Wow: more than 30 different people replied to my question about roofers ... most of them within an hour or two. I draw one of two conclusions:

1. Lots of Highland Parkers have a roofer in the family. :-)

OR

2. This is an amazing neighborhood ... when you think about it ... many of the people responding are complete strangers (several are not), but they take some pleasure in passing on a little bit of helpful information.

Having lived in Highland Park since 1973, I vote for #2.

Anyhow: here's the summary of what I received. • A few are warnings rather than recommendations. • Evaluative comments are those of the folks who sent the recommendations, not mine. • Multiple entries indicate multiple recommendations for the same company.

(Now I have to make a choice!!)

-David Klahr

---------------------------- Arndt: We had a great luck with Jason Arndt his prices are fair and his work was very good. home # 724-728-9221 cell # 412-889-6819...........

Balistrieri Contracting & Roofing 412 486 6471

Balistrieri Roofing & Construction Co. 412) 486-6471

Bell Industries, is under new management and a neighbor says to avoid them now.)

Borland: Chuck Borland (724) 272-1813,

Coffey: Paul Coffey.. He and his crew are first class. Skilled and meticulously neat. They specialize in slate and tile and are quite a good value; I've also had them repair a terne metal dormer. They probably do simple shingle roofs as well.

Conti: Jeff Conti, Verona

Derbish Roofing - owner = Pete Derbish 412-606-6769

Emmit: I like Harry Emmit. Hes a rough around the edges, down to earth, honest guy. His number is 412-720-0577

Fohl: I had a very good experience with Lee Fohl who is now at Welte Roofing. 412-877-8529. He figured out an economical way to fix a leaking tin roof that Rick John could not.

Frazier: Don Frazier Roofing for several projects and have always been happy with his work. His prices are reasonable. His number is 412-431-2430.

Grady: Eric Grady . I am a local contractor/remodeler, fully insured, with lots of good references in the area. I have pics of many of my previous jobs and would like to come give you a free estimate on your work. If you are interested please call me or email me to set up an appointment. Eric Grady (412)523-0612 Grady6347@msn.com

Hood: David Hood Roofing 412-824-4610 ask for Don 40 yrs exp

Hood: I believe we had some repairs done by David Hood and Sons. They were really nice and professional and quick. Got them off the HP contractor list awhile ago. (no huge reference though 'cause nothing major)

Hood: Is yours tile? If so, we use David Hood Sons, Inc. 412.824.4610 I'm not sure if they do other than tile, but probably.

Hoolahan Paul Hoolahan 412-521-0191

Hoolahan Roofers (412) 521-0191 (Paul, I believe). They did our roof and box gutters and did a great job.

Josowiitz I'd probably have Josowitz and RickJohn as companies to check out based on what I think I've seen around the neighborhood.

Josowitz 412.421.5698

Josowitz or something like that. We found them on the highland park tradespeople list a few years ago. They are wonderful. Keep what’s under our roof perfectly dry.

Josowitz roofing for a leaky roof repair on my house. hard to judge the work because I don't go on the roof, but the leak hasn't recurred, his prices seemed quite reasonable and he did the work quickly. Steve Josowitz, 421-5698. mhrh1@yahoo.com

Kuhn We used Tom Kuhn and were quite pleased. Not the lowest estimate, but his team came back and worked again to find and fix a difficult leak, recommended things to fix that others hadn’t even noticed. 412-884-4771.

Likar Roofing - family run, I've used them since 1971.

Likar Roofing did a very good job on our sloped garage roof many years ago.

Likar: We use Likar Roofing. They take very good care of our 115 year old original slate roof.

Moran: Jerry Moran Roofing 412-609-3164 Jerry is owner 40 yrs exp.

Omega Home Improvements: based out of North Huntington. I live at 5506 Wellesley if you want to check out the job they did on my roof. They totally removed the old slate which was in poor condition and replaced it with a dimensional shingle. The cost was $10K, but it was probably worth it. The only thing that was a turn-off was the high-pressure salesman, but I heard he was no longer with the company.

Polk: I have a roofer i could not live without since i live in a townhouse with a flat rook and they are a curse!!!!!!!! His name is larry polk. his phone # is 412-366-9363

Prudchenko: Vlad Prudchenko 412-445-8254, 412-799-0406 I don't know of his expertise, but he built a new garage roof for us and had the most reasonable price. He's a very nice man and quite meticulous in his work, although a bit slow, but I think that is due to his taking a lot of care. [Sherry Goldman]

RickJohn Another one I've seen do a lot of good work in the area is RickJohn.

Rickjohn – too busy, it would seem.

Rickjohn is maybe the “Cadillac” of local roofers, but very expensive and always overscheduled.

RickJohn: I had a bad experience with Rick John, I will spare you the details -- avoid them, they use inexperienced subcontractors on residential jobs.

Robinson: Anthony Robinson he is a realistic price and good at what he does. 412 403-4857 Tell him Debi from Elgin street told you to call

Rosato: Rosato and Sciullo Contracting. Specialized in all types of Roofing 412 486-5075. Mr.Rosato did an excellent and clever job for me.

Ruffer: Tom Ruffer 412-951-6960

Sangl Used them for many years but only for patch jobs, flashing, etc., nothing major. They're local HP'ers, family owned and in the book

Schultheis Brothers for the roof and gutters.

Woods: Randy Woods who lives next door to me (he's a professional contractor). Telephone: 362-9333. E-mail: rankarwoods@verizon.net. He goes to my church and did my garage roof at 1148 Portland Street. (Jay Gilmer, 412-363-0878)