We did a lot of research with other contractors before we went with EA Roofing and Siding. These were larger operations and they spent a LOT of time marketing all the benefits of their products and differentiating themselves from the competition before they would even give you a hint at their pricing. Once they revealed their pricing (in a follow up session), they wanted to you make a commitment (i.e. sign a contract) on the spot. Hopefully this review will save you a lot of time listening to all the sales talks and help you avoid a high pressure sales situation that could end up being very costly. <br /> <strong> Here are some of the main claims that those OTHER companies made:</strong> <br /> <ol> <li></li> <li><strong>Claim: Financial Stability: </strong></li> </ol> They claimed that ALL smaller contractors fund their current job with the money from their next job. They tried to make you believe that those smaller companies are all about to go bankrupt and are taking an advance on your money to stay afloat for their current job. <ol> <ol> <ol> <li><strong>Fact: </strong> EA Roofing had no such cash flow problems. Even after the job was done, they were in no big hurry to submit the final invoice.</li> <li></li> </ol> </ol> <ol> <li><strong>Claim: Workmanship</strong></li> <li>The competition claimed that the other contractors put the new roof on over top of your old roof just to save money.</li> <ol> <li><strong>Fact: </strong> EA Roofing and Siding did very high quality work. They most definitely took the old roof off, down to the bare wood, before they put the new roof on. If they didn't do that there would have been no way to check for bad decking. They did NOT cut corners to save money.</li> <li></li> </ol> </ol> <ol> <li><strong>Claim: Other contractors don't have a good warranty on their work</strong></li> <ol> <li>They liked to emphasize that you don't have a warranty for the roof if the company goes out of business (and they are all about to go out of business as they told you in point number one...). </li> <li><strong>Fact: </strong> EA roofing gave a good warranty: They upgraded the roof to architectural shingles for no extra cost, because they wanted their work to "really look great." The architectural shingles automatically come with a 30 year warranty. In my opinion, the manufacturer warranty is not very useful. It is extremely unlikely you'll ever need it, because NONE of them covers hail damage, which is the real killer of roofs. The fact that it is excluded from the manufacturers warranty is no big deal, since hail damage is already covered by our homeowner's policy. </li> <li>[The siding also came with a warranty. I don't recall at the moment how long it is for...]</li> <li></li> </ol> </ol> <ol> <li><strong>Claim: Other contractors void the siding warranty by using a drop in backer... </strong></li> </ol> <ol> <li>Then they show you that their siding design has integrated the siding with the insulation (one piece, with no air gaps). They emphasize that their siding is rated to 190 mph, while the regular siding is mounted on top of the insulation and has air gaps and is only rated to 130 mph. In my opinion, this was a VERY weak selling point. If there are 190 mph winds, then my house is going to get more damage from crashing trees and flying branches, NOT because there are air gaps between the siding and the backer... I'm also not convinced that the integrated siding is all that great, because it is glued in place and does not allow the house to breathe. (I'd rather let my house breathe and not trap the toxins inside...) Either way, if the siding does rip off, then insurance will cover it. Even better, Virginia has a law that prevents your insurance rates from going up if the claim is due to a natural disaster. I'd rather save the difference in price and get NEW siding for the cost of my deductible, if that storm does hit.</li> <li></li> <li><strong>Claim: Other contractors are unable to do larger jobs</strong></li> <ol> <li>Since we wanted two windows inserted in a brick wall [NOT A TRIVIAL JOB BY ANY MEANS...], we were prepared to hire another contractor to get that done, but EA Roofing and Siding had the appropriate connections to subcontract out that work and coordinate the timing of the projects to knock them out at one time. Very impressive and with INCREDIBLE results! It completely changed the look and atmosphere of the room and main level. We absolutely LOVE the light and the new view to the back yard that we never had before.</li> </ol> </ol> <ol> <li><strong><br /> </strong></li> <li><strong>Summary: </strong> </li> <li>Apparently the large companies know where their competition is and they go out of their way to slam them for hours on end before they will give you their price. EA Roofing and Siding didn't spend any time denigrating other contractors. They just came in, showed you their products and got right to the price, which was SIGNIFICANTLY better than ANYONE else!!! Their workmanship was phenomenal and project management impeccable. On top of that, their price was unbeatable. I just wish we could have saved ourselves all that time researching other contractors before we discovered EA Roofing and Siding. Hope this info saves you that time. God bless.</li> </ol> </ol> <br />