| Year Established | 1993 |
|---|---|
| Business Categories | Roofing, Siding in Chicago, IL |
A1 Olson Roofing, owned by Kevin Olson, is a roofing company I would ever recommend. 9 years ago, Kevin and his crew came out to replace the roof on my parents’ house. Ever since then they have had nothing but problems. All seemed good until the first real rain after installation. There were several leaks into the house, in between the living room and dining room and the second in the primary bedroom. My father immediately called Kevin who came out and said that his crew missed areas that needed to be caulked. We thought this would fix the problem. Well, much to our dismay it did not. Over the last 9 years my father has reached out to Kevin several times a year indicating that there is a leak and each time he comes out he states that a new place needs to be caulked. This never fixes the problem. What was more disappointing is that Kevin stopped responding to my father’s phone calls and text messages. Finally, after 2 years on 4/18/22 my father was able to get a hold of him to have him come out and look at our roof, and his work, yet again. On 4/22/22 Kevin and a member of his work crew arrived at my parents’ house to looked at the issue from inside the house as well as the roof. There is now a large hole in their ceiling where plaster needed to be pulled down before it gave way and landed on someone’s head. Kevin looked at the roof through the ceiling and then went on top of the house. He then left without giving my father an update as to what the issue was. When he was called by my father to see what had happened, Kevin informed us that the company which installed our new gutters, soffit and facia, which were installed just 3 days prior, messed with this caulking and now it was no longer his problem. This is no way to stand by your work. This leak is an issue we have had for the past 9 years, and Kevin and A1 Olson Roofing are not standing by their work. Instead, they are blaming their poor workmanship on another company. That is not how a professional should work. In fact, I feel as if they are taking advantage of senior citizens. If you have considered working with this company, I suggest getting another roofer to do the work.
The question is great for some industries and non-applicable for others. A general contractor, for example, will by definition employ subcontractors. Most Chicago Roofing companies do not, but there are exceptions. You should always ask this question to your service providers. If they do use subcontractors, ask if they're all licensed and insured independently.
You'll certainly want to ask them this. Steer clear of any company that is not insured in Illinois, because that means that any incidental damage they may do on your property will be a real hassle to recover compensation for. It is never wise to work with uninsured tradesmen of any kind. Most states also require that someone have insurance in order to be issued a trade license. If they say they're licensed but not insured, they're being less than truthful.
This is important mostly for larger jobs. Clearly a two man operation is going to build a home much slower than a 15 man crew. This is also a good indication of the overall size of the Roofing company, if that's an area of concern for you. The reason you may want to ask about the fleet is that fleet size is a good indicator of the mobility of the company. Mobility may not sound important, but it's hard for the Chicago contractors to get to job sites if they lack appropriate vehicles.
Some companies may require a 10% deposit, some may not require any. For larger projects, you'll almost always need to give a deposit, and it's good to ask how much the deposit will be before going forward with a project. The Chicago contractor will know how much they need for a deposit when they've given you the estimate, so ask early.
Though a standard question, it's important to ask. Most contractors will tell you how long they expect the job to take without you asking. If they don't volunteer that information, be sure to ask. It's also helpful to ask if that's a hard finish date, meaning that it's the definite finish date. If it's a soft finish date, it may be extended for any number of reasons.
