To start things off, Graves Brothers Home Improvement sent out Project Estimator Tyler Warshaw to go over the roofing and siding options and to inform about Graves Bros’ accreditations and how they would go about executing their work. While Graves Bros. calls employees like Mr. Warshaw Project Estimators, they are in fact common salespeople. This sort of incorrect/double-naming will come up in later encounters with both Graves Bros. and Oaks Roofing & Siding employees. It is as though they are telling customers one thing while meaning another.
After going over materials and colors, Tyler Warshaw explained that Graves Brothers’ would be using roofing products(shingles and more) from GAF Materials Corporation and that Graves Bros. follows GAF’s exact installation procedures. Mr. Warshaw made sure to point out that Graves Brothers Home Improvement was both a GAF Master Elite contractor and a member of GAF’s President’s Club. But what does it even mean to be a Master Elite contractor or a member of the President’s Club?
GAF says that while all President’s Club members are Master Elite contractors, not all Master Elite contractors make it to the President’s Club. GAF states that President’s Club members “have distinguished themselves by meeting stringent requirements in the categories of Performance, Reliability, or Service.” Tyler Warshaw failed to ever mention that it would not be Graves Brothers Home Improvement installing the roof and gutters. Instead it would be a contractor that was not even a GAF President’s Club member- Oaks Construction, a/k/a Oaks Roofing and Siding, out of Spencerport, NY.
Tyler Warshaw went on to state that Graves Brothers Home Improvement would be able to finish the project in a single day. At the time, I took him for his word and I did not think to doubt him. After this experience with Graves Brothers Home Improvement, I would have handled this part differently. Whenever a contractor makes a time-related claim like this, demand it in writing. They are the one making the claim, if they can’t back it up in writing then they shouldn’t mention it and the salesperson should be called out. Another factor to consider is to demand a time-related stipulation- if the 1-day project is not completed in 1-day, then 2.5% is deducted each day from the total owed until completion.
After Mr. Warshaw completed his pitch he offered to run a check on my credit to see what financing offers were available to me, even though I had already told him that I had the finances covered. He would go on to point out that it would only be a soft-check and push the credit run a few more times before completing his visit. I thought it was so strange that he made what seemed like five or more requests to run my credit that I mentioned it in an earlier online review- before finding out why Tyler Warshaw was so insistent about pushing for the financing through his employer.
An Oaks Incorporated/Oaks Brands document called “December Matrix – Sep 23 – Nov 23” was discovered in February 2024. The sales matrix document contains various columns of information including salespeople’s closing percentage, number of self-generated customers, and customers finance- all topped by Project Estimator/salesman Tyler Warshaw.
Generally, customers are warned not to enter into financing agreements with contractors. Once accepted, the total cost of the project is immediately tendered to the contractor. This completely obstructs the customer’s right to withhold payment. New York State officially advises citizens to avoid contractors that do not split up project costs over the project period and to withhold final payments when the contractor has not fulfilled their end of the bargain.
The following images are of some of the work performed by the crews from Oaks Roofing & Siding and Graves Brothers Home Improvement that clearly did not meet basic installation requirements:
