Mike Dear
The global pandemic delayed plans to resurface the roof at Mike’s Camberley home, but three years later Rooftek Advance remained competitive, and they truly impressed this homeowner - Mike takes up the story of a roofing project interrupted.
“In June 2019 I contacted Rooftek regarding my roof and owner, Leigh Halabi, visited my property to provide an estimate for covering over my existing felt roof, which was over 15 years old, with a modern and much longer lasting roof covering as well as improving the roof insulation. He said that the felt was still in remarkable condition for its age and could probably last a few more years. However, my view was that as it was old, I didn’t want to wait for it to leak before I did something about it. Nevertheless, Leigh provided a competitive price with the knowledge that I would probably not do the work until the following year.
“However, Covid intervened so the estimate was filed away and three years later I approached Leigh again for an updated estimate and I also obtained a comparison estimate from another company noting that Rooftek were the more established.
“I was also pleased that Rooftek agreed to directly employ and manage another trade to rebuild our chimney stack, which was in a bad way. This had to be done whilst they were carrying out their work and coordination would be difficult if I employed another trade myself to carry out the work.
“On checking the prices, they were both very competitive and as Leigh had advised me, he more or less stuck to his original price, or very close to it. During the estimate consideration period, he was quick to respond to all my enquiries about the materials, warranties, programme, and performance, and I was happy to place an order with them.
“We subsequently discussed the programme in detail to make sure everything was in alignment. It was quite a complex residential job and we had to make sure that it fitted in with the programme for some other work that I was undertaking, and the delivery of the replacement roof lights. We agreed a start date, and I'm pleased to say that Rooftek strictly adhered to it.
“The Rooftek guys not only produced a first-class job but also carried out the work with utmost consideration for us being resident whilst the work was being carried out. As well as hard working, I found them polite, courteous, and respectful to all who met them.
“I've worked in the industry all my working life and I'm prepared for areas to be left untidy and their being problems with security and safety. However, Rooftek cleaned up the site at the end of each day and for safety reasons, they clamped a scaffold board to the ladder so that children or anybody else couldn't climb the ladder up onto the roof. They also ensured that when rain was expected, particularly overnight, temporary waterproofing protection was provided to any exposed areas.
“The project wasn’t just a case of laying a new roof, it was in fact quite complex in relation to the replacement roof light installation, varying slopes, flashings at junctions and the relocation of solar panels on a different support system. The property has three separate roofs at different levels, sloping different ways.
“We had ongoing discussions on site as there was a need to agree the more complex details at the work face as the works proceeded. These helpful discussions contributed to the high standard of workmanship that was achieved.
“We've ended up with a first-class job, which has been commented on by many other trades people who have visited my house since the work was completed and one immediate neighbour who overlooks my house and witnessed the works being done.
“I've already recommended Rooftek to other people looking for a roofer as a company who respond efficiently to your requests, very easy to work with and a very amiable team who produce a first-class job.
“They are competitive and, in my opinion, provide the right price for the job. As Ruskin said: ‘It's unwise to pay too much… but it's worse to pay too little.’
“I've worked with many companies in my time, and I rank Rooftek as probably one of the best I've had the pleasure of working with.”
