MERRIMACK VALLEY ROOFING AND GUTTERS DID GREAT BY ME
I’m not sure how else to let people know about this company other than blog. It seems that more and more people are using the internet to find good contractors and simlilar. But the information is often misconstued or incomplete. Reason being, who blogs or write articles? I went to merrimackvalleyroofing.com to put a “good work guys” in, but there was no comments postings. So I tried a gerenal search. After puttsing around online for a bit, I noticed that the company, Merrimack Valley Roofing and Gutters LLC was constantly confused with another company from the 1980’s. As I continued searching, I found some comments, but they were one back pages of random sites, near impossible to find without gross research. There were a couple props’ left on Angies List, but that was about all for accessable comments. How are we, as home-owners supposed to know who does good work and who does not?
I have had many experiences with contractors in my life; some good, some bad.
I have had a painting company, a big one too, (not mentioning thier name, but we watch the games every four years) where they gave me a proposal for $2,750.00, and I have them 1/2 deposit. When the job was completed, a foreman who could speak English gave me a bill for $2,275.00. Did you do the math? That was $800.00 more than the original estimate. When I asked what it was for, I was told “additional sanding and prep work onm the rougher clap boards”. This turned into a mess.
I have worked for many years now with a landscaper, whom I don’t mind mentioning, Mike at All State Landscape Solutions LLC. When I sold my house in Laconia and moved to Andover, I loved almost everything about the new place. I loved the neighborhood, I loved the house, I loved the pool, but… I hated the yard. Dull and dreary shrubs mixed with dead grass and a worn sandy path leading to front door. I decided to use the garage to get in and out of the house. I didn’t even want to look to my front yard. It might as well been a swampy abyss. I called Mike, he told me that he had a location in Newton, Nh that could service me. I took estimates from locals first, then I scheduled for Mikes guys to come down. For relative pennys, I now have a full, right field of bright green grass, a beautiful stone retainer wall, flagstone walkway leading from my driveway, up a decorative brick with cement stairway, right to my front door. I have a beautiful lamp post, fresh green, pink, and yellow bushes in a perfect garden in front of my stone wall, small triangle evergeens against the house and at the ends of the walls, small shrubs perfectly placed in increments peaking over the wall, and japanese maples at teh far left, right, and middle in fornt of my house. You should come over some time. And it cost me over $1,200.00 less than the lowest bid I had. Now I don’t promote going with the cheapest guy, I mean, often, you get what you pay for. If I didn’t use them on my old house I would not have trusted it to come out the way it did.
Now… to why I started this in the first place ….. MERRIMACK VALLEY ROOFING AND GUTTERS LLC
I need to express how amazing this company is. I went online to merrimackvalleyroofing.com , and I did a couple gerenal searches, but all I really got was a bunch of mixed messages and muliple company confusion. Merrimack Valley Roofing and Gutters, (978) 866-1860 . With offices in Newburyport MA, Manchester NH, Methuen MA, Danville NH, Lynn MA, Lowell MA, and three others, but I don’t know where. You can take my word or find out for yourself. I highly promote them. But instead of just saying that they were great, I’ll tell you why:
My Mother is from North Andover, but she moved to Byfield when the Colby Village opened up. She needed a contractor to install some gutters, so she asked the association who did the roofs.. Merrimack Valley Roofing and Gutters subbed it out from the general contactor. She called (978) 866-1860, and Barry answered. He came out, told her it would be $125.00 to install a gutter where it was needed. He fabricated them on the spot, and installed it for her. She was taken back by how friendly and proffessional he was. Now my sister works at Phillips Academy in Andover, and just so happened to notice the crew there, then again up the street at the Tactician Building. So she had called them twice during the winter when she had an ice damn leaking in, and then called them back in the spring to see why it was leaking and what can be done to recitfy it. When she had called in the winter, they were at her house within two hours, and when she called in the spring, they were there by the time she got home. I figured they must not be busy, but come to find out, they have an emence staff and interesting zoning techniques to ensure prompt servicec to thier areas. They did extensive testing to her roof. They removed shingles, took Thermographic and Ultra Violet pictures. The put color pills on the roof, then washed them into the shingles to see more. They did pressure test to the underground piping at the down spouts. They checked oxegenation levels of the lead on the chimney. All kinds of stuff…..FOR FREE!
She hired them to remove and replace her roof. She still got estimates. They weren’t the cheapest, but they definately weren’t the most expensive either (Home Depot).
She ranted and raved t me and her friends, but didn’t bother figuring out how to voice her opinion to the world, or anyone looking to see the difference between roofing contracters in the areas.
So…I moved from Laconia to Andover. I enrolled my daughter into the Phillips Academy on main st. in Andover. Rt.28. There is a difference in schools, and it set the path for your childs future. Look them up online. Ihad my landscaping done, now my house was everything I ever dreamed of, but the roof, although not terrible or leaking, was 19 years old, and looked it. So, I called Merrimack Valley Roofing and Gutters to see their opinion. I asked for Barry, and he came out to my house. I already knew who he was and what he does, so I messed with him a little. I asked him to come by on Saturday at 7pm. He was remarkable happy to obligue. I asked him if I needed a new roof, and if the one here should be removed. I assumed he would say “ofcourse you need allot of work here, and rip it all of, do a bunch of carpentry, and install a lifetime roof system for only a million dollars” But that was not the case.
He explained that he is an installer, they do not have salesmen. And he does not get commition, therefore he can give me an honest opinion, and not sell me on what I don’t need. He told me what I already knew, that my roof was old, but holding strong. He explained the life cycle of shingles and how to tell when they are starting to fail. He guestimated that I would have two to three more years left, depending strongly on the severity of the up coming winter. He created a proposal for me. His proposal outlined every detail of the work. He didn’t just grab a carbon sheet and write “rip off old roof, install new one” , he had a computer generated report depicting every detail of the work; what type of materials, how they were installed, where they go, how they deal with tarping, staging, clean-up, what the materials were made out of, where they were made,….you get the jist.
I chose to wait out the season, also Barry’s suggestion. He said that most people choose to do thier roofs in the fall because they want it done for the winter, but what they don’t realize, is that the shingles have a tar line on the back side that seals one shingle to the next. This is what protects us from snow drifts, wind-driven rain, and water backup (such as ice damning) and these tar lines need time and HEAT to set. Most roofs installed in the late fall are most suseptable to leakage, even when installed perfectly, during the winter, because they don’t get a chance to set until the following spring/summer. So, I got a few more estiamtes and waited till spring of ‘09 (which aggrevated many roofers, they wanted money and work done now or they would void thier contracts and raise their prices the next season)
April came, and I called Merriamck Valley Roofing and Gutters to see if I could schedule. I checked with my family and verified that were still very happy with company. They had called Merrimack Valley Roofing and Gutters for miscellaneous repairs, and recommended them to other people, who in turn used them and were very happy. So I called Merrimack Valley Roofing and Gutters, Barry came out to my house, we went over the proposal again. Once again, I was impressed by the fast and professional service. He said that they were ready when I am. So, again, just to kinda mess with them, I asked if they could do it this weekend (it was Thursday). He said that was not a problem at all, asked me which shingles I wanted, handed me a copy of thier insurance, and asked where I would like the dumpster to be parked.
They showed up Friday morning at 8:30am, right on time. They immediatley started moving all my personal items out of the way.
They even made plywood shetlers for my good plants!
They laid out their tarps, then started stripping my roof. I went inside, had a cup of coffee, and watched the news. I came back out a couple hours later, just to check on them, and the front side of my roof was completly removed, they had replaced a bunch of plywood, they had wrapped a tricky dormer over my front entry with ice and water shield, they replace all the flashing up the sides of the two main dormers, the grounds were almost cleaned up, and half the roof was already installed!
I hung out on the front patio for a while, watching. The guys were laughing, joking back and forth, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. The worked like a machine. One person would get to the end of a row as the next is starting , the grounds guys were cleaning the grounds like ants pillaging a picnic, the guys on the sides of the dormers were dealing with the siding and flashing, tying into the shinglers shingles seamlessly, the laborers where bringing up shingles and moving the staging. When the shinglers needed something, they would yell “nails” or “flashing” and a laborer would literally run to the truck, grab what was called, and hand it up just as it was needed. They were setting up walking boards, secured right when the shinglers went to step on them, it really was.. amazing. It was like being at a circus.
Then, Barry came off the roof, and started doing clean up. The foreman was walking around with a blower and trash can, picking every little piece up. Then they went around with a giant magnet with wheels, picking up every stray nail. The finished the entire roof by 5pm. Barry walked around with me, going though the proposal like a check list. Then showed me pictures he had taken with his phone, and sent to my email. (he didn’t know I was on the patio watching) He had done extensive carpentry, and cut back the peak to the correct width (was originally done wrong) and replace rotted trim boards, re-secured the gutters and cleaned them, fixded the lattice of the gable vent, reset two broken shutters, and removed a hornets nest.
I was waiting to see Merriamck Valley Roofing and Gutters final invoice: $62,000. But no, they didn’t go a penny over the original contract.
I look at my house, and you literally can’t tell any construction crew was here. It looks like the landscapers just left, and did a remarkable job. But the roof is brand new GAF/ELK Timberline 30 year architectural shingled roof, color: weathered wood. With a 14 yr workmanship warrantee. ANd looks AMAZING. I am happy.
So here I sit, at my computer, scrolling though the comments left about this company. And I don’t see any that truely serve them justice. I assume it’s just a matter of time before everyone chimes in on a regional data base with comments on the companies that serve them, but until then, I will leave my blog, and hope that someone reads it.
