Burton Roofing

They were very good.

Work done on time and to standard.

unknown

Mr Scott Burton seemed to be very knowledgeable and sincere when the original estimate was given and again when the contract was signed. The new roof and exhaust fans were installed on July 01, 2013 and complete and final payment was made on the same day. On July 15, 2013 I sent a certified letter to Mr. Scott Burton (since he would not answer my phone calls or voicemail messages which I left for him) asking that he please reattach roof deicing cable that were hanging off roof down to the ground, center exhaust fan over hole from previous exhaust fan, repair nails or screws that were popping out of drywall on sun porch ceiling the day after the roof was installed. He contacted me sometime later and showed up and did reattach deicing cable, centered vent fan over hole and said he would send a drywall repairman to patch popping screw or nail holes. Since that time water began leaking through 2nd floor bedroom ceiling. I notified Mr. Burton by phone and he showed up a few days later and said that old caulk around plumbing stack had permitted rain to enter house causing water to leak into bedroom. Mr. Burton recaulked the plumbing stack and said that would take care of the problem. He then dialed someone on his cellphone (supposed to be a drywall/ plaster repairman) and had me leave a message for this person to come and repair my bedroom ceiling and sun porch ceiling which still hasn't been repaired in over a year now. Then on August 1, 2014 I noticed another ceiling leak in a different 2nd floor bedroom. Mr. Burton did not repair 2nd leak in the next day or two as he said he would so I had another roof expert,  repair another plumbing stack leak at my own expense. In addition to all this, I found out recently Mr. Burton never got a permit from the city of Broadview Hts. to install a new roof, as contract stated he would.

Our house was built in 1994 with three-tab shingles.  In May a storm with tornado activity passed through our area and the heavy winds resulted in a large number of shingle tabs being torn off or bent backwards.  In addition a number of tabs were bent backwards (creased) but not torn off.  The creasing breaks the integrity of the shingles.  I was planning on calling someone just to repair the roof, but eventually decided that the extent of the damage might warrant a replacement.  I did some shopping around for roofing companies and decided I wanted someone local (it seems easier to hold a local company's feet to the fire), and the best quality at the best value.  A few friends of mine had used Burton roofing (Scott Burton is the owner) and I have a high regard for their opinions and technical knowledge as homeowners.  I drove by their houses as well as discussed their experience and was extremely pleased with what I heard and saw.

I contacted Scott Burton the next day and he said he was going to be in my neighborhood the next day.  He showed up on time with a helper, we talked a little about the process and what he would look for while on the roof.  To make things easy to visualize, Scott and his assistant marked all the missing shingles, creased shingles, hail-damaged shingled and lifted shingles (where the seal has been broken).  Scott explained that most insurance companies will claim the "lifted" shingles will reseal themselves over time, even though this resealing rarely occurs.  They marked them with chalk, which made it easy to understand the magnitude of the damage to my roof.  When done with the assessment, Scott suggested I contact my insurance company and file a claim.  Once I filed the claim, Scott wanted to know when the insurance adjuster was scheduled to arrive so that he could come out an hour or so earlier and re-mark all the damaged shingles.  This makes the adjuster's job easy and provides a leg up on getting insurance to cover the cost of replacing the roof.  As an aside, my insurance company also informed me that if the roof required replacing that my shed roof that matched the house roof would also have to be replaced to keep the colors the same - not something I was thinking about.  Anyhow, Scott showed up a little more than an hour prior and remarked most of the roof prior to my adjuster arriving.  He then stayed (on the roof) while the adjuster was inspecting the roof to answer any questions and to make sure he had as much information as possible to make an informed appraisal.  The insurance company did authorize tear-off and replacement of the house and shed roofs based primarily on the leg-work of Scott in conjunction with the appraiser.  It then took a few weeks for the insurance to process the claim and issue the check.  Another important selling point for Burton Roofing, they automatically provided an upgrade to dimensional shingles from three-tab as well as added ridge vents and an advanced UDL-30 underlayment from standard tar-paper underlayment.  One last item in this phase was that I wanted to do my due diligence, so I handed Scott a copy of the National Roofing Contractors Association Qualification Form (available on their web site).  I asked him to fill it out prior to returning for signing a contract.  It covers a number of business characteristics and technical details that one should know prior to final selection of a roofer.  Things such as types of materials (shingles / underlayment / flashings / vents), number of nails per shingle (code in this area requires a minimum of 4 per shingle), and warranties.     

Once the check was issued, I contacted Scott and he dropped off the shingle sample board.  This provides the colors of the CertainTeed Landmark shingles that they use.  My wife and I toiled for a while and selected two, but we asked Scott if he could give us the address of a house or two with our selected colors.  I highly recommend this step, as my wife and I ended up selecting a color after seeing them on a house.  The color we eventually selected was not on our original short list based on another house we saw that Burton Roofing had done.  Once the color was selected, Scott came by, we did a walk around and discussed all the details of the job.  I asked about a few items such as a zinc strip in an area prone to algae and moss growth on the old roof and replacing some flashing in another area.  Scott was thorough and took the time to answer all my questions and not try to rush me into a decision.  I signed the contract and gave Scott the initial installment payment from my insurance company.  He tentatively planned to put the roof on the next week given his current commitments.  Then it rained for almost two weeks straight, requiring delays until the weather permitted replacing my roof.  I did mark responsiveness as a "B" rather than an "A" because during this time there wasn't a lot of communication unless I called.  This is very likely due to the fact that Scott is a one man show, so my advice is don't be afraid to call him and ask if you have a question about schedule.  Scott was always responsive when I called and reached him directly, but he wasn't always able to return voicemails.  I would just call again later when he was able to pick up the phone.  I wasn't concerned with waiting until the weather cleared for Burton roofing as I was interested in the quality roof for the money.

Another reason I selected Burton roofing is that they use fairly large and experienced crews to complete the job in a single day (my roof required more than 30 square of shingles according to the estimate and has a 9/12 or 10/12 pitch).  In my discussions on where the roofers they use come from I learned that they use Amish crews in 5 to 7 person crews.  The dumpster was dropped off on Monday afternoon for the tear-off the next morning, and exactly as described, the crew showed up at 7 AM Tuesday.  They moved stuff away from the house and off the patio, prepared the flower beds and grass with tarps, and covered windows that might be damaged with OSB sheets to protect from debris.  The crew of seven completed the tear-off by 8:45 AM.  They began replacing the drip edge and laying the 3 feet of ice/water guard around the botom of the roof and in the valleys, laying UDL-30 on the rest of the roof when the shingles and other supplies showed up.  The conveyor truck placed them directly on the roof to save time on the install.  They removed most of my turtle vents, repaired the decking, and cut in a ridge vent.  They also put in a new power vent that I bought to replace my old, malfunctioning power vent.  While the roof was progressing quickly on the house, two members of the crew began working on the shed roof.  I would come out and inspect the progress every hour or so and watch the work.  The crew was not only hard-working and skilled, but their relentless work ethic resulted in the roof being completed by 3:30 PM.  This includes cleaning the yard (with a magnet to get all the nails/staples and picking up all the removed materials) and putting the furniture back on the patio.  They also took a ladder around the house and cleaned the gutters of any materials and wiped the vinyl siding where the asphalt shingles had left marks during the tear-off.  The new dimensional shingle roof looks great , functions well, and leaves me with a piece of mind that I won't have to worry about the roof for years to come.  The dumpster was picked up the next day and all that remained as evidence that they were there was my new roof.  

A few details on the items that  set Burton Roofing aside for the installation of my roof include:  they five nail every shingle (four is code), the upgrade in underlayment and shingles making the material for the