Star Improvements Inc

Star roofing installed my roof 14 years ago with 30 year GAF architectural shingles. I recently noticed two loose shingles that needed replacement and called a local roofing company to perform the simple repair. After replacing the shingles and upon closer inspection we then noticed other loose sections of shingles, some of which were now starting to slide out of place. The shingles were all nailed incorrectly - they were all nailed along the glue strip and not on the nail line. All of which is documented in an inspection video. I am being told that my 14 year old roof with 30 year GAF shingles now needs to be replaced. I contact Star regarding the issue but was told I was outside of my five year workmanship warranty period and to instead contact the shingle manufacturer - who will deny the claim when they inspect the improperly installed shingles. Star never offered to come out and inspect the workmanship.

Excellent job. They were on time and so professional. The roof looks great and all of the mess was cleaned up better than before they started. Thank you.

The project was a complete mess. Nails and debris were left across the property. Large sections of the lawn were damaged by work crew and their equipment. Removal of attic vent fan was to have been included in the job, but then on the day of the job they called and said it was not included and they could not do that work. Our gutter helmets were removed by Star to install roof and then improperly reinstalled.

Based on past experience with area roofers, I went straight to Star, the only one I've felt comfortable going back to. They replaced part of our roof that failed after only about 10 years (a different installer) along with some cleaning and slate repairs. Came back quickly to touch up a few small problems and things were fine after that.

For the most part Star Roofing was great to work with. The office staff, scheduler, foreman, and workers did a great job. Worked fast and got the job done in a day. Price was exactly as quoted with nothing added. I will say that the Star Roofing employee who gave me the estimate and handled the billing for the job was rude and unprofessional. I asked about financing options and he never sent the paperwork to me resulting in a disagreement when the job was done. He became extremely argumentative and vulgar in our conversation which unfortunately destroyed the good impression I had of the many good, hardworking employees of Star Roofing. When I informed the management of Star Roofing about what had taken place I was never contacted for a followup or apology. All in all they do great work and work fast. Their price was comparable to three other roofers who gave me a quote except for one that quoted $2000 less but seemed suspect based on the other three. I felt like a roof was not something to scrimp on and based on Stars Reputation locally I went with them.

Star was very responsive with the estimate and following up on all of my questions before I hired them. The work was done on schedule and they were very punctual. We ended up having to replace the plywood which I suspected may have needed to be done. They were still able to complete the work very efficiently and the roof was done in one day. We ended up having to add more ventilation to the roof because of the shape to the roof and they came back the following week to complete that. They were very good with the cleanup. We ran into one issue with needing an emergency electrician to deal with a roof fan that had to be removed. I paid for the initial work and then they took that off the total cost. I will be hiring them in the near future to add more soffit vents under my eaves. I also would re-hire them for any future work.

The entire roof was completed over a weekend we were away. We came home to a brand new roof

Like clockwork. Star was excellent. They did a fantastic job with installation and clean up. After the job was completed, I received a phone call the next day to check in to see if I had any questions regarding the job.

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I was told my roof was fine , but when they put their ladder up to climb on roof the ladder pulled my gutter away from house , when they pulled a shingle up they never replaced it! So now I have a missing shingle and a gutter that needs to be screwed back in , I guess they're keeping their fingers crossed that the rain now will leak through my roof, now I'll have to pay someone to fix what star roofing screwed up

When they came to look at the roof they told me it would cost about $5000, this was just a visual inspection. I still have a rise on my roof. I don't think they removed some of the old shingles but I do see some of the shingles that were worked on. There are certain areas where the shingles are bowled up, kind of like an upside down "u". That sometimes happens when they put shingles over existing shingles but the technician said that with the sun would force it to go down. Last week an insurance assessor for a siding job that I had done told me that this cause could be shingles not being removed and therefore the nails over the existing shingles would poke up and push that shingle that's on the top and form a bowl shape. They left coffee cups and whatever they ate on the floor of my porch. There were also large pieces of shingles on my lawn, neighbor's driveway and the street. I had an insurance claim opened for my siding and my adjuster told me that I was overcharged for the roof service because it would normally cost $5-6,000 to change my whole roof. For the front it should've cost at least $3,000.

Fabulous, wonderful, and I would higher them again.

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We live in a log home with cathedral ceilings and a gambrel roof with upper and lower levels. Our original roof was old, had leaked in the past, and was due to be replaced. I called Star Roofing because I had heard an ad for them on the radio. During the initial consultation with them, I related that I was concerned about leaks citing how the previous roof had leaked. I was told that the company normally applies an additional course of ice and water barrier to prevent problems. A short while before work began, I called the company and inquired about the possibility of running additional ice and water barrier all the way to the upper level of the roof since I wanted to take every precaution against it leaking again. The additional cost would have been about $600.00, which I was willing to pay, but was told I would not need it and would have "no problem". During the process of re-roofing the house, some of the sheathing was replaced, which was necessary and had been figured into the estimate. A palette of half inch plywood, which matched the thickness of our original sheathing, was delivered to the house. After delivery it rained and some of the plywood got wet and warped. The foreman for the job attempted to cut it and install it, but when he had trouble forcing the warped wood into place I asked that new sheets be used. The following day while I was at work an additional load of plywood was delivered, but it was only 3/8 inch thick. The next day I called the foreman from work to tell him this but he insisted he was replacing the sheathing with the same thickness as the original. I had to drive home and show him with a tape measure that the replacement plywood was not the same thickness, at which point he agreed, and installed the correct sheathing. During the first winter after the roof was installed, it began leaking in one corner. I called the company and was told that the leak was caused by a particularly bad winter. As a followup to the conversation I emailed photos of the leaks to Star. They offered to have an inspector check the workmanship, which he did, but found no defects. The next winter, which was this past winter, the roof leaked again very badly along the entire lengths of the front and back of the house. Water stained the log walls, painted ceilings, and carpet. I was diligent about removing snow from the roof to prevent ice buildup but the leaks were worse than the year before. We put in a claim to our homeowner's insurance company, who sent their own contractor to assess the damage. This contractor stated that due to our cathedral ceiling and roof style he would have run ice and water barrier to the upper level, which was the proposition I was talked out of by Star Roofing. I emailed the same representative at Star I had dealt with before, and after getting no response I called the company. This time I was connected to another representative who told be that the person I had been dealing with previously was out on extended leave due to a medical issue. This rep told me he would follow up on the issue but I never heard from him again. A while later I emailed the second rep I had spoken to, and shortly thereafter received a phone call from the original rep, who told me one of the company owners would be out to inspect my roof as soon as he recovered from a sprained ankle. After two months no one had come out, so I called again and was told the owner would be out the next time a roofing job was scheduled to be done in our area, in "a couple of weeks". Five weeks passed and again no one showed up, so I emailed the president of the company, Peter Wall. He came out to our house this last August 20th to inspect the roof himself. We discussed that for a second year in a row we had gone through a particularly bad winter, which I can understand, but I relayed how frustrated I was that a brand new roof would leak each winter since it was installed. We also discussed my original inquiry into putting additional ice and water barrier on the roof, but he claimed the job they did was not defective and met industry specifications for application of ice and water barrier. He also suggested that our house design was not ideal for the northeast and that the configuration of the roof may have exacerbated the leaking problem. When we suggested to him that such potential issues should have been evaluated and discussed with us during the initial consultation, he stated that they would not have time to do that in every situation. Since I had discussed the desire to prevent leaks and install additional ice and water barrier at that consultation, I see Mr. Wall's logic as contradictory - my own evaluation and suggestion for applying additional ice and water barrier was brushed off, and then I am told it was not possible to individually evaluate my house to determine if additional measures needed to be taken to prevent leaks. Mr. Wall offered to redo the roof at my expense and apply a commercial type rubber sheeting under the shingles, which would be the only way he could guarantee the roof would never leak. This was of course very expensive and, to my wife and me, not a practical solution. He also offered to install additional soffit venting at his cost, but since he did not find the roof to be defective, that was the extent of the compensation offered by him. By way of disclosure, most of the contents of this review have already been emailed to Peter Wall. The roof looks very nice but I am not satisfied with the way the company dragged its feet responding to my communications, and unhappy that the roof has only gone through two winters and leaked during both of them.

For slate repair the work time and materials.  They call the day before when their service crew has an upcoming opening.  We have had their work before and save money by buying our slates at ABC in Schenectady and then allowing them to the installation.  They can cut the slates done to size.

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Work was supposed to be done on Monday but a family emergency prevented the foreman from being at the site. Don was great in keeping me informed about what and when things would be completed. He told me they would deliver the materials on Monday and that he did not want to start the job without having a foreman overseeing it. He said that work would begin on Tuesday. All the materials were delivered on Monday, Tuesday morning the crew showed up and began work on the roof. They removed the original shingles and made sure they covered all areas around the house with tarp to catch all the debris. They began at 7:45 am and were done by 3:00 pm. They did a fantastic job! They made sure they cleaned up all the areas around the house of debris (deck, driveway, walkway, etc.) Afterwards I did come across a few nails here and there on the deck but other than that, things went extremely well. They were very professional and got the job done. I was very satisfied with their work and would definitely recommend them.

My son wrote the following review after a roofing project at his house:

Star went beyond expectations to complete this job professionally, in good time and at a competitive price.  The crew arrived as scheduled and material and dumpster arrived on-site the first day of work.  Each day the crew cleaned up the day's debris and neatly squared away their equipment.  During the work day the crew was professional, courteous and hard working.  I especially appreciated their daily work approach of removing the old shingles only where they replaced with new (a great tactic since there were some showers during the project.) Any unexpected issues were promptly communicated to me and resolved without issue.  At the end of the job not even a nail or scrap of shingle was left on my yard. The dumpster and equipment left with the crew and the workmanship looks outstanding. Billing was no-hassle and straightforward. These guys are pros and take pride in their work, and it shows! Highly recommended!

They were amazing! They were punctual, organized, extremely fast and easy to work with. They left my property cleaner then when they started. I would highly recommend this company to do roofing work.

Their estimate was high but I got them to drop the price. They were easy to get in touch with, had financing available, and responded quickly. They did not install the requested drain basket that I had asked for nor did they clear the drain of building materials. Only when I inspected it to see if it was done and it wasn't, then they did the install. The whole waurentee may have been void if the drain was not cleared. The roof overall was good and overall they were professional but the uncleared drain didn't sit with me well.

In January 2014, my old rubber roof developed a leak and was dripping into the house. I called Star Roofing and Restoration. A few days later, a worker came to examine the roof. He explained what had happened (ice got underneath the drip edge), took pictures of the roof, said the roof was not in good shape and that it needed to be replaced.

    When I asked about the condition of the shingled part of my roof (installed at the same time as the old rubber roof), I was told that it did not need replacing right now.  I was impressed at the honest assessment and that the business did not try to sell me a new shingled roof that I did not need.
    A week later I received 3 proposals. One for just replacing the drip edge, and two proposals for a new flat roof using different roofing materials. I spoke to Jim about the proposal I was interested in, and asked him to include the cost for replacing damaged boards(if needed), and to verify that the price included the removal of the old roof. I was also concerned about the price being several times more than the cost of the new flat roof in 1992. Jim was able to satisfactorily explain increases in materials, labor, Worker's Compensation costs, etc. Jim promptly revised the proposal and I returned it with a deposit. It was my decision to wait until the weather was better to begin the work.
     I received a call the day before the work was to begin. The workers showed up promptly (even a bit early). The work was completed in one day (estimate was 1 to 1 1/2 days). Care was taken not to damage my bushes. The cleanup was so well done that you would never know that I just had a new roof put on! The new drip edges were crafted to extend into the gutters, so i should not have any future problems with ice getting under the edge of the roof. I was very pleased with the work.

They were great to work with. I liked that they were professional and they explained everything to me. They were very patient and answered all my questions. I liked the quality of their work.

In spite of a great realtor to help guide you through the process, purchasing a home is a stressful process - so many deadlines, so many parties involved, and the emotional aspects, too!  We are in the process of buying a home and needed a home inspection as part of the process.  The deadlines for all of the inspections to be completed was March 21.  The home inspector came and did the home inspection on Friday, March 14.  However, due to the ice and then snow storm of the previous 2 days, the inspection of the roof could not be completed.  The home inspector said that he would be able to get back to inspect the roof on Monday or Tuesday (March 17 or 18).  However, this didn't happen, and he left for vacation on Wednesday, March 19.  By now we were under a real time crunch to get the roof inspected and to get a report back by Friday, March 21.  I called Star Improvements, Inc and explained my situation to the person in the office who answered the phone.  She was wonderfully friendly, kind, and knowledgeable.  She took all of my information and the inspector, John Espar called me back within an hour.  He was great and when he learned of my time constraint, was able to get to the house, get the inspection done, and get a report to me a little afternoon on Friday!  This is my first interaction with people at Star Improvements and I can't say enough good things about the experience.  Everyone that I interacted with was professional, knowledgeable, kind, prompt and punctual.  They went out of their way to help.  Their responsiveness made a stressful situation a lot less stressful!  Thank you.  If we end up purchasing this house, I will definitely be in touch with them to do the work!