My Experience
with A&E Brothers Roofing
What happened when I hired A&E Brothers Roofing to replace my roof.
This website is not associated with A&E Brothers Roofing or Paragon Roofing Services.
DAY One
Demolition and Prep
Day one was pretty good. The team showed up early, and worked throughout the day, demolishing the old roof and prepping it for tar and install. I was feeling like I made the right decision with these guys. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was going to be the only good day on the project. Every other day was somewhere between “Well, that sucks.” and “OMFG, call the fire department!”.
Day Two
The Fire
and the Fire Department
The First of Many Issues
I work from home, so I was sitting in my office on the other side of the house, when I noticed the incredibly strong smell of tar, and thought to myself “That can’t be right. Let me go see what’s going on.” Well, someone left the tar machine unattended and it was starting to overheat. Feet from my house, it caught fire.
Have you ever heard a fire truck’s siren off in the distance and known that it was on its way to put out a fire at your house? Well, I have, and it’s not a good feeling.
After the Fire
As you can imagine, I was elated that my house didn’t burn down. It was a mess. It looked terrible, smelled like tar for the next few weeks, and the side of the house where the fire occurred would have to be sandblasted later, but hey, at least I still had a house. That’s good news, right?
The Next Day
I’m Sure Things Will be Better Now
The fire was tough. I could not have never imagined to find myself in a situation where my house could burn down while my roof was being replaced, but now that was over, and I was sure that going forward things would be better. Plus, the roof guys started bringing a fire extinguisher, because… You know… safety first.
Well Boy, Was I Wrong!
After the fire, I was sure that going forward, everything would be great. I mean, after almost burning down someone’s house, you’d think that they’d be on their best behavior. You’d hope that they would “measure twice and cut once”, and make sure that everything within their control would be perfect from there on out. Well like me, you’d be wrong.
It Was Problem, After Problem, After Problem.
After a while, I felt like I was on one of those hidden camera shows, where they prank people to see how they’ll react and then at then at the end, just before the person loses their mind, they reveal that it was all a big joke.
From the fire to the end of the project it was nothing but trouble. Almost every step of the way, the work had to be done more than once, and I constantly found myself in uncomfortable conversations with roofers, project managers and all sorts of office people, while just trying to make sure the work was done right, and to the level of quality that was promised.
So, a few more items for your review:
The Bad Drip Edge
After I complained, it was eventually replaced, but the first time the drip edge was installed, it looked like it was put in for a Charlie Brown cartoon. Honestly, when I saw it my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe that was acceptable.
The Bad Tile Install
Rather than installing the tile to the edge, like every other house you’ve ever seen, someone, for some unknown reason, thought it would be a great idea to cut the tiles back—apparently, to later cement the edge. This was not what I wanted, and after some hard talks it got fixed, but fixing it created other problems.
Day Sixty-Four
Fixing the Bad Tile Install
The Other Problems 😐
It took some back and forth, but they eventually agreed to fix the tile install. Now, it wasn’t easy. To do it, meaningful amounts of the roof had to be re-demolished, re-papered and re-tiled. And with that work, came the risk of mistakes. And by “risk”, I mean absolute freakin’ certainty that something would go wrong.
Can you believe they didn’t re-paper the roof correctly and we got a leak? Well, we did! I mean, it was incredible… You have one job! How do you get a leak like this in the middle of a roofing project?
Day Eighty
The Lien
You Learn Something New
At this point, we were almost done. The roof was mostly completed, it didn’t look half bad, and I hadn’t had an aneurysm, so I was feeling pretty good. But it didn’t last. About two weeks after the tile was re-installed I got a letter informing me that I would have a lien put on my home if A&E Brothers Roofing didn’t pay their supply house.
This was news to me! Although, there had been a lot of friction on the project, I paid them everything they asked for, every time they asked for it. I did not withhold payment at any point. But for some reason, their suppliers had not all been paid.
I also learned that in the state of Florida, if you hire a contractor and they don’t pay their subcontractors, you’re on the hook… with your house! The subcontractors can and will put a lien on your home until they get paid.
Well, that was unexpected.
Day Eighty-Eight
Resolving The Lien
I Had to Call All the Subcontractors
As you can imagine, I didn’t know exactly where to grab the Lien issue. It was a complete surprise and an incredibly stressful thing to learn.
Fortunately, the lady I spoke with at supply house was great. She very patiently explained to me the situation, and gave me some helpful advice on how to try to resolve it.
Eventually, the folks at A&E Brothers Roofing did fix the issue with the supply house, but I had to have them give me a list of all the subcontractors, and call them myself, to make sure they weren’t owed any money. It took a little over a week to get everything done, and it wasn’t fun. It sucked the whole time.
Day One Hundred Seventeen
We’re Done!
Hint: We’re Not Done 🙁
So, we got through it. It wasn’t always pretty. It wasn’t always easy, but it got done and I had a new roof. Woohoo! Everyone was paid, and my house hadn’t burned down in the process. The leaks were repaired, the lien was handled, and I had a brand spankin’ new 10 Year Warranty.
Or so I thought…
A Few Months Later
The Cement Discolored
It Was Nice While it Lasted
Well that didn’t take long. I really thought we were done. Like done, done. But no! A few months after the project completed, the cement discolored. I called A&E Brothers Roofing, and they sent someone out to review it. They then referred me to the manufacturer.
The manufacturer told me this is a case of efflorescence.
If you don’t know, “efflorescence is a temporary surface discoloration common to all concrete products”. This is from their literature.
It’s also a word that means they think I’m a “comemierda”. And they must be right, because after everything else that happened, they somehow convinced me to give it a year to see if the discoloration would subside.
So let’s wait the year…
A Year After That
It’s Worse
Of Course it Got Worse
Despite my better judgement I gave it a year, and when I went up on the roof to see if the efflorescence had effloresced, I found that not only was the cement still discolored, but it was cracked in several spots. On top of that, I also found some concerning issues in other parts of the roof.
I thought to myself: This isn’t good, but I’m barely over a year into a 10 Year Warranty. It’s going to be taken care of.
So, I reached out to A&E Brothers Roofing with pictures of everything, to see if these items would be addressed under my warranty.
I heard back a few days later…
A Few Days Later
I Have No Warranty
Surprise, Surprise!
It turns out that I don’t have that 10 Year Warranty, because… “Sorry, bro.”
So there you go. That was my experience with A&E Brothers Roofing, and now I’m stuck with a bad roof.
Since you’ve made it all the way down here, I want to thank you for taking the time to read all this. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.
I also want to take a moment to thank the Miami-Dade Fire Department for putting out the fire. Without their quick action it could have been a really bad outcome for me, and I really appreciate them. Btw, checkout their Instagram @miamidadefirerescue. Maybe you’ll see my house. 🙂
And lastly, I want to thank the roofing inspectors at the Miami-Dade Building Department. These guys don’t get enough credit. During what I felt were the toughest moments of the project, the conversations I had with them made me feel reassured that in the end, everything would be alright. Thanks guys.
