Dobson's Renovation

No option for zero stars: Willis Dobson of Dobson’s Renovation in Lewistown, PA, was not honest about his qualifications when we hired him to replace an existing metal roof on an addition to our home. There was no warranty/guarantee for the $4,500 job we hired him for, and he refused to provide us with any information or proof that he was fully-insured as he told us he was. In mid-September 2018, he told us he was a licensed, fully-insured general contractor that guaranteed his work. Truth be told, in hindsight, he did not know what he was doing when he took the job. Because of the roof that he installed - which only lasted for four days until our first rain - we had to hire someone to install another new roof and our home suffered nearly $6,000 worth of damage to the inside of our addition. That was only after contacting him several times to try to resolve our dilemma, which he was completely responsible for causing. Unfortunately for us we paid him in full - as he required - before he did the job, something we did in good faith. We had no reason to suspect that what he told us was not true. First, when he removed our 18+ year old existing metal roof, he seemed baffled by the purlins that the metal panels were attached to. Something we have since learned is the proper way to install a metal roof. He told me he needed an additional $1,700 for plywood to put on top of the purlins “to do it right.” I cut him another check. He never gave me any receipts for the plywood, which our insurance adjuster said most likely only cost between $600 and $700 at most. He then attached the metal sheets directly to the plywood, with no purlins. Something we later found out completely voids any kind of warranty of the metal. Willis Dobson also never gave me a receipt for the materials he purchased, which after calling every building material business in and around Lewistown, found out he most likely bought the material from a guy named “Eli,” to save himself some money that we paid top dollar for. So the materials we bought never did have a warranty. He also never installed a drip edge or any type of underlayment. Willis Dobson also did not know how to install the flashing along the roof and siding that the roof attached to. He installed it on top of the siding, rather than under the siding as it had been installed. He gooped the flashing along the top with a black tar substance that damaged the siding when the new roofer removed it and installed the new flashing correctly – under the siding. As soon he knew there was a problem with our roof he conveniently shut down his business, Dobson’s Renovation. He did come back one time after it had rained for several days an d guessed at trying to patch where he thought the roof was leaking using shiny silver window tape- tape that was meant to be used under construction materials and not left exposed to the elements. It did not help at all and even started to life and curl after only a week. Our beautiful new brown metal roof looked like it had been covered with duct tape. It was an extremely rainy fall and it rained throughout our entire addition each time it rained, pouring down through the walls and even in our light fixtures. He never once offered to come help us by tarping it or offering to send someone who could fix his mess. We finally had to call other contractors to get estimates and had to call our home insurance company for the inside damage. Our insurance sent a roofing expert to verify that the damage was caused by Dobson. What we found out was that no part of the job had been completely properly and that none of the materials could be reused because they had been improperly cut and the screws over-tightened so much that the rubber seal around each screw was completely flattened. Dobson initially agreed to a partial refund to us. My husband graciously gave him 60 days. We never heard from him again. We filed a complaint in Centre County Magistrate Court and won because Dobson never showed up. Willis Dobson profited after he damaged our home and caused a huge financial hardship on my family. I do not know how he can live with himself with an outstanding judgment of $4,500 against him knowing he screwed us over and not only took our money but caused us to have to spend another $10,000 to fix his handiwork.