Why Price Should Not be the Ultimate Deciding Factor

I was recently forwarded a video where a roofing company was contracted to build a deck. That should be red flag. Its roofing company not a deck contractor or even a general contractor. By the description on the company website it appears they worked on the site on a roofing job and the customer was happy with the roof work. And it probably was a good job because a roofing company stuck to their speciality…roofing. Chances are that the home owner called this company to see if they can install a roof top deck and didn’t bother quoting out to others or this roofing company was really cheap. Its companies like these whom lack experience and bid low that we have to compete with. Sometimes we get the job because the customer asks enough questions to know what they are NOT getting from the lowest quote. Unfortunately most customers focus too much on the cost and not quality of the build and bill of materials. Its the later customer who end up paying twice in the end. When issues arise with the deck, fence or other structure the contractor is no longer available and we get called to fix the problem. Most of the time it involves a complete tear down and rebuild, its unfortunate and sometimes very dangerous.

My moto is stick what you know and be the best at it. If you are the best you will never be short of work in your trade.

Some of things I found wroung with the build was the following:
2x4s used as structure, foam placed between the posts and the roof should have been tied to the structure. No lag bolts used, The posts were screwed to the beams not lagged. None of the “beams” were doubled up.
The moto of this story…please don’t focus soley on the price, know what you are getting for your money and watch the progress of the build if you see something wrong raise the red flag!

Sal Costante
Cedar Springs
519.555.0139