multiple roofers before selecting him and many of them do not did not do slate repair work. I even had other roofers tell me I needed a whole new roof! I also recommended them to a friend doing an addition (with an old slate roof). They have been very pleased with the work as well.

Shawn and his crew were outstanding. His explanation of what was needed was clear, his crew was neat and the work was done when promised and appears to be of very high quality. I would recommend this company highly.

We went with them because they were the ones who gave us a reasonable bid. It wasn't the lowest or the highest bid. They were much better at diagnosing potential problems and things that needed to be fixed about the roof than were the other many people we spoke with. They were also the only company that was willing to guarantee the entire roof for a number of years. No other company would make a guarantee or if they would, it would be on the part of the roof they worked on as opposed to the entire roof. We felt really confident that they could find the parts that needed to be fixed or maintained. They were very professional and educated us about the roof. They were trustworthy. They completed everything on time and at the expected price. We were very happy. We will continue to use them. A slate roof lasts for 100 years or more, but we have to maintain it once in a while.

Where to begin... after their first try the flat-roof had a lip in front of the drain, blocking it and causing water to pool. When we asked him to fix it they simply hammered it down and busted a hole in the lining causing a leak (we did not ask for compensation for the water damage caused by his leak on a textured original wood lathe ceiling), finally they got it right the 3rd time. They dropped a piece of slate and broke a window which Shawn was assured us he would replace. After about 3 weeks he called to say the window arrived in the wrong size, then the next time I was able to talk with him he said it came, but arrived broken, then he stopped returning our calls and emails. 

If that wasn't bad enough the fancy new copper gutters we bought from Shawn came down with a bunch of snow, this after the original gutters on the house lasted 100+ years. After it came down, someone stole it...

 There is more minor stuff, like leaving bright white caulk exposed on the side of our house and not properly aligning slate so some on the front of the house sagged into the gutter (when we had a gutter). I know our standards seem unreasonably high to have a roof that doesn't pool water, and gutters that can survive their first snowstorm. I probably wouldn't let Shawn repair his shoddy workmanship if he offered at this point because despite his credentials, in the experience of my family, he's either completely incompetent or completely dishonest. If I ever have any contact with Shawn again it'll be through my lawyer.

UPDATE: Just wanted to update for those looking, Shawn never replaced our window and conveniently forgot his checkbook on the day he was supposed to reimburse us for it (needless to say he never contacted me to make things right). He also confessed to taking the stolen gutter three weeks after it disappeared, one day after I left the first review, at no point did he contact me and tell me this in the three weeks that passed between the gutter falling and the time I wrote the first review. I actually called him while I was writing it; he accidentally answered the first call in his pocket and then when I called back got forwarded right to voice mail!

Amazingly the day after I wrote my review he contacted me and said that HE had my gutter, imagine my surprise my contractor who had not been answering my calls or emails was in possession of my property (and already owed me for the window) and seemingly had no interest in talking to me until I mentioned a lawyer... when I asked him why he hadn't told me he had my gutter he passed the buck as usual and said he told one of his guys to knock on the door, no note, no call, no email just hundreds of dollars worth of copper we paid for in his possession without our knowledge, for weeks.

It seems pretty reasonable to expect a contractor to reimburse you for damage they cause, there was never a dispute about the source of the damage, he simply lied about ordering the windows (twice, you would think after trying twice to order the window he would have made sure we got them) and then "forgot" his checkbook when we tried to get a measly $300 in compensation to replace it.

The other half of our gutter fell in the next snowstorm, I did not contact him about it as I was sick of hearing his excuses. Yes it was a lot of snow, but I saw a lot of houses with gutters (I guess those houses didn't get snowed on). Maybe if you bothered to do some carpentry on the rafter tails before you hung expensive copper gutters on them? 

Shawn is easily the worst contractor I have dealt with and I spend over 50k annually on all kinds of contractors for my work as a property manager, should have used my work roofer who is great but the family wanted a specialist.

Shawn and his team came right on time to help us with the repair. He submitted an estimate to come back once we get our estimate from the insurance adjuster. Very knowledgable and professional about our specific issues (slate + copper roof). His prompt service after a storm was much appreciated.

Shawn and his team were responsive and highly communicative from the moment the job was bid. He was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his trade and clearly took pride in his work, something that seems to be quite rare among contractors these days. He was on-site at the start of every work day and discussed the day s planned activities in detail and addressed any questions or concerns on the spot. In addition, his price was substantially lower than other estimates.

Shawn came and carefully inspected and diagnosed the problems of missing slates, slates that had been improperly installed by the last roofer at significant cost (two repairs last year, still leaked). The work was supervised and carefully and completely done, with a five year guarantee. He clearly has experience in diagnosing problems and is an expert roofer.

Other than the rain which we cannot control the job went extremely well. Clean workers. Was able to not be home & left dogs in backyard. Very pleased. The skylights are beautiful.