I was in the process of buying a house and my regular, trusted roofer who has been in business for over 25 years without a single complaint against his license, or BBB complaint couldn't make it out to inspect until after my home inspection period -- due to the rainy season.
My real estate agent suggested Hallmark, so we used them. Their bid for repair came in very low, but I was suspicious because my home inspector, who I have used before and trust said there were major problems with the roof. He even called me to warn me that I should re-check the roof because he had heard that the company had issues.
After inspection period I was finally able to get my trusted roofer out. I asked him to quote repairs on the roof - I was shocked to hear that the whole roof needed to be redone, and that the roof had not been re-roofed as claimed by the seller. He pointed out areas where there was no roofing material only plywood with only layers of elastomeric paint.
He also showed me where there were cracks in the roof and also that a previous gravel roof had been removed and some thin material laid down without removing all the gravel leading to bubbles and soft loose areas. (maybe just paint over the gravel)
We contacted the seller, and it turns out that what they claimed was a "new roof", was actually done by the homeowner, and not licensed or professional work at all, and not permitted, and not to any code or standard.
I then got a second, trusted recommended roofer in, and he basically said the same thing, giving me another quote for a re-roof and said the roof was not repairable. The seller had replaced a small section of the roof on the porch, and this roofer found an old piece from that repair. He showed me that there were a couple of layers of elastomeric paint right on the plywood with no roofing material.
Unfortunately I got this information after the inspection period.
My purchase of the house was completely ruined, because we counted on the Hallmark quote to negotiate repairs, and it was 12,000 below what the cost would have been -
By the end of this ordeal I was out of pocket $600 for appraisal and paperwork, and $200 for additional inspections we proceeded with as well as additional lawyers costs to get out of the contract, since we had passed the inspection period. Not to mention many sleepless nights and much anxiety.
I discovered after this occured that there were numerous other complaints about inaccurate roof inspections by Hallmark. and most of them started "My real estate agent recommended this roofer." Its a scam between the agents and the roofer. Roofer gets work, and underbids, but disappears when the warranty time comes, because they "only cover the sections they work on". They don't have to stand behind their inspections. The real estate agent closes the deal, because the seller is not pressured to make the repairs, and the buyer is reassured all is ok. In the end the only person who loses is the poor home buyer a year or two later, who is stuck replacing a roof which got a clean bill of health from this company.
Hallmark Roofing Reviews
I was in the process of buying a house and my regular, trusted roofer who has been in business for over 25 years without a single complaint against his license, or BBB complaint couldn't make it out to inspect until after my home inspection period -- due to the rainy season.
My real estate agent suggested Hallmark, so we used them. Their bid for repair came in very low, but I was suspicious because my home inspector, who I have used before and trust said there were major problems with the roof. He even called me to warn me that I should re-check the roof because he had heard that the company had issues.
After inspection period I was finally able to get my trusted roofer out. I asked him to quote repairs on the roof - I was shocked to hear that the whole roof needed to be redone, and that the roof had not been re-roofed as claimed by the seller. He pointed out areas where there was no roofing material only plywood with only layers of elastomeric paint.
He also showed me where there were cracks in the roof and also that a previous gravel roof had been removed and some thin material laid down without removing all the gravel leading to bubbles and soft loose areas. (maybe just paint over the gravel)
We contacted the seller, and it turns out that what they claimed was a "new roof", was actually done by the homeowner, and not licensed or professional work at all, and not permitted, and not to any code or standard.
I then got a second, trusted recommended roofer in, and he basically said the same thing, giving me another quote for a re-roof and said the roof was not repairable. The seller had replaced a small section of the roof on the porch, and this roofer found an old piece from that repair. He showed me that there were a couple of layers of elastomeric paint right on the plywood with no roofing material.
Unfortunately I got this information after the inspection period.
My purchase of the house was completely ruined, because we counted on the Hallmark quote to negotiate repairs, and it was 12,000 below what the cost would have been -
By the end of this ordeal I was out of pocket $600 for appraisal and paperwork, and $200 for additional inspections we proceeded with as well as additional lawyers costs to get out of the contract, since we had passed the inspection period. Not to mention many sleepless nights and much anxiety.
I discovered after this occured that there were numerous other complaints about inaccurate roof inspections by Hallmark. and most of them started "My real estate agent recommended this roofer." Its a scam between the agents and the roofer. Roofer gets work, and underbids, but disappears when the warranty time comes, because they "only cover the sections they work on". They don't have to stand behind their inspections. The real estate agent closes the deal, because the seller is not pressured to make the repairs, and the buyer is reassured all is ok. In the end the only person who loses is the poor home buyer a year or two later, who is stuck replacing a roof which got a clean bill of health from this company.