Universal Roof & Contracting

Erin M.

My original appointment with Universal Roof & Contracting was Sep 6th at 5:30pm. I was called the day before and asked if my appointment could be switched to the morning of the 6th because they supposedly had people going out of town and couldn't come at 5:30pm anymore. I couldn't do a morning appointment because of work. Being that Hurricane Irma was on its way, I figured maybe some employees were evacuating so I was understanding and was fine with rescheduling my appointment for the following week.

Fast forward to this week... My appointment was scheduled for tonight (Sep 14th) at 5:30. I got a call yesterday saying that the estimator would be in the area in the morning and the receptionist/scheduler wanted to know if I wanted to switch my appointment time to 11am. Again I said I didn't want to do that because I had to work. I was then told ""Oh... um okay well we might have to reschedule again... hold on, let me check."" She checked and agreed to keep my 5:30pm appointment for today.

Then today I get around to checking my phone as I was leaving work at 5:00 and see I have two missed calls and although I didn't recognize the number at the time, I had a pretty good feeling it was someone from Universal Roof & Contracting and that no one would be showing up for my 5:30 appointment. I had another call I was finishing up on my way home so I didn't get to call the number back before arriving home. I get to my house at 5:28pm and naturally there is no one there and I find a business card on my door from the estimator, Archie Simon, whose number on the card matched my two missed calls.

People make appointments at specific times for specific reasons. If I don't schedule a morning appointment, it's because a morning appointment doesn't work for me. If you agree to a 5:30pm appointment and then don't want to drive back to my area of town at that time because it's not convenient for you, that's not my problem. It's your job to come to my house at the time that we agreed and not keep rescheduling or purposely showing up early to miss our appointment just so you don't have to make a special trip at the end of the day.

We all have jobs to do, I was doing mine and that's why I couldn't reschedule for the morning. It's too bad you couldn't do yours and now you won't be getting my business because this is unprofessional and unacceptable.

Monique P.

Beware of this company. They sell you by trying to go completely through insurance therefore you have to pay nothing out-of-pocket only your insurance deductible. 2 years later we have 3 leaks in our roof we were supposed to have a tenure warranty but they refused to cover. The flashing was installed incorrectly... Or should I say not at all. And they failed to put a cricket on a roof we asked. It's not worth it. Don't do business with this company.

Ryan T.

Universal roofing did an amazing job. Everyone I worked with was very professional and polite. They professionally helped me out throughout the entire process. In the middle of summer it only took them a day and a half and I have a wonderful roof.

Laura S.

Had a great experience with Universal Roof. Staff and crew were all very professional and helpful throughout the process. Thanks!

Dev L.

SAVE YOUR MONEY, TIME AND HAIR


Great roof product/ HORRIBLE COMMUNICATION WITHIN COMPANY and LOTS OF PROBLEMS during the job


To start we contacted a few roof companys, Richard Smith which gave us a great quote he has done my families roofs for years and does a great job! Universal came out and we told them about the extensive work inside and out and roof problems, they suggested a certain roof product which is great, but the installation process was a nightmare. They also said that they could take on some other contracting work like ELECTRIC and maybe drywall and other issues. Then after a week we are told that they are trying to get out of the contracting business and stick more towards roofs, ok we understand, and still agree to go with you all on the roof even though the bid was $7,000 more than our other bids. So the roof work is said to be started in 3 weeks, thats fine we can wait. Then the roof gets pushed back another week, and another week, finally they send a crew for about two to three days, we went and got them breakfast every morning and couldnt have been nicer. Reuben was full of false promises and over commitment from the start, we had wood damage underneath the roof and were asked for more money for it, first is was $5,000 more but then when questioned more it suddenly was $800? Then after the workmen were pulled from our job to work on others because they had alot of roofs scheduled then, they half tarped over the pieces that werent finished and left it. Well in florida during the rainy season on a leaky roof thats a HORRIBLE idea. OF COURSE one afternoon we walked into the kitchen and it was RAINING INSIDE OUR HOUSEEEEEE! So i called Reuben like he said to if anything was wrong and he was like ""it didnt leak when my guys left its not my problem its (the other person who worked on it after my guys left, still someone else within universal) I DONT HAVE TIME FOR THE BLAME GAME I just needed someone out there to tarp the roof and stop the water from pouring in inside, and so he told me to call the other guy it wasnt his problem, UM DO YOU WORK FOR UNIVERSAL AND YOU DID YOU DO MY ROOF IT IS YOUR PROBLEM! so if that isnt bad as is, then he asked for the check and I said I had the full last payment of $7,000 and I GAVE IT TO REUBEN, he showed up one day and called saying they wouldnt continue work if i didnt pay for the rotted wood I said all I had was a full check for the last payment combined and he said it was fine and took it, Then I get asked from another guy WHO ACTUALLY CAME TO REPAIR THE LEAK, if i had submitted final payment and i said yes because REUBEN asked, i was a little worried thinking it had been lost and im not about writing more $7,000 checks. Then after the work is finally complete i get a call saying they dont have the check and CAN I CALL THE BANK TO SEE IF IT CLEARED. Well it didnt so it was lost somewhere, I had it voided and resent, I havent heard back from them, not a THANK YOU or sorry, not even a lien waver or completion packet they promised they would send!

OH we got their electrician to come out and give us a quote, great guy great prices, and then the day we call to schedule him they SHUT DOWN the electric part of the company???? without even telling us.

ALSO we had ceiling and floor damage from the water damage in the kitchen and we havent even received a call or email or anything about PAYING FOR THE DAMAGE.

SAVE YOUR MONEY and TIME and YOUR HAIR!


the only person who made this situation fine is TRAVIS, he is the best worker they have, he is honest, he jumps right on the problem and is willing to fix their problems, travis is you are reading this you are too good and too nice for this company!

.....$19,800 and a lot of stress


Devin Ludwig

Tim P.

We had some roof damage from hail and Ken came out looked it over and gave us a great price on the roof. As we anticipated there was a lot of damage that was unseen until the old roof was removed. Ruben and his crew fixed all the damage and still got the roof done as scheduled, we were billed at a very reasonable rate for the additional work and are extremely please with our new roof. Those guys worked their tails off. This is the third time I used Universal and they are the only people who I will use in the future. The last time was when the 3 hurricanes came over Orlando (2005? i think) and they redid my roof on our old house then, we since moved and the old house is a rental now and the roof is still in great shape. My wife was wanting new windows and we had Universal replace them and the outside noise reduction and ease of cleaning were great. Thank you Universal for another job well done

Tom B.

The experience started out great. Ken came out quickly after a storm seriously damaged our roof. Ken is quite the salesman and he presented his comprehensive excellent services very well. As our roof was damaged by a storm this would be an insurance job and as such Ken promised it would not cost us anything out of pocket (except of course the deductible on our policy) this turned out to be a key selling point. Universals quote was very high, twice as much as competitors, so the insurance company of course had an issue with the Universal quote. The adjuster had to go back and forth with U-Roofing for about 3 weeks because the cost were so out of line. Anyway this delay led to the next delay (It took them nearly 6 weeks just to begin the job...this is after U roofing promised us really quick service as we had a hole in our roof from the storm. It spirals downward from there..the job was subbed out to incompetent roofers. They were largely unsupervised, messy and simply did inferior work. Oh yeah forgot to mention that they failed to cover/protect the roof properly while they were installing so when the typical afternoon torrential rain hit one afternoon, it poured rain into our house for an hour destroying drywall ceilings, paper-work, ceiling fans, pocket lights.. I could go on and on as one disaster led to the next. I would never recommend this company. The customer service was the worst, they took forever to complete the job, they tried to collect more money from us after collecting a Kings ransom from the insurance company, the workmanship was inferior and they charge my insurance company twice as much as their competitors. Buyers beware!

Jaira B.

Installed my roof 2 years ago and did a good job. Fast forward to now 2 years later and I am super disappointed. I called because my $14000.00 roof is turning green they came out and told me it was the worst they had seen and that they would put a claim in for the warrantee. After three month of waiting And getting no response to my emails I am now told I need to put in the claim myself and I am given a phone number to call.
I asked Jared on his radio show how they would handle this. Jared states his company (universal roofing) would be with you to fill out the claim and help you as the paperwork is complicated if you are not familiar with it. Not what they have done.
I also called for an estimate on some siding repairs and after 3 weeks I have not gotten the estimate yet. When I call I am told the person dealing with it will call me I am still waiting one week later.
It seems to me that now that they have grown they are just as irresponsible and unreliable as every other company out there. Did not expect this from them as I thought they were different. Will not be recommending them to anybody else again. I have many jobs for them to do but I guess I'm back to square one.

John C.

They did my roof in April 2015. They were done with the main portion of the roof the same day. Did a nice job. The problem is they never finish. They needed to replace the facia boards, which they did but there was a 3/4"" gap between the facia board and the sofit panels. As you know, rodents can easily fit between that space. It took many calls and several of their teenage employees to final get the gaps filled with caulk. (Yes, I know, the caulk will probably fall out of a 3/4"" gap in about 1 year and then it will be my problem again) They needed to put on super gutters which they hiref a third party to perform. The third party completed the gutter on one part of the roof, but left a gap. They put on 1/4 of the gutter on the other roof (it just stops, with no down spout) I contacted Universal roofing and they sent the same company out again, then a new company. Both companies said Universal was paying them for less gutter than was needed so they would not be putting on a full gutter. This is so bazaar to me. Why put on any gutter if it is not going to be complete. In addition, when they did the roof they needed replace the flashing, which they did and did a nice job. That added $3059 to the job, which was fine but they never sent me an new invoice with the new total amount. I asked them five times for it and they say yes, they will do it but don't ever do it. So now it is October, still no finished gutter, still no final bill and still the run around.

When I originally had Universal over for the estimate, I needed to have a flat roof repaired because it was leaking. They sales guy said they can just Hydro Stop the roof. I said, I just want it not to leak. In addition, I told him that we never liked the flat roof and would be interested in going with a pitched roof. He said they also do general contracting and could make it a pitched roof. He would send over the guy to do the estimate. That never happened, even after contacting him several times. So when they wrote the contact he put that they would "" Hydro Stop"" the flat roof and that would solve any leaking problems. When the actual roofers came they said they could not Hydro Stop because it would not last since the roof was not stable. I told the sales guy that I wish he would have add the guy do the estimate on doing a pitched roof when we originally talked so that he could begin the work and blend it into the main roof while the shingles were off. He said he would send the guy over again, of course that never happened. After months of back and forth I finally told them to give me a $3,500 credit for not doing the Hydro Stop and I will seek my own contractor to do that work. I also told them to finish the main roof as it remained unfinished due to waiting for the flat roof issue to be resolved. They finally finished the main roof, but not before we had water damage due to the shingles being missing. I have still not received an invoice with the $3,500 credit and the $3059 additional work they did.



The total roof job was over $22,000. I would expect much better for a job at half that cost. In short, they charge a BMW price and you get Chevy Chevette performance.

John P.

Universal Roofing provided Inferior quality products & workmanship. Tried to overcharge on the repair to roof that they installed. Gave the Runaround
In late '07 I was referred to Universal Roofing by my next door neighbor who had recently had a new roof installed by Universal. The repair was to replace the roof and also fix the interior damage from leaking roof Universal Roofing installed a new roof for my 1,796 sq/ft home for $17,600 (it was originally supposed to be ~$15K but they charged me for additional repairs to the roof). The roof was to be identical to the roof my neighbor had. In beginning of Dec.'14 I noticed a leak in the family room ceiling directly above the fire place where the chimney meets the roof. I first contacted another roofing company (Collis Roofing) to get an unbiased assessment of the roof. Collis advised me that the chimney required a cricket to divert the water away from the base of the chimney as well as replacing the flashing and that this was required by code. They stated that the flashing was around the chimney was never replaced when the roof was repaired by Universal - they also advised that the roof vents needed to be repaired due to squirrel damage. The total cost of the repairs was $1,650 (this included repairing the siding on the chimney that was not addressed at the time of the repair). I then contacted Universal advising them of the leak and that they had replaced my roof in late '07. Universal sent someone out to check out the issue and they were going to give me a quote - I spoke to the Universal Rep. and the first words out of his mouth is ""it's not our fault"" and then proceeded to say that the leaks were caused by the ridge vent nails being exposed and the other vents had been damaged by squirrels. He then pointed to my neighbors house and said that their ridge vent was the type that we should have used (no exposed nails). I stated that the ridge vents were chosen by Universal. He said I needed to get a cricket/replace flashig and repair the vent boots. I mentioned that it would make sense that the leak would be associated to the chimney due to the proximity of the leak...he hemmed and hawed....I asked if Universal had replaced the flashing on the roof and he said NO. I then asked to speak with a supervisor - I spoke to the supervisor and he said he would come out and asses the situation - he also blamed the leaks on the ridge vents that were of inferior quality - I then mentioned that Universal chose the materials for the repairs. He said he would work me out a special price given the circumstances (I did also mention that I had another company give me an estimate). A couple of days later I got a quote for $2,250 ($600 more than Collis!). I then requested that the owner give me a call to discuss the matter -after several days went by I called Universal and demanded to speak with the owner ASAP- I did get a call back from Jared Mellick promptly - I asked Jared if he was aware of my situation and he said NO. I proceeded to tell him of the situation and was hopeful that we could resolve. my position was that I paid top $ for a roof and expected it to last more than 7yrs and expected the same quality work as my neighbors. I then proceeded to get the runaround from Jared - I emailed jared of my frustration and that I was going to sign a contract with Collis and would be filing a BBB complaint. In the meantime due to heavy rains in Dec. I was having serious leaking issues..I also came across another more serious leak in a closet that that had been going on for quite sometime. Also, I spoke to my next door neighbor and found out the following regarding their roof that was installed just 2 months prior to my house (all the houses are identical floor plans and built at the exact same time)...my neighbor got the better ridge vent, had a cricket installed, flashing replaced, chimney siding was replaced by hardy board and that they paid $2,700 less than I did. I provided Jared videos comparing my roof & my neighbors and showing the water damage and offered a compromise on the repairs and never received a reply.
I personally feel that I should be reimbursed the out of pocket $1,650 for the cricket & new flashing around the roof as well as to cover the costs associated with repairing the water damage inside my home. The images of my roof as compared to my neighbors roof are very compelling when you consider the following:
* Same company replaced both roofs
* My roof & neighbors roof were replaced 2 months apart
* My house & my neighbors house are identical in size, floor plan, and date of construction
* cricket & new flashing were installed on my neighbors roof and not mine
* upgraded ridge vent on my neighbors roof (no exposed nails) as compared to the metal channel on my roof with approx 50-70 exposed nails that need to be re-tarred every year
* My neighbor has experienced Zero leaks while my roof has multiple leaks and I paid $2,700 more for my roof than my neighbor

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