This guy should refund you the money for installing the roof as well as the shingle. And whoever measured the drip edge/rake should be fired. I’ve never seen so much hacked up aluminum in my life.
Please give the guys info so other wont use him
Helen Keller and Michael J. Fox Roofing Pros
Wow, can’t believe you dragged Mike into this.
LOL. I’m not naming anyone publicly yet in case I have to take legal action. I hope it doesn’t come down to that, it’s not my style, but it’s the biggest purchase I’ve ever made excluding the house itself and it was supposed to last me a long time.
Well, not that I’m surprised, but the whole roof is basically just trash. I noticed some more issues, and then had a damage report/inspection done, which confirmed that pretty much everything was done wrong. Improper shingle installation which would void the company’s warranty. Shingles chopped back past the drip edge (1/4" overhang is required) on every single edge of the roof. The EPDM roof is also trash- cut too short, adhered improperly, “floating” for a good 2’ across the entire shed/garage transition, and laid down over exposed nails and other crap that’s close to puncturing it already. A gap in the shingles side to side was just sealed up. Torn shingles sealed. Even more low nails. Ridge vent too short. Chimney flashing completely missing- they didn’t even re-install pieces that were on there. One of the new pipe boots is torn already. The area where they patched the chimney hole is a disaster. Scarred shingles from messing around up there when it was too hot. Total repair cost: more than I paid for the entire job. And guess who’s not answering his phone today? Fuck it, I’ll give him till Monday to return my call, and then I’ll be contacting a lawyer for the first time in my life. I’ll take his or her advice as to how much I spread his name around online, because my primary goal is to get my hard-earned money back and have this done right next year.
Hope Chris was helpful. He showed me the pics and it was hard to believe. Shit just kept getting worse and worse. Did you check out your mom’s yet. Wonder how many are out there like this. Don’t let him get away from you. Keep us posted.
He definitely was. I didn’t think there were more issues I hadn’t noticed, but I was wrong. I checked out my mom’s a month ago and took pictures. Not as bad, but still a bunch of issues, and I need to look again now that I have more knowledge of what to look for. I’ll be talking to her neighbor to let him know to have his son check out his roof too- it’s too high for me to spot any issues. Lets hope I don’t see this guy at Oktoberfest tonight…
Yup, he’s dodging my calls now. He picked up once, said he’d call me right back, never did. So it’s time to contact a lawyer I guess, to see what the next step is. As far as this guy knows, I’m just contacting him to give him a price on the flashing he agreed to pay for, and he’s still ignoring me. Fucking scumbag.
Maybe he knows what he’s in for. Do everyone a favor and contact the BBB or some other agencies and help prevent him from doing any more harm to others.
He finally contacted me after I used the word lawyer in my text message. Excuses excuses, says his work is excellent, tells me I’m nit-picking, hangs up on me twice. Tells me I’m going to have to take him to court. I called my lawyer and he gave me some advice to try before I have to pay him to take control of the case. I put in a BBB report today. He had one from last September that was resolved. I’m filing a complaint with the attorney general’s office, and will get any other victims I can find to do the same. I’m trying to find if he has been sued/has judgements against him, which is supposed to be publicly available from the EC court clerk’s office online, but I’m having trouble figuring it out. Oh, and…
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Fuck it. Tell your friends. I thought I did my homework but got scammed by this guy, and I don’t want anyone else to ever have to go through it. I know a lot more about roofing than I did, and how to keep your bases covered when hiring someone, so I’ll take it as a learning experience. That doesn’t mean I’m letting him get away with this though, I’ll spend the same amount I lost just out of spite.
Hope this all works out for you. I would invest the money to get the attorney to file the claim. Don’t let this guy off the hook. If that roof fails, and we think it will, you’ll have bigger problems on your hands…and we haven’t even gotten into ice / snow season. Hopefully you’ll get the money to replace it completely. I’m assuming you’ll be submitting your roof assessment you paid for as part of the “evidence” in the case. Keep us posted.
Hope everything works out and you get your money back.
Usually the BBB doesn’t fuck around. They’ve resolved stuff for me before. Good luck
Any updates?
Not really unfortunately. I found a list of judgements against him, but can’t get the stupid program to open them to see if they are paid or unpaid. There were several from suppliers, one possibly to his ex, several tax and bank related ones, but surprisingly, none from customers. Yet. I did get a bunch of people to share the story on Facebook so the word is spreading at least. I’m kind of worried about winter and the lack of finished flashing. If I got a little water down the garage block wall, no biggie. The chimney would be worse though. However, I’m hesitant to touch anything before it goes to court. Right now, it is still without a doubt unfinished as he left it, which would be pretty hard for him to argue.
Edit: No way am I quitting though. I’ll haunt this guy until the day he dies, or until I get my money back.
Just read this whole thread, hope you get this ass hat.
I love the pic with his biz card. Hope you put him through the ringer for the poor work and BS.
http://wivb.com/2014/10/13/southtowns-home-improvement-contractor-gets-banned-by-town-of-evans/
TOWN OF EVANS, N.Y. (WIVB) – A Southtowns contractor is barred from doing business in the Town of Evans, because of so many complaints against him. Michael Gajkowski, 33, is accused of leaving home improvement jobs unfinished, and homeowners holding the bag.
Paula Jamison hired Gajkowski to fix her roof, back in July, but after a few minutes, she says she asked him to stop and return her money. Jamison didn’t get her money back, so she went to police, and then contacted Call 4 Action.
“I hope it never happens to me or anyone ever again,” said Jamison, on paying $750 to get her roof fixed, but the roof didn’t get fixed and her $750 is gone. Paula hired Gajkowski, a local handyman, but she says once he climbed on the roof, the cost started going through the roof.
“Well, this is bad, and this is bad, and oh there’s two layers here,” Jamison said Gajkowski told after he started removing the roof shingles. But she asked Gajkowski to get to the point, she said he told her, “That means it is going to cost twice as much.”
So Paula said she stopped Gajkowski, and asked for her money back–minus his cost for getting the job started. That when Jamison said Gajkowski told her he did not have her money.
“I said, I just gave it to you 12 hours ago,” and the contractor told her he had to pay his men. “So I looked at the young man that was with him, and I said ‘did Mike you for this job already?’ This kid just put his down.” That’s when Paula contacted police.
Evans Police Chief Ernest Masullo said Paula is one of many complainants in the town, “We’ve probably had close to a dozen complaints where he would start work and then just disappear, and then not finish it.”
Masullo said those complaints have amounted to thousands of dollars homeowners have lost to Gajkowski, “He will ask them for money to buy supplies, or material, and he disappears. But he starts the job before he leaves.”
Masullo says Gajkowski has no insurance, pays no Workers Compensation, nor will town officials even issue him a building permit, so the town is taking an extraordinary stand.
“Michael has been warned by the town building inspectors, the police, that he is not allowed to do any contracting work within the Town of Evans,” said the chief, who also said the Town of Evans can be a valuable resource for homeowners because most contractors are required to get a town plumbing license.
“They go through a background check, through the Police Department. They have to supply insurance, they have to supply a bond, so they are legit, and we can tell you who is good, and who is not good.”
We reached Michael Gajkowski at the home of a relative, and asked if he could respond to these claims, to set the record straight, but Gajkowski declined comment.
If you believe you have been shortchanged by Michael Gajkowski, you can file a complaint with Evans Police at 549-3600, and Masullo says those complaints are being forwarded to the New York Attorney General.
Sounds pretty similar to what you’re going through right now…
He probably would’ve been better off if the guy left and never started his roof.