My New Roof, done by Erie Construction, also known as Erie Metal Roofs.


We agreed to an admittedly high price based on promises of a fast, experienced work crew and top quality materials.  "Two days
and we'll be out of here" he promised.  We thought this would be a "This Old House" quality roof job.  Instead, we got a crew who
seemed lost.  They worked without a leader half the time so there was nobody to check on the quality of their work.

On Monday, June 11th, the dumpster arrived while we were away.  Despite explicit
instructions to leave the dumpster in the street, they left it, leaking crud, in our brand new driveway. 

On Tuesday, I got a call from Erie Construction.  "They will be a day late.  Would that be OK?"  Like I have a choice.

On Wednesday, the crew of 5 arrived a bit late but the boss couldn't make it.  Some sort of dog problem.  As such, they
weren't completely sure of the details concerning my job but still spent a productive day working on the backside of my roof.
 
On Thursday, the guys arrived early (still no boss) and stayed late but it was obvious two days wouldn't be enough.

On Friday, only 3 showed up, no boss, no leader.  After a full day, they asked me to sign off on the job.  Since the
 ladders were put away, I couldn't get on the roof to inspect it but I could see enough problems from ground level that
I thought it wise to refuse until someone could address my concerns.

Later, I borrowed a ladder so I could check out the roof myself.  I was heartsick when I saw the workmanship, particularly the
flashing & silicone work.  The gaps & holes in the sealing are beyond sloppy.  I can't imagine the silicone holding up for any
 length of time.  The way the flashing was haphazardly installed around the chimney is almost criminal.  The pictures don't lie.

I hoped there would be some shingles left over but they used ALL of them.  They said they received just enough shingles,
underlayment & rain guard to finish the job.  I'm concerned because the shingles are proprietary and I can't just go to Home
Depot to pick up replacements should we get another windy day.  Afterwards, I noticed my roof didn't look like other architectural
roofs.  It looks like they spaced my shingles differently to make sure they had enough to finish the job.
 
On the other hand, 1 1/2 boxes of ridge vent were left over.  And two full boxes of nails.  And two packs of aluminum angle
flashing.  And almost a full roll of flashing.  Items that I paid for.  Items that someone else will pay for again, since the items
went home with the roofers.

Then we found the mess they left in my attic: nails, shingles, scrap wood, underlayment & sawdust everywhere.  There was
carelessly trimmed underlayment wrapped around the roof fan.  Good thing it didn't turn on or the motor would have burned
out.  Also, nobody thought to mention that the insulation should be removed at the ridge so the vents could actually work.

..which reminded me that they never installed the soffit vents I paid for.  And, the written warranty I got is completely
different than what was promised.  Instead of 30 yrs full coverage, it was suddenly 10 yrs with only materials covered
for the remaining 20 yrs.  Erie Construction repeatedly promised to correct this but it hasn't happened.

It's now Sunday, June 17th.  The dumpster is still here.  We're having the family over for Father's Day but everyone will have
to climb around the dumpster to get to the yard.

A few weeks later, someone finally showed up to install the soffit vents.  Unfortunately, it was the original crew. 
A few days after they left, I noticed vents falling out of the soffit.  It seems the crew only drilled holes thru the metal
siding but NOT THE SOFFIT!!  So the vents were doing absolutely nothing and since they were not passing thru the
soffit, there was nothing to retain them.  What were they thinking?  They couldn't be so stupid as to think they would
work that way - or could they?  In retrospect, how could I have expected anything different from them?  They simply
don't know what they're doing & the company obviously couldn't care less.

And here we are into November. Only 4 months later & we have a problem.  I called Erie Construction to see about getting
it taken care of & they said someone would contact me in a few days. Well, that didn't happen.  I finally got someone local
to fix it - at my own cost.

Erie Construction had promised a 24 hour response time if I had any issues & so far, they have 3 strikes against them.

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Click on any picture to see a high resolution version of the details:

The first shows the flashing & silicone job over the breezeway.
The second shows the same on one side of the chimney.  Zoom in & see how many gaps in the silicone you can see.
The third shows the silicone globules over the bay window.  Notice the shingles on the left.  Nice, huh?

   
A better look at the flashing shown in the 1st picture above.


A closer look at the shingles & silicone over the bay window.  Notice the shingles in the upper right hand corner.  Apparently,
they weren't too worried about the silicone application since they left the original flashing in place.


Here's a look at the chimney.  You can see the flashing extending beyond the bricks.  Better pics below:

           

           
Zoom in to see how hastily the flashing was applied.  It's not wrapped around the corners, nor is it fully sealed.  There are large gaps - each
a potential leak - and some sections with no silicone at all.


Here's an area where some bad wood was exposed after tearing off the old shingles.
The large gap that remained should have been repaired.  Instead, silicone was pumped into the
void until the tube ran out or the guy got tired.  There are still big holes visible when you zoom in.
I'm not only worried about leaks here but I don't want any critters taking up residence there.

   
I would expect all exposed nail heads should be sealed.  Maybe I am wrong.  Really???


This one is really special!
Notice the edging, the spacing and the alignment of the shingles.  Pitiful.


Shingles extend far enough beyond my gutter guards that
rain water spills over the screen - instead of into the gutter.