GAF — Local services in Parsippany-Troy Hills

'Life is so easy when you don't have to face the customer'

Very, very frustrating experience working with this company over the past 6 months regarding at defective shingle issue.

I first contacted customer service regarding the issue and receive instructions on how to submit samples of shingles for inspection at the home headquarters.

Within a week I got a reply back indicating that there was no defects in workmanship that the shingles are properly sealed and that there was no liability by GAF.

I inquired further about whether it would be possible to have an on-site inspector come and look at my house. I was told that was not standard operating procedure, they only reserve their field people for corporate clients.

Subsequently I contacted their CEO and explain my frustration to him, and was delegated to another gentleman, who was courtious, but in the end refused to bend or deal on dispatching an inspector.

Accordingly, I hired my local contractor to go up on the roof and collect additional samples he did a thorough inspection and wrote a nice letter outlining all the defects and we submitted all this back to GAF. This cost me $350.

We submitted those samples I waited four weeks finally her back last week. They're now claiming there was a defect in the installation process, citing 'nail pops', which had never been cited before. They completely ignored all the well thought-out comments of my contractor.

It is a shame that a company with this much market clout refuses to serve the needs of their customers. All I'm asking for is a fair hearing all I want is for somebody to come out and to spend time on my roof looking at the issue first hand. Is that unreasonable?

I guess they made the internal determination that it's much easier to hide from the customer and not the face the facts, rather have people send in their samples so they can make these decisions under the cover of darkness.

At this point I'm contemplating my next step. I frankly wouldn't be surprised to have them come back and say the claim is now dated. I'm hoping this review will shake some sense into people.

Horrible customer service. Two weeks since this post and still radio silence in NJ.🤐

Steve...

Don't put these shingles on your home or you will regret it!!!

We had shingles installed by a GAF certified installer in order to get the 25 year gold pledge warranty. My wife is younger than I am, and I wanted to leave her with a good warranty on the roof. I paid a bundle to hire a company certified by GAF, and now GAF will not give us the warranty. They have a list of items that they use to disqualify consumers from getting this type of warranty. Ours was the use of foam insulation in the attic.

Foam insulation is the newest and best way to insulate. Foam insulation by definition means taking out attic vents, and in that way, the attic becomes a part of the interior insulated space. It actually keeps the attic cooler than with a vent, but some manufacturers such as GAF are stuck in the past and believe it will make the shingles hotter. There is no conclusive scientific evidence for this. This is what the science says: "Unfortunately, the term hot-roof is a misnomer as the roof really is not that much hotter than a normal roof. Most studies show anywhere from 1° to 5° maximum increase in surface temperature during the sunniest part of the day, while at night the surface temperature drops faster than a regularly vented roof."

Scientifically, all that matters is whether a 1° to 5° peak increase followed by a quick decrease has any effect on shingle life. With energy conscious consumers, many have opted for spray foam insulation under roof decking. All spray foam installations by code require removal of attic and ridge vents, yet a GAF technical bulletin states, "soffit and ridge vents should be installed to provide a ventilated substrate for shingles when under deck spray-in-place foam insulation is installed on new construction or on tear-off reroofing projects." So, the recommendations of GAF are to construct your home without meeting code requiremens.

The point of all this is that it identifies GAF as a huge corporation that will give you an argument rather than the peace of mind that comes with picking a solid company that stands behind...

If you're considering a GAF roof because of the warranty, think twice. We made the mistake of choosing GAF for a roof and discovered too late that their warranty support is a joke. When our GAF roof failed, and water started leaking into our bedroom we called GAF... and called and called and called. Weeks passed with no action. The damage to our home increased with each passing week. We were given one excuse after another for the delays. First they said it was because a person left the company, then they told us the new person went on vacation, and so on and so on. Even the local roofing contractor assigned to us by GAF said they couldn't reach GAF to even discuss the claim. Now, finally the roof has been repaired, but we have thousands of dollars worth of damage that could have been avoided if GAF took their warranty seriously. We hoped they would recognize their failure and help us repair the damage caused by their endless delays, but instead they just read us the text of their warranty (which omits any promise to act in a timely manner), and told us to file a claim with our homeowners insurance for the repairs. So know this, if you buy a GAF roof and it fails, they won't act until it's too late. They're a shamefully...