Roofing Plus Gatlinburg

In short, a NIGHTMARE that I am still living. Culbertson was recommended by my real estate agent, Century 21 Four Seasons. Out of all the people my agent recommended to me, Culbertson was the only one I thought I would not have problems with. On meeting Culbertson, he appears to be very down to earth, low-key and reasonable; says all the things you want to hear and is VERY SMOOTH! Came to the house several times to give me updates on a start date, wanting to know if I had any further questions, bringing over samples of the color I had chosen, etc., etc., etc. Tons of personal service. I took these times to confirm that he had insurance and to confirm the information on his proposal (i.e., that all the old shingles and underlayment would be removed prior to the metal roof being installed). In fact, Culbertson told me that homeowners need to be careful b/c there are lots of fly-by-night roofers out there that will leave the shingles on and this will deteriorate the metal roof b/c of moisture build up. But he assured me that he doesn't do that and that all shingles, nails, underlayment would be removed and he would replace any rotted sheathing. I also asked him if he replaced all the flashing and he said that was part of the roofing job. When he gave the estimate, he also pointed out a few problems on the roof and said that he would fix them, and I pointed out that the chimney flashing pours the roof onto the chimney, thus deteriorating it. He told me not to worry, that is not the way he does things and it would be corrected. I had to go out of town for a family event in June and wanted him to start after I returned. He advised me that he could start 2 business days before I left, and if I didn't take that date, he had so many roofs he really couldn't give me an accurate time to start my roof. As my roof was sorely past due in it's removal time (I bought a neglected rental cabin), I agreed to the date. Culbertson arrived as scheduled and did the sunroom roof. He was working on the main roof when I left for my family event and I gave him my cell phone number in case there were any problems or he had any questions. I was gone for one week. I never received a phone call from Culbertson. When I arrived home, I looked out the dormer windows and what I could see of the main/porch roof looked fine (little did I know that "what I could see" would be the key phrase). The bay window roof was not acceptable. It was a patchwork of seams going every which way. The other problem was that the chimney flashing was done in such a fashion as to have the water continue to pour out onto the chimney. When Culbertson came to collect his money, I told him that the bay window roof was unacceptable; not only were standing seams going every which way, but the flashing was not cut-in to the siding, it was screwed in with many, many screws and then topped off with gobs of silicone caulking. He told me he knew that would be a problem, but that the metal company brand he used had no specifications for standing seam bay windows. I told him that he should have told me he couldn't put a standing seam on a bay window when I contracted with him. It's not as if I hid the roof until he got there. So, where to go from here . . . Culbertson suggested shingles on the bay; not acceptable. He was out the next day "fixing the roof." His "fix" was also unacceptable. All he did was remove the overly large spline pieces on the angles and left the patchwork standing seams (the ones going every which way) in place. In front of me, he called the roofing supply company and complained that I was still not happy (like I was the one being unreasonable!). He said the best he could do was put a flat metal roof on. I was not happy, but didn't feel like I had any choices (after all, Culbertson was the one telling me that was the best he could do). I told him I was not happy, but would accept this alternative as long as it was one sheet from top to bottom and no patchwork pieces. He assured me that would be the case. In addition, I noticed from looking at the roof from the driveway that there was no flashing on the side of the dormer that I could see and that the backside chimney flashing was still pouring water on the chimney. He said he would put flashing on the dormers and that he had forgotten to put a "piece" in the flashing to redirect the water, but that he would do that when he came back to fix the other problems. I told Culbertson I wanted to be there when he "fixed" the remaining problems and he told me he would call me when he knew his schedule. Lo' and behold, I came home from running errands one day and Culbertson had been there and "fixed" the bay window roof. From the one piece I could see from the ground, it was one piece; he did cut the flashing in, but then continued to put a copious amount of screws in, again covered with gobs of silicone caulking. Needless to say, I was fit to be tied. I took a look at the back chimney flashing and the dormers and they had not been touched. I called him and he said he would be out to fix it first chance he got. He did come back for the dormer flashing. I confirmed with him that it would be one piece that was stepped down. He told me yes. He took a picture with his phone camera and from what I could see it was as he said. That left one remaining item, the chimney flashing. Before he left, he wanted to be paid the remaining money due on the roof. I told him he was not finished and he said he had been coming back to make things "right" with me and that he would continue to do so until I was satisfied. At this time, I told him that I was deducting $400 for not having a standing seam roof on the bay window. He played the injured party and started in on how he has been doing roofs on the mountain for 22 years and he's never ripped anyone off, and on and on and on. I called the real estate company and asked them if I could trust him, and they told me yes, without a doubt. He wouldn't be working here for 22 years if he had ripped people off. Being new to the area, and against my better judgment, I gave him the remaining money due. At the time I told him that I was trusting him to come back and that he better not make me chase him around the mountain to complete this roof. He gave me his word that he would be around and would finish my roof. After apx. two weeks, I hadn't heard from Culbertson, so I called him. He told me he had been at my house that day (once again when I was out) and he fixed the chimney back flashing. I asked him 3 different times, if he fixed it and he told me he took it out and redid it. He didn't know that I was looking at it as we were speaking. Nothing had changed. I even doubted that he had been over to my house. I told him I was on the back porch looking at the flashing as we were speaking and that nothing had changed. He hung up on me. I tried calling him back; he would not answer the phone. Over the next several months, I tried calling Culbertson to no avail. Little did I know, the worst was yet to come . . . I contracted for gutters to be put on the house in August 2010. The day arrived to put the gutters on, and the foreman asked me if I had seen my roof. I replied yes, what I could see from the dormer windows. He asked me if I would get on a ladder, I did. What awaited my eyes was beyond belief. The roof had multiple screws ino the metal, as well as screws through the standing seams (an apparent vindictive act, b/c there were no screws through the standing seams when I returned from my trip. For those of you who don't know, a standing seam roof has no visible fasteners, and therefore no place for leaks to start. The flashings are all different sized patchwork pieces, even on the dormers (which, as you recall, I was assured by Culbertson this would not be the case). The protective plastic covering that came from the manufacturer was never taken off, which will cause the metal to rust. There are hundreds and hundreds of screws in the flashing and miles of globbed on silicone caulk. There are spaces in the dormer flashing where water can come in. The sunroom roof has the old copper flashing on it leaving a wide space for water to infiltrate the sunroom, which it has. The roof, front and back, is buckled (I heard it buckling, but didn't know what it was; I asked Culbertson if a metal roof will make very loud popping sounds and he said that is normal. Yes, I guess that would be normal for a roof that is buckling). The roof is too long, so therefore the gutters could not be attached. And there are shingles sticking out from under the metal . . . Mr. Culbertson did NOT remove the shingles and underlayment as promised! As I mentioned earlier, Rick Culbertson appears to be very reasonable, low key, and just the down-to-earth, honest type of guy/contractor you want to work on your house. DO NOT BE FOOLED! This man is the exact opposite of what he portrays. I now have to replace my entire roof, AGAIN. Culbertson does not have insurance through the carrier he told me he did, and my guess is that he just simply does not have insurance. If after reading this report you still want to use this roofer, do so at your own peril, but ask for PROOF of insurance. As pictures say more than words, please see the attached pictures of my roof. It says it all!