"Doing it right the first time around"

My name is Carlo Perri and I have owned and operated Boston Roofing & Aluminum Inc. since 1994. I got my start working in this business under my father Salvatore in 1982 as the manager of S. Perri Aluminum Installation Limited. In 1990, we opened Boston Roofing and Aluminum Contractors as a division of S. Perri Aluminum Installation Limited.

Since 1990 the shingle industry has gone through major changes, some of which without proper notice from a few of the manufacturers and roofing suppliers.

Most of these changes were pertaining to the organic shingle. In 1990 there were basically three types of 3-tab traditional shingles being produced from the majority of leading roofing manufacturers; the 10-year, 15-year, and 20-year three tab shingle. A few years later these leading manufacturers came out with a 20-year, 25-year, and 30-year three tab shingle and discontinued the former.

Upon investigation, I found out the original shingles were in fact not discontinued, but were replaced only by the new longer lasting shingle wrapper. The new shingle stayed the same in quality of the old, but the old shingle was packaged with a new wrapper.

Upon contacting my sales representative, I was told that all the other manufacturers have done the same thing and I was assured that this would not create a problem with the performance of the shingles. I believed my sales representative at that time and was referred to the actual shingle warranty, which at that time, covered labour and material.

Let’s fast forward to 2002. Boston Roofing customers started calling with questions about the performance of some of the shingles installed in 1990. We assisted the homeowner to file a warranty claim with the manufacturer. What transpired after that was absolutely shocking. The manufacturer, without proper notice to the supplier, and to all the customers of the supplier, including Boston Roofing & Aluminum Inc., actually changed the warranty of the shingles from labour and material to material only.

Understandably, some of our customers were visibly upset. To add more fuel to the fire, the manufacturer would not return the majority of their calls to our customers.

Later that year, after a meeting to voice my displeasure with the manufacturer and supplier, I was assured that my customers would be taken care of.

In approximately 2004, we were introduced by our suppliers the new fibreglass line of shingles which included a 30-year and lifetime shingles. In our opinion, this is a much better performing shingle if purchased from the right manufacturer. We were told that the organic shingle would eventually be discontinued. Today the leading manufacturers manufacture only fibreglass shingles.

Within the last couple of years we have been overwhelmed with hundreds of warranty calls, all related to the performance of the organic shingles installed in between the years of 1996 and 2002. The manufacturers have honoured the majority of these claims, but not all. They now claim that there are inconsistencies with some of these claims which require information that is impossible to retrieve from years mentioned and therefore have been stalling these claims. Understandably again, our customers are rightfully upset.

If the shingle manufacturers had not decided to change those shingles wrappers from the products they sold, the shingles would have lived up to there expectations and the shingle industry would not be in the mess that it is currently in.

We continue to be in discussions with other leading manufacturers and suppliers to give our clients the service that they undeniably deserve.

We at Boston Roofing & Aluminum Inc. will not tolerate nor accept this kind of business from any of the manufacturers and their suppliers. We are not driven by the “almighty dollar” and will make sure that you, the customer, are greatly taken care of. We do not promote products that will increase our bottom line; we promote honesty and quality workmanship and that are our bottom line.

On behalf of myself and staff at Boston Roofing & Aluminum Inc. I want to say I’m sorry to everyone in North America that had a roof installed and were not educated properly on how the shingle warranties work and had to replace their roof only half into the life span of the shingle.

As homeowners, please protect yourself by thoroughly going over the shingle warranty information from the manufacturer. If you have any questions, we at Boston Roofing & Aluminum Inc. will be happy to assist you. This process will allow you to determine for yourselves whether or not the fibreglass shingle of today is right for choice for you.

Sincerely,
Carlo Perri
President, Boston Roofing and Aluminum