The sound of nail guns echoed across Scott Mayhews Westminster home this week. It was a sound he had been waiting more than a year to hear.
Im ready to cry right now, Mayhew said as he watched crews working above him. Its just a blessing.
Watch Denver7 investigative reporter Jaclyn Allen's story in the video below:
He paid more than $9,000 and waited a year for a roof. Then another roofer saw our storyA new roof was finally going on his home, but the company doing the work was not the company Mayhew said he paid more than $9,000.
Instead, the crew was from Road Home Exteriors, a Denver-based roofing contractor whose owner reached out after seeing Denver7 Investigates September report about Mayhew and another homeowner, Angel Eder.
I saw your story on Denver7, Road Home Exteriors owner Leo Dunn told Denver7 Investigates. It just broke my heart that this is still happening to people.
Dunn said supplier QXO donated the shingles for Mayhews home and Road Home Exteriors donated the labor.
At the end of the day, hell have a roof over his head and one less problem to worry about, Dunn said.
Denver7 investigation found two homeowners paid thousandsDenver7 Investigates first reported on Mayhew and Eder in September after both said they handed over thousands of dollars in insurance money to Centennial-based RoofCo & Solar, but more than a year later, their roofing projects had not begun.
Both said their encounters with the company began when salespeople approached them following hailstorms.
A couple of dudes came up, sounded like good country boys, Mayhew recalled in his original interview.
Eder, who lives in Northglenn, said two men approached her at her home and offered to look at her roof.
She ultimately provided RoofCo & Solar with an insurance check for $5,693.88. Mayhew said he turned over a check for more than $9,100.
But both homeowners told Denver7 that the roofing work they expected did not happen.
They never showed up. They never answered my calls. They never made an appointment, Eder said in September.
Mayhew said he eventually asked for his insurance money back.
Why dont you guys just send the check back? he recalled telling the company. Ill give it back to the insurance company, and well just call it even.
The Better Business Bureau gave RoofCo & Solar an "F" rating and issued an alert saying it had identified what it called a pattern of complaints involving issues including unfinished work, delays, refunds and communication problems.
The complaints point to this broader pattern involving money, unfinished work, delays, refunds not being produced and difficulty getting answers from the company, BBB spokesperson Cameron Nakashima told Denver7 during the original investigation.
RoofCo disputed the homeowners accountsRoofCo & Solar denied wrongdoing when Denver7 Investigates contacted the company for the original story.
Nick Pope, who identified himself as the companys director of operations, declined an on-camera interview but spoke with Denver7 by phone. He said the homeowners situations involved insurance and contract disputes and blamed delays in part on the customers.
Regarding Eder, Pope said the company had tried to complete the work.
We are prepared to put their roofs on at any point in time, he said.
Regarding Mayhew, Pope said the homeowner had additional out-of-pocket obligations, including his insurance deductible. Mayhew, however, showed Denver7 a text from a company representative that stated, It looks like we can get a new roof and not pay anything out of pocket.
Mayhew said the company later told him it would need about another $5,000 before the project could move forward.
RoofCo & Solar also told Denver7 during the original investigation that it would consider refunds but that they would likely be subject to a 35% cancellation fee contained in its contracts.
Scott says he still hasn't received a refundThe new roof has solved one major problem for Mayhew, but he says his dispute over the money he paid RoofCo & Solar remains unresolved.
Mayhew said he has continued trying to contact the company.
Even to this day, right now, they don't even respond to my texts, emails, anything, he said.
He said he has even raised the possibility of accepting a partial refund based on the 35% cancellation fee RoofCo & Solar previously discussed.
That was the last thing I shot him a text saying, 'You know, what's up with that 35%? Mayhew said. I'll take that compared to nothing.
Angel Eder received a specific refund calculationThere has been more movement in Eders case.
In a Sept. 30 email reviewed by Denver7, RoofCo & Solar laid out two paths forward.
The company said it was willing to perform the roofing work. If Eder chose to cancel instead, the email calculated a refund based on the companys 35% cancellation provision.
The email listed:
Contract price: $10,018.97 35% cancellation amount: $3,506.63 Insurance payment already received: $5,693.88 Calculated refund amount: $2,187.24Eder subsequently asked whether the $2,187.24 would be sent as a certified check by certified mail. She also asked whether RoofCo & Solar would pull a permit if she instead allowed the company to perform the work.
In the email chain Eder forwarded to Denver7, Pope told her there would be no additional out-of-pocket payment required for replacement of the shingles.
Eder told Denver7 this week that she remains undecided about accepting the refund after the cancellation deduction.
Im debating whether I should take the refund check less the 35 %, she said.
She confirmed the company had also offered to perform repairs, including replacement of 139 tiles.
They were willing to do the 139 tiles, and I am not willing to have them come on my property, Eder said.
She told Denver7 her hesitation comes down to trust.
I dont feel that theyre a trustworthy company, she said.
Watch Denver7 Investigates' previous story in this case in the video below:
Colorado homeowners handed over insurance checks. Their roofs were never replaced.The roofer who helped Scott may try to help Angel, tooDunn said Road Home Exteriors is now planning to meet with Eder, inspect her roof and review the paperwork from her dispute to see whether there are other options.
Were gonna go over, look at the roof, look at the paperwork that this other company had her sign, Dunn said. See what we can do.
Dunn said the homeowners experiences are also a reminder to slow down before hiring a contractor, particularly after storms when roofing salespeople can flood affected neighborhoods.
He stopped short of saying homeowners should automatically reject door-to-door roofers, but encouraged consumers to research any contractor before signing an agreement.
Theres a lot of ways you can kind of do a background check on contractors that can be beneficial, Dunn said.
He also cautioned homeowners to be skeptical when someone promises insurance will provide a free roof, noting that coverage depends on the individual insurance policy and homeowners may still be responsible for deductibles or other costs.
The roof is replaced, but the money questions remainDenver7 Investigates reached back out to RoofCo & Solar seeking the companys current position on both homeowners cases, including whether it has offered or issued any refund or other financial resolution to Mayhew and the status of the $2,187.24 refund calculation provided to Eder.
The company had not responded as of publication.
At Mayhews home, though, the situation looked dramatically different than it did when Denver7 first visited.
Crews were working across the roof, and Mayhew said Road Home Exteriors had given his family something he wasn't sure they were ever going to get.
He even told Dunn that if he eventually recovers money from RoofCo & Solar, he wants to give it to the people who stepped in to help.
If we get any money, you guys are getting it, Mayhew told him.
For Mayhew, the financial dispute remains. But as he watched the new roof finally going on his house, his focus was on the people who had stepped forward.
I just cant even still believe it right now, he said. So very grateful.
Then, looking at the work happening above him, Mayhew summed it up more simply:
Oh man, makes you feel good that theres people like this.
