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Monday, October 11, 2010

Dallas Roofing Stories Part 12: A Bunch of Malarkey

Can you believe there is a roofing manufacturer named Malarkey? They do live up to their reputation though. Also notice the root of the name: mal or mala. Mala means bad in Spanish and mal is a prefix attached to arkey.
I'm starting to sound like a bitter old man but I've only been around the sun 53 times, 32 of those times as a Dallas Fort Worth based roofing contractor. The previous six rotations were as a roof installer and student.
My brain may be sun bleached but I know when someone treats their customers fair or not. And my hair no longer turns blond in the sun but I still have it. You can't bleach out color from something with no pigment.
We put on a few Malarkey roofs because people wanted them and the only other class IV roofing product available in Dallas Fort Worth at the time was Atlas, a company that has been turning down claims on roofs since before I became a roofing contractor. We'll discuss their lack of quality control on another roof blog, er, forum.
Both of these products blister. That is where little warts form on the face of the shingle, lifting the granules from the asphalt that they were embedded in. These granules protect the asphalt from the searing hot North Texas sun. The inferno that inferns us.
So we sold a roof a second time to a nice lady in north Dallas, near Carrollton. The first time we put it over the wood shingles. After a big hail storm we redecked it with a full pop radiant barrier deck mounted on 1x2 furring strips with continual eave venting. We balanced the ventilation with ridge vents. At this point in time we were light years ahead of everyone in the field of roof ventilation and now some other Dallas roofing companies have seen the light as well, just not with the same precision and exactness of detail.
This lovely lady had squirrels chewing up her abode and she called me for assistance. I found the blisters. The home had the dreaded "Roof Herpes." So we called Malarkey and they said they would handle it. Luckily, we thought, the roof was under five years old, the cut off date were all non extended and enhanced warranties become worthless prorated material only pieces of paper, like the roof in this case.
No one came out. Calls were taken but with less frequency. Then no one would talk to us and the shouting began. They responded.
The president of sales said he would be in Dallas in a few months and he'd look at it. This didn't happen. Then they said they'd send out their local rep to meet us if we'd take out two shingles for them to test. This is standard operating procedure for all roofing manufacturers but usually the company picks up the product.
We waited for hours at the home a finally made a call to everyone involved. We left the shingles on the side of the house where they killed the grass. Now we had dead grass, mad roofing contractors, an upset homeowner, hiding roofing manufacturers and reps, and a bad roof. To boot the home was for sale.
Since then I've heard the same story from other roofers in Dallas and from the Dallas roofing suppliers. This reminds me of Alexis de Tocqueville line about history being like an art collection: a lot of copies and few originals.
These guys are hiding up in Washington State and have developed a bad reputation amongst the good roofing contractors in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Since that time GAF and Certainteed have developed lines of class IV roofing that get the homeowner discounts from some insurance companies. The discount was mandatory but recently the Great State of Texas (I'm an indigini) has let the insurers do what they want, as if they has never happened. I know that State Farm, Allstate, and USAA still offer the discounts, which vary from county to county, but Farmers doesn't. Since they no longer do the synchronized rate swim I can no longer refer to the entity of All-State-Farmers for the big three: Allstate Insurance, State Farm Insurance, and Farmers Insurance. Now Farmers has a program that rewards homeowners with a discount for new roofs and better materials. Still the sun revolves around the sun, so the discount wanes, while the class IV discount remains static as long as you have the policy. In Dallas a class IV roof earns a 27% discount and Tarrant County is blessed with 30%. Their museums and Zoo are better too. Darn.
Oops, my ADD kicked in and I fell off the story line. Anyway, I believe all men except for accountants are ADD.
Now to the conclusion of today's story.
The lady didn't want to sue; she just wanted to sell her house.
I forgot that Malarkey said we didn't ventilate the attic properly. I asked how did they know? Are they mind readers? Guess what: they were liars. Yes, I said it. A strong word used for special occasions when people lie to you, without shame or concern. Kind of like Bill Sharp. That's what he does. Ask any of the suppliers in Dallas and Fort Worth. That is Sharp Exteriors.
The lady didn't want to sue either. Malarkey won. They successfully avoided all responsibility. The home did pass inspection and the roof won't leak for a long time but it won't last 50 years. It might make twenty and hail will probably get it since it will become fragile.
I have this same story for Atlas Roofing products although I did see an old Atlas roof in Irving without blisters. Something must be wrong with it.
As long as I'm a roofing contractor in Dallas I'll continue to tell the truth about how different manufacturers treat their ultimate consumers, the people who raise families under their roofs. If you ask me for a roofing product from a manufacturer that is naturally evil, I'll tell you. I probably won't get the job but at least I'll feel good about myself. We never tell people what they want to hear. The truth will set you free.
www.jonwrightroofing.com
Jon Wright Roofing Dallas

11 comments:

Roof Ventilators said...

Useful information, If a roof is properly ventilated, it can increase the longevity of it's structure. This could save you big bucks in the future by not having to purchase a whole new roof. Thanks
marijina

Madhu said...

Very useful story.If you are also facing the same problem please visit our services

Roofing Services

DavidSmith said...

Nice blog on Roofing. Roof is one of the largest investment for any homeowner which plays a vital role in adding more life to the infrastructure. The quality of the roof completely depends upon the Roofing services which we use to hire from a Roofing Company.

Hampry said...

This is a great site post. Thank you very much for the wonderful insight and we really appreciate the time you took to write this. Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

We had a similar problem with Atlas Roofing! The owner there Goodwin Barrymore is a scam artist who takes your money and then doesn't pay his bills or uses your money to pay off bills from other jobs. He was also associated with US Roofing out of NC which has an F rating with the BBB for multiple complaints... Beware of him and his company. You're better off paying more than allowing him even in your front door!

Alberto james said...

informative!

Dallas Roofing said...

Thank you for this information! It saved my day because even I was looking for their roofing services. Now I know for sure that I’m not working with them.

Unknown said...

Hello!
Tell me please what do you know about this roofing company?
http://smileroofing.com/fl/jacksonville/
Is it reliable or not?I ask you because I want to hire this service next month.

Roof Consultant said...

What I believe is that a good roofing company would be cost & time efficient, uses correct materials, and properly trains. Hiring a professional for roof repairs & replacement would actually save your money. An experienced roof contractor may bring a higher level of quality and workmanship to the job.

Unknown said...

Nice post! All the roofing stories describe the tragedy of roof damages. I get rid o that with the help of Camper Roof Repair Products

Unknown said...

The information regarding Goodwin Barrymore and Atlas Roofing is false.
There is not one client or customer anywhere in the world that has not received the materials and labor for their payment.
I suspect this was posted by an anonymous, disgruntled employee whom was terminated around the time of this post.
Additionally, US Roofing hired me as a consultant. As a result of my research study on their business model, I concluded that it would fail. They paid my fee and proceeded with their business model and it failed. I'm not and never have been associated with US Roofing except that they paid me to advise them not to proceed with that business model.