WOW! I can’t believe a roofing contractor this good, this honest, this careful, this courteous, this professional, this experienced—not to mention, this reasonable—actually exists. But Gutterman Services of Sterling, VA, does, and if you need a new roof, you owe it to yourself to contact them. The turret roof on my Capitol Hill house was leaking badly, and Gutterman came to the rescue.
The details: roofing bandits had persuaded an elderly previous owner to replace the original (and exceptionally durable) slate tiles on the turret roof with short-lived asphalt shingles—which were now rapidly disintegrating. I wanted to stop the leaks and restore the roof to its original historic condition as required by DC Historic District guidelines.
Enter Harold Boosahda, Gutterman’s superb sales technician. He told me he could put new 150-year-lifespan slate tiles from the Buckingham quarry in Arvonia, VA (“Highest quality slate on Earth”) on my roof for a far more reasonable price than what other contractors I contacted were asking for far less durable synthetic materials. Even better: Gutterman stood by its work, offering me a 10-year workmanship warranty. I was impressed. Of the dozens of area roofers tracked by Consumers’ Checkbook, I couldn’t find another one with a 10-year warranty. The best other roofers offered me was 3 years—some only 1-year. And the contract: clear, fixed, clean, tight, and easy to understand. I appreciated this. So, I signed, and the project began.
Enter Tony Riggs, Gutterman’s gifted slate roof expert. Leading a crew of consummate craftsmen, he replaced the disintegrating asphalt shingles, installed new Buckingham slate tiles of the type believed to have been used in 1896 on my Victorian-era turret roof and, most importantly, stopped the leaks! And that’s not all: he and his team did a marvelous job of restoring the roof. The slate looks terrific—perfect pattern, fit, overlap, and alignment, and the copper ridge caps beautifully accent and outline the rich blue-black handmade slate. What’s more, Tony—a true and talented artist—restored and reattached the finial ornament to the turret top in a manner that preserved its robust and authentic three-dimensional attitude.
And, yes, at the end, neighbors commented not only on how beautiful they found the new roof but how thoroughly Tony’s team had hauled away debris and cleaned up the surrounding area.
My wife and I are absolutely thrilled with our new Gutterman slate turret roof!