
Innovative Construction & Roofing LLC
About us
Roofing and Exterior Contractors. Storm restoration and home exterior beautification. Complimentary roofing estimates and inspections. Fully licensed, insurance, and bonded. Commercial roofing including Fleeceback roofing systems. Additional email - [email protected]. Additional contact name - Patrick McNichols.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Residential and commercial roofing, gutters and windows., siding
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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76% | ||
12% | ||
7% | ||
0% | ||
5% |
Innovative roofing was doing a slate re-roofing in our South St. Louis neighborhood and one of their sales staff (Jarrett) stopped to ask if I would like them to inspect our roof. I said sure. He returned the following Monday, and he and a slate roofer found numerous instances of hail damage. I called my insurance company (Farmers Insurance) and requested an adjuster to look at the roof. They said they would like to inspect the roof along with the Innovative people so they could discuss the situation. We arranged a date for all of them to be here at the same time. They all inspected the roof, gutters, and metal trim (where used). The adjuster informed me that there was sufficient damage to the slate and gutters that they would replace the whole roof and gutters and the insurance would cover all but our $1000 deductible.
The insurance company first worked out their proposal and estimate of costs which they sent to me and to Innovative. Several months of back and forth followed on such matters as true costs of such and such and amount of scaffolding needed. When an agreement was more or less reached, Farmers Insurance sent a check (several actually) for about $40,000.00. This was for the actual value of the roof. After the replacement was completed, a second check (known as Recovery of Depreciation) would be issued to make the total equal the Replacement Value. This plus the initial payment ($40,000.00) plus$1,000.00 (deductible) would be what I owed to Innovative.
After several delays requested by us, plus several weeks of iffy weather, the new Vermont Slate arrived on pallets set at the curb of the street and work started on the roof in mid March. The roofers put down sheets of plywood to protect the yard and also set up plywood panels to keep old slate from bouncing into adjacent houses. The tear off was completed in one and a half days and the yard was fully cleaned up. The new underlayment was also fully in place by the end of the second day, so the house was protected from any unexpected weather (which never occurred).
The laying of the slate and copper work (less the gutters) was completed in about 8 days (including one Saturday). After several days the gutter installers (subcontractor) arrived and spent two days fabricating and installing new copper gutters and downspouts.
Throughout this whole process, Jarrett and other company representatives, were on site at least several times a day to inspect the work and keep us informed on how things were going. The slate roofers themselves were very polite and respectful of the neighbors and cleanliness of their work. The yard and surroundings were not just clean at the end but were kept clean throughout. The roofers were very professional and received favorable comment from several neighbors.
The roof work, both slate and copper is as perfect as I have ever seen and the gutters are beautiful. We couldn't have asked for anything more.
Innovative is all around as professional as any roofing company I have seen and far better (in dealing with insurance companies and in respect for neighbors) than most). The roofers and gutter fitters were a joy to watch and their work is as good as it gets. Their sales and management people are extremely attentive to both their customers and to their neighborhood image. Yes.... this is a good thing!
"Yes, there was an issue on the gutters. We take full responsibility. There was a downspout required on one area of the gutters and it was not installed. When were discovered this we fixed the problem within two days. Regarding the deck repairs, what we were asked to do was repair the existing deck. We replaced some of the deck boards, steps, spindles and lattice, per the customer's request. Unfortunately the deck was initially constructed improperly (for example, using 4" x 4" rather than 6" x 6" lumber, joist screws that were too short, etc.) which was the reason it did not pass inspection. We did not construct the existing deck and none of the items on the inspection report were items we were asked to fix. Regarding the stain, it was made clear that the new wood with stain would not look exactly like the existing wood. We tried several options and the customer did approve the version we ended up using on the repaired portions of the deck."
"We apologize to the members for any miscommunication on this project. Our mistake in this job was not clearly communicating the different responsibilities for work to be done. As in the members case, to protect the homeowner, we usually try and have the entire roof replaced so that we could warranty the roof, even if this means waiting for their insurance company to approve it. However, this takes additional time because adjusters and engineers must review and approve work before that work can be started. We went through these steps and the engineer reviewing the damage reported that there was no structural damage to the home. Understandably the homeowner wants to get the work done quickly, but submission to insurance companies does take time, which makes this entire process challenging for the contractor and homeowner. Please understand as a professional construction company, there are certain criteria we must meet to complete a project in a professional workmanlike manner. Often our role in a project is one of a general contractor, not just a roofing contractor. That means we coordinate other specialty contractors to complete some aspects of the project. We coordinate many specialty contractors to maximize the efficiency of the work. Within organizing these specialty contractors, we can not have too many contractors working at the same time, and there is a certain order in which trade is completed during the process of the project. Other delays beyond our control might be waiting on materials. This further delays the entire process and also spirals down throughout all the trades. In any case, there is a process for organizing the project which we have done thousands of times. In peak season such as this, schedules get backed up because of the increase in demand, but we do this the best we can. If the homeowner desires to change that process in some way, we try to accommodate, and make sure we aren't forcing them into something they don't want. However, we have found our process and approach to be one that will complete the job efficiently and to the customer's satisfaction. This project was completed and paid in full by the customer."
I checked the company out online and they seemed legitimate, so I agreed to have them do the work.
They had to order slate from Vermont so we had to wait a couple of months for the materials to arrive, but that is to be expected with a natural product and there was no urgency. Once the materials were delivered they got started and worked all the way through the hottest summer on record (I was actually concerned that the crew was going to start having heat strokes).
I was warned that they might find some rotten boards beneath the old roofs and that the insurance company probably wouldn't pay for those to be repaired. Sure enough there was some localized damage: rotten roof planks on the house and garage, and some sun-baked fascia boards on the house that were beyond repair. I elected to pay the company about $1850 to replace all the boards and paint the fascia boards, and their charges for this work was reasonable in my opinion.
Tim got the insurance company to approve replacing the copper gutters, but the copper downspouts needed to be replaced as well. He took the risk of not getting reimbursed by the insurance for the downspouts and had his crew replace them, and it eventually worked out to everyone's satisfaction but he had to negotiate with five different claims adjusters before it was all said and done.
To ensure customer satisfaction, Tim scheduled a follow-up inspection where he and I reviewed the job to tie up any loose ends. There were some very minor issues with a few of the slate tiles and the downspouts needed clean-out holes with cover plates added, but everything was taken care of in a timely manner.
The overall job took quite a while since slate roofing is labor intensive and it was extremely hot, but I have no issues whatsoever with the pace of the work. Owing an old historic home can be expensive and frustrating at times, but if a homeowner is patient and willing to spend the necessary funds for a quality job that will last for years, his investment is rewarded many times over.
I'm completely satisfied with the workmanship and the service that Innovative provided on this job, my experience with them was very positive. I will be using them again very soon for another building.
Note: An added bonus is that the roofing crew used up some extra tiles by putting a slate roof on our doghouse - just for grins!
Our direct experience here in St. Louis was with Greg Oeltjen, and we have only good things to say: from start to finish he arrived right on schedule, proved knowledgeable about the insurance claim process, explained clearly what Innovative could do and how long it would take, spelled out all possible unknowns (like the possibility of discovering rotted roof decking), bargained fairly, and through the process never once gouged us for anything. In fact, he threw in a few extras for free, like redoing flashing on the chimney, replacing one roof deck board, and replacing a fascia board on the garage, just because the result and experience would be better. He didn't ask for money up front or complete payment before the job was done. As for the result, time will tell but it looks better than ever, and we've had nothing but raves about the roof itself and how hard the roofers worked (through some bad weather) the day it went on. We expect it to endure as long as a professionally installed roof should.
We know a good thing when we see it: not that we love putting on new roofs, but if the need ever arises again Greg will get the call.
We really liked our project manager, Tom. He was very friendly and I believe tried hard to make us happy. The roof looks great!
The less than good
I had gotten 5 quotes. The quote from innovative was in the middle and we felt the most comfortable with him. I wrote him to ask that the $500 off coupon on a complete re-roof was valid for our job. I was bothered because he said it wasn't because it was only for jobs over $10,000 (our quote was about $8400). I complained because the coupon did not say that. Tom agreed to give me $250 off and they updated the coupon to stipulate that it was only for jobs over $10,000. I was satisfied with the resolution.
The other minor issue was that their were repairs needed that were not in the quote. Flashing/counter flashing around the chimneys needed to be replaced - so the cost went up $600 on build day. They told me that did not include a markup. I'll choose to believe them.
The ugly
Unfortunately, the roofers did not notice that the freon line for the upstairs AC enters the house near the roofline. It was installed against the decking for 2ft near the roofline. One of the roofing nails punctured it. So I didn't have AC when it was 95 the next week. Unfortunately, I have learned that this type of install, while not a good idea, does not violate code and is not that uncommon. Unfortunately, neither is puncture by a roofing nail (I discovered that two my colleagues -in an office of 30 - had the same problem in the last 10 years. Tom and innovative agreed to pay for 1/2 of the $800 dollar repair. Not great, but I think they could have tried to weasel out of it.
Overall - the experience did leave much to be desired, but I would hire them again and love the roof - but struggled with spending about $9000, when I planned to spend $8000.
"At Innovative Construction and Roofing we strive to keep all of our customers completely satisfied and pleased throughout the entire roofing process. We are very happy to hear that you were comfortable with our representative and that you felt he made every effort to facilitate this process. Unfortunately, it also sounds like a couple of issues arose during the process that you were not comfortable with. In regards to the Angie's List coupon, we apologize for any misunderstanding and clarified the coupon with the site in order to avoid any future issues. The chimney flashing was another issue that needed to be dealt with during construction. Often times the flashing around the chimney can be re-used if it is in good condition, but upon removal of the shingles, the flashing around your chimney was discovered to be compromised, which required our crew to install new, water tight flashing around your three chimneys. At times issues like these can only be discovered once the shingles have been torn off and we can fully examine all aspects of the roof. Also, we apologize for the issue with your AC line. Installing the line along the underside of the roof deck is an insufficient method and may lead to problems such as these. At Innovative, we instruct any AC mechanics we come into contact with to please not install any lines in this manner. We would like to thank you for choosing Innovative Construction and Roofing to handle your project and are glad to see you would use us again in the future. Once again, we do apologize for any issues that arose during the construction process and will strive to leave you, like all of our customers, completely satisfied throughout the entire roofing process."
"(member name removed), thank you for the time you took to review us on Angie's List. We are happy to hear you are satisfied with your services from Innovative and would use us again!"
Of the three contractors I had come out and give bids, Innovative was the only one that pointed out that my roof did in fact have extensive hail damage. They also mentioned that I did have the right to a re-inspection; they helped me get the claim re-opened and an adjuster sent back out. Innovative's representative met with the adjuster and they both were in agreement on the hail damage; insurance approved a full roof replacement.
The job was performed in a professional manner and the crew cleaned up after themselves well. Innovative's staff was highly responsive via phone and email and were easy to deal with, all the way from the initial contact to settling the final payments and paperwork.
I am pleased with how things worked out and I would definitely recommend Innovative to others.
"Thank you for the time you took to review us! We are honored to serve you as a customer for life. Our sales representatives are experts at dealing with insurance companies, it is our expertise! We are happy to know you received great service from beginning to end. That is our ultimate goal! Thank you again on behalf of the entire staff at Innovative Construction & Roofing."
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