Big & Tall Roofing & Siding

excellent

They service was good. They were professional and arrived on. He explained everything to me that needed to be done. There is a 25 year work warranty and 30 year warranty on the materials.

We found everything outstanding.

I talked to Mr. Rickets on Friday morning.  He contacted my tenant as requested, to set up a time for him to come out.  He went up on the roof, found the problem, gave me a price, fixed it, cleaned up and treated my tenant with respect.  I could not ask for more.  I would recommend him for his professionalism, punctuality, price and service .   I have a few other properties and will definitely use him if I have problems.

I live on the West Coast and own an 1880?s row house in Jersey City which is occupied by my sons.  The flat roof and rear gutter were working fine but had not been replaced in more than 15 years.  I try to be proactive with maintenance and searched for roofers on Angie?s List.  I narrowed down the search to three and my son received visits and estimates from two companies.  He settled on Big & Tall and signed a $12,000 contract on November 6.  The owner, Gervan Ricketts, proposed a plan that required the old roof to be removed entirely before laying down a new, longer-lasting material.  He did not tell us that the materials would take a number of weeks to order and arrive.  The contract required two payments: on start of the job and on completion.  I sent both checks to my son on November 9.  

As the weather got colder I became concerned about whether the roofing materials would work optimally.  My son tried talking to Gervan about this but I was not satisfied so I called him myself on November 17.  Gervan told me that the materials had not arrived yet and he would start the job as soon as he could, probably early the following week.  As we spoke, I was looking at the 10-day forecast for NJ and the temperature specs for the roofing materials named in the contract.  I said I was concerned about the drop in temperature and several days of rain in the forecast.  His response went something like, ?Lady, lady, I am a professional.  I work in all kinds of weather; trust me, I know what I?m doing.?  When I expressed concern that he was starting the job during a holiday week he told me that he would work on Thanksgiving and all night long to make me happy.  I responded that I didn?t want him to do that because the night time temps would definitely go below the recommended minimum conditions.  I also said I was concerned about the rain that was predicted.  He got very excited and assured me that it would only take a couple days to remove the old roof, do any needed repairs, and then put down the new roof.  His tone was very patronizing.  I could not get through to him that my concern was about starting the job when it was rainy and cold.  Since I was not on site I left it to my son to try to negotiate the timing and supervise the job.  

The crew removed the roof on Monday, November 21 and Gervan received his first check. My son called me on Tuesday morning to report that the kitchen light fixtures were filling up with water and that water was dripping down the interior walls.   On Tuesday, November 22, the crew returned in the morning and began laying down the new roof, getting about a third of the way done but had to stop when it began to rain around 3pm. They covered the roof with two tarps and left. It rained about 2 inches through the night and into the next morning. The tarps that had been placed on the roof had holes in several places and water leaked rapidly onto the ceilings in 4 rooms, in particular the master bedroom where two 3x2 foot patches of plaster sagged down from the weight of the water.  On Thanksgiving Day one of those patches collapsed, narrowly missing my son?s head.  The day after Thanksgiving the sun came out (just as the forecast predicted) and the Big & Tall crew finished the work.  Gervan also sent in an electrician to look at the kitchen lights which had then come back on.  About a week later lights in another room shorted out.   

I put a stop payment on the second check and asked an architect friend to come over to take a look at the damage.  The insulation layer in the crawl space was wet and the water had flowed from the initial leak(s) to other spots so I also called in a trusted plaster and paint man that I have used for many years.  He estimated that replacing the ceiling where it had been damaged would cost between $1800-$2000.  Although Gervan insisted that sheet rock was just fine I wanted the hand-plastering restored and decided to withhold half the balance ($3,000) until all the repairs were completed.  

The other issue that the architect noted and photographed was that the roof was not sealed to the gutter which was an obvious problem.  Gervan had promised my son that he would ?caulk? this which was obviously an inadequate measure.  He began to make abusive calls about getting paid and I told him that half the balance was in the mail to NJ but that I wanted the roof sealed to the gutter before he would get the final money he was owed.  Again he got very excited saying that the gutter needed to be replaced immediately, that it was an urgent matter, and that the downspout drain should be completely re-routed as well.  (It has worked just fine for the 30 years I have owned the house.)  Although this advice was not in his initial bid he told me that he could do the work for me.  I assured him that I would never again hire him after the damage that had been done to my house but that he needed to return and seal the edge of the roof or he wouldn?t get paid.   

Gervan told my son that he would come by on Sunday, December 18, to do the caulking and pick up the check but arrived at 7am the Thursday before.  He did the minimum required and took his check.    I would like to get the gutter properly sealed but I don?t trust Big & Tall Roofing to do the job in a timely and professional manner.  I have photos that illustrate the problems that remain.

I would like a referral from Angie?s List for a contractor who could help resolve this problem before I get more water or snow/ice damage to my house.  Since I am still holding a portion of the funds set aside to get the job completed I will pay for it directly.

left a mess--shingles all over place, big particle boards on grass, gouged lawn--some new shingles dont seem nailed down--insisted that I pay immediately--charged me $400 for licenses---when, I learned, Woodstock NY doesn't charge for license for roofs--told me I didn't have to pay until the work was done--then demanded a downpayment (which I didn't give)

They were fine.  I thought the price was real good, I got 3 estimates and they were the cheapest.  They were done in 2 days.  The ripped off the old roof and got rid of it and they cleaned up their mess.  They did a real good job.  It's rained a couple of times and it hasn't leaked yet.  After I got the estimate they were here a week later.  The owner comes out and does all the estimates and talking.

We were looking for a roofing contractor with a reasonable price and who was available to do the work as soon as possible.  The price was great and they were available within days.  They showed up on time, worked all day and did a good job.  Prior to hiring them, we checked feedback on Angieslist.com and contacted two of the references on their website.  All feedback was positive and we too would provide positive feedback to others considering this company.

we had roof damage due to Hurrican Irene
Girvan came and gave us an estimate
when we called him back to tell him to go ahead and repair the roof
they came the next day and worked into the evening and they cleaned everything after they were done
we also had water leak thru 3 of our ceilings they also replaced the ceilings and painted
again they cleaned up thoroughly when they were thru
this is an excellent company

SEE ABOVE VERY DISAPPOINTED THEY NEVER SHOWED UP

The work went very well. They did a very professional job. They were very pleasant and accommodating people to work with. The contractor was very professional and honest. He didn’t take advantage of us at all and treated us like we were family.

Everything was excellent and the price was good.  He was friendly, and the work was completed in 3 days!

He did a good job. He has a good price and is very reliable.

They followed up very well with me. They were very professional.

He came and he seemed fine. There was some water damage from a storm and we were thinking about submitting it to our insurance. He argued pretty convincingly that it would be more of a hassle than it was worth to submit this work. We ended up not using him because my nephew came out to stay with us and he does construction. His estimate was in the same ballpark as the other bids we received. I was impressed by the fact that he seemed genuinely concerned to explain to us his experience.

They were excellent. They showed up on time, did the work quickly and their pricing was reasonable. They were honest and I would highly recommend them.