Surface Shield Roofing

My 26+ year old Cal Shake roof was leaking. I got bids from several roofers – most of them inducing cardiac arrest. I asked for a break in the form of a more reasonable price and Zack came through. As a result, Surface Shield got the job. I’ve never met a nicer, more personable, more professional tradesman than Zack. He went the extra mile in everything he did. He was punctilious about making sure everything was left in perfect order and repair. And now I have a beautiful, new roof to boot!

Recently we had our Monier Roof Tiles recoated. Very happy with the results! Looks great! Shon Gregory estimated the cost and time-​frame for completion. He is a great guy with a hard-​working crew. They put down plastic-​sheeting to cover the pool and cleaned up and kept the work area clean. Took about a week to complete the job.

Just got my 30 year old roof replaced with a new Certainteed 30 year shingles by Surface Shield. The install was done earlier than planned since they were already working on another house nearby which was perfect for me. The crew was very efficient and the work was completed in the promised 2 days which was right before the recent rains. Everything seems to be in order and love the look of my new roof. Zack who managed our job was totally professional, prompt and explained to me all of the process of the installation. I am totally excited about the new lighter color and the addition of roof ridge vents which I hope will help to keep the house cooler.

I had solar installed and the company was great to work with. Not only was the value and quality of product and service very good, but the company took the time to answer my questions and concerns in a prompt and complete manner. In particular, the company demonstrated a very high level of flexibility and ethics in the face HECO’s unpredictable and seemingly unsubstantiated permitting obstacles. The level of customer service was very high and I have no hesitation recommending the company to others.

From start to finish the Surface Shield employees were very professional, informative, courteous and willing to work with me to explain what they were going to do and how long it would take to complete my roof repairs. From Ryan with the proposal to Frank and his partner who did the hands on work to Ian who followed up to ensure the job was completed in accordance with the prop all knew what needed to be done and got it done to my satisfaction. I heartily recommend Surface Shield for all your roofing needs. Now we need a good rain so I can see if they fixed my leak. If they fixed it, I’ll add the additional star. They all were great!

My mom and dad’s house in Mililani needed a new roof over a year ago, and I was looking for a roofing contractor to do the job for them.
Shon from Surface Shield came by to estimate the job. My parents were very impressed by him and his professionalism. He guided them through the process of what his recommendations were, and what needed to be done.
They got the job done in two days, from tear off, to installing a new asphalt shingle roof. Their work was flawless.
My father passed about a year ago, but I remember the extreme look of joy on his face when he saw the look of his new roof. He was very proud of the new look of his house.
Also, Surface Shield’s pricing was very competitive. When my father told me how much he paid, I was expecting a lot more than what they charged.
Thank you, Shon and Surface Shield for taking care of my mom and dad.
I would recommend your company to anyone in a heart beat, without any reservations.

Surface Shield replaced the roofs on our house and cottage in March 2014. The roofs seem to be working fine and I can recommend them for that — but what I wanted to comment on was their commitment to excellent customer service. We live on the mainland and only get to Oahu about once a year, and when I was there this month, I noticed that birds were making a nest in some soffit holes along our roof line. Since Surface Shield had drilled some extra holes for ventilation, I was sure that they had forgotten to put the grates on the holes and that the birds were taking advantage of that. When I emailed Surface Shield to complain, I was expecting an argument about why they weren’t responsible and how they wouldn’t pay, etc, etc. Instead, Amanda said that the company would assume full responsibility and would pay for the bird removal and immediately sent over her construction foreman to check out the problem. As it turned out, the birds were making their home in one of the old soffit holes (not ones that Surface Shield had drilled) and we are going to end up paying for our own bird removal. BUT the point is that they dealt with the situation immediately (no run around) and they would have paid if they had been at fault. Customer service doesn’t get any better than this!

It’s been over a month since Surface Shield installed my new roof and PV solar system. Time for a review.
My old roof was nearing the end of its life and I knew that a new roof was in the cards. When I decided to install a PV solar system it was time to start the ball rolling. But, like most people, I don’t really know a lot about roofs. I might know the difference between an eave and a rafter, but that’s about all. When someone starts talking about joists and cornices my mind kind of goes numb. Thankfully, if all goes well, I only have to think about roofs once every couple of decades. Then I read what I can, but in the end I have to rely on the roofers to advise me. That’s where it gets tricky. Are they trying to sell me more roof than I need? And who am I to judge their workmanship?
I ended up interviewing three or four roofers. Some frankly seemed dishonest. Some just didn’t seem professional. But then along came Surface Shield. I was drawn to them in part by the fact that they could install both PV solar and a new roof. Less hassle for me. When I met with the roofing salesman, Roy, I was impressed with his honesty. He spent some time with me going over the various options available, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of each sort of roofing material. I never got the feeling that he was pushing me in one particular direction. Nor was he rushing me to make a decision. At last I decided on a roofing material but I still had to decide if I wanted to get the more expensive style or the less expensive one. I asked Roy what he would do and he suggested the less expensive one. I think that was the moment when I decided to go with Surface Shield. When ever a salesman suggests that I go with a less expensive product I’m blown away — in a good way.
Then came the business of PV solar. If my knowledge of roofs was less that stellar my knowledge of solar panels was abysmal. Kilowatts and micro-​inverters — Oh My! And then there is the morass of government and HECO regulations to wade through. But Glenn, the salesman for the solar panels, was my knight in shining armor. I have rarely met anyone that knew more about his product than Glenn. In fact he seemed to be enthused by the subject. As with Roy he never pushed me in any particular directions. He answered all my questions and responded to all my emails and phone calls with alacrity.
Once I had made my decision Surface Shield was able to begin work the following week. The work crew showed up each day early and worked hard. Everyday they picked up after themselves. In the evening I went around the property looking for debris. I did not find much. After a week the roofers were through and it was time for the solar panels to go on. Again everything went smoothly and in less that a week I was generating electricity. Glen guided my through the hassle of getting permits, etc. Essentially all I had to do was sign a few documents where Glen told me to.
Along the way I asked Surface Shield if they could help me with some peripheral projects. I wanted to install a heat pump to generate hot water and I had an old chimney that I wanted to get rid of. Surface Shield was able to fix me up with a plumber, Carlos Alvarado with True Green Solar, to help with the installation of the heat pump and a general contractor, United Pacific Builders, to help with the chimney. Both of these contractors performed with the same professionalism that Surface Shield had already demonstrated.
So I’m pretty happy. I can’t give you any feed back as to the durability of the roof and solar panels. That will take years to evaluate. Nor am I the person to critically evaluate the quality of the installation. However my contractor friends seemed impressed. And I haven’t found any glaring errors.
But what I can say now is that, of all the contractors that I interviewed, Surface Shield was by far the most professional and knowledgable. And they had another quality as well.
Integrity.
That means a lot.

We live in the west Oahu area and just installed a PV system for our home. We were aware that the HECO wait time and paperwork/​approval requirements were going to be the clock stopper concerning the system install and activation. We sat down with 3 different companies to discuss and review their systems and pricing. With so many start up PV companies and mainland companies popping up we wanted to be sure to select the company that would have staying power and established presence locally. All 3 companies provided primary services other than PV, solar being the new addition to the companies existing service. (Companies are listed as highest quoted price first)
Vivant — Alarm systems and PV
Surface Shield — Roofing and PV
DEC Solar — Electrical Contractor and PV
After consideration we determined that the PV technology and resources were similar between the 3 companies. So it came down to price, presence and the integrity of installation. Surface Shield was our choice because of the roof penetration required for the PV install and the quality of the mounting system (Polymer sealed mounting holes and capable of handling up to 150 mph hurricane winds).
The wait time wasn’t too bad for us, home owners association notified, no issue. HECO initial application did cost us an additional 3 week wait because an outdated form was used by Surface Shield’s admin office. This is not to overshadow the fact that we have neighbors that purchased systems from other PV companies months ago that are still waiting for the install «go ahead» from HECO. It is very important for the home owner to stay on top of the HECO paperwork process. If your PV company does not take this process seriously it will cost you some major wait time and may even jeopardize your objectives. Call HECO and get the info from the source, then educate your PV provider if necessary. This process is the weakest and most critical link. Surface Shield Sales and Technical support team members seemed to get it, but we took a hit when the admin rep sent in the wrong form. All mistakes will put you back on the bottom of HECO’s waiting list. As mentioned earlier this one error cost us 3 weeks.
Between Surface Shields sales, tech support and administrative support we give Zach Gregory the Five Stars. His technical skills, knowledge of the system, ability to articulate verbally and in writing makes him the go to guy at Surface Shield. He promised us a 2 day install and although his assistant fell ill and called in sick, he installed the panels on time by himself. The final electrical installation crew had a team of 3 techs and spent a total of approximately 3 hours to install the wire connections and junction box. Big mahalo Zach, if I ever start up a business, I’m stealing you from this company brother.
National review of PV and Hawaii:

100% agree with the reviews on this site. We bought a largely remodeled house but with a shake roof that needing replacing quickly. Surface Shield was recommended by our home inspector, and they did both our roof and our new solar. Highly recommend that you ask for David Jamison as your salesperson as he will really make sure that everything gets done right. Did a high solar reflective shingle with vent and solar shielding of a flatter section of the roof. Temperatures in the house are much better. It really is great when the electric bill is less than $ 100.

Job completed. Contracted with Surface Shield to reroof, removed and reinstall P V panels. Met with Joe Nugent, roofing guy, after receiving one of three quotes. All other roofing company spent a average of twenty minutes on roof and submitted proposals. I selected Surface Shield because it was the only company that followed up on proposal, were willing to negotiate and was recommended by my golfing buddy. During negotiations I mentioned that I wanted to additional P V panels installed. Joe mentioned that they have a solar branch and would call the solar guy. I met with David Jamison, solar guy, who involved Shon Gregory, the big kahuna, and we worked out a agreement inwhich Surface Shield would assume labor warranty on preinstalled panels, install additional panels, and extended labor warranty on all panels.
Roofing was done while I was away on a trip. What a niece surprise it was when I returned and roof was complete. No problems, Joe made sure job was done properly and property secured.
There was a minor problem involving my twenty year old solar panels on roof but this was fixed when Jamison suggested I cap solar and install a new hybrid water heater, being that existing one was over twenty years old. Photo voltaic installation went well. As in all projects there are disagreements but Surface Shield was always willing to listen then together come to a agreement.
Shout out to Ryan, Ian, Joe and Jamison, and Kate. They all had a part in my project.
Would recommend Surface Shield.

Just had Surface Shield replace my hail damaged roof in Kailua. They also had to remove and re-​install my 8kW PV solar system and hot water solar. First class operation from the sales person, to the installers, to customer service. They were much more competitive than the other roofers that were cold calling our neighborhood looking for hail damage insurance work. I met with a few of them and they seemed a bit sleazy. Not Surface Shield. They were very professional and worked well with my insurance adjuster. Give Surface Shield a call before you chose a roofing company.

We just had 58 PV panels installed on our roof — and based on our last HECO bill — the magic is happening — our bill was $ 17! The Surface Shield staff was great the whole process through… from contracting to installation. Always making sure that things were done correctly and we, the client were happy. Thanks especially to our sales person — David Jamison, the best installation crew headed by Ryan Lundquist, and ‘da boss, Glen Smith who went above and beyond to make sure our tracking system was working as promised. I’d highly recommend this company and the products they install. Would be happy to talk with anyone who is thinking about installing PV about our experience with Surface Shield Roofing Company.
Surface Shield also re-​roofed our flat roof prior to installation of the PV panels — neat, tidy, and professional job on that too!

PV update: HECO tie-​in completed right on time. Initial production was disappointing, but that was due to missed connection for some of the panels stemming from miscommunication between HECO & Solar Shield. After this glitch was ironed out, daily generation hit 17 kWh, and today we set a new record of 20+. At this rate, our HECO bill should be more or less zeroed out, hurray! Very pleased with the BenQ system (I chose 16×255 watt panels for total capacity just over 4 kW), which features real-​time on-​line monitoring (so you can check your system’s generation from anywhere on the planet with an internet connection). Considering we are near the back of Manoa, where daylight comes late and ends early, we are getting great production.
Solar Shield has proven to be the ideal choice for our roofing and solar needs. They delivered on every promise and responded promptly to my questions and concerns. Really looking forward to claiming the federal & state tax credits early next year, too.

The Company was out standing, Fast and very clean, we had a new roof installed and the pv pannels put on side by side with the company, one side did the roofing and the other team did the pv, smart to have one comany that know’s both sides, that’s one of the reasons my husband choose them, not to mention the pannels are great, but any damage that can happen it’s good to have the roofer side by side. Would recommend Sloar Shield Roofing, for roofing and pv pannels. Great job everyone. Many Mahalo’s

110% satisfied with my new shingle roof. My home is a rental property so I need to ensure the work is being done RIGHT and I travel out from the mainland to watch and inspect. There was little need to worry with this company. Everyone from the office staff, the estimator and the roofing crew where extremely friendly and extremely professional. My property was spotless when the work was done and even my gutters where clean! I was given a competitive estimated which was among 3 others from reputable Oahu roofing companies. The estimate was not filled with extra things I did not need or want. The roofing crew worked extremely well, arrived on time everyday and did not «goof off» I picked the right company and highly recommend them any rental property owner on Oahu and to my friends that still live here and own homes.

Though I have seen the company’s ad in the daily print over the years, i never thought of using them as i THOUGHT there were other just as good roofing companies available.
I first got a hold of Surface Shield Roofing Company in mid October ’12, as they were recommended by one of the solar pv companies I had contacted and met to provide us with an estimate.
Zach Gregory, scheduled an in-​person meeting to provide an estimate, and guess what –he came even earlier than expected on that date ! When do you see that happen? He provided us with a written estimate by email within a short time.
Through the several weeks, we were going back and forth with another very established company that had another type of coating deciding which type to put on our rooftops? (acrylic vs. the silicone coating that Surface Shield exclusively uses), During this time, Zach would periodically (not to a point at all of pestering us) email us if we had come to any sort of decision on the roofing.
Anyway, we finally decided on Surface Shield to do our roofing as we thought the newer roof coating material (silicone) was the ‘right’ decision (as we even looked at another 3^rd party’s roofing website, whose conclusions stated that as they use both types, (acrylic and silicone) that silicone coatings have held up all right so far in Hawaii’s weather in the years it’s been available.
Zach had explained that the lower roof top had sustained damage over the years (asphalt and gravel type), and promptly provided me with phone and email updates which I approved to proceed with the repairs. As they started removing part of the roofing on Martin Luther King Day in January, they uncovered even more damage, and which Zach promptly left me with a voice mail saying that more carpentry work would need to be done… again, I provided him with a response to go ahead. When we would come home from work, whatever equipment materials they had been using that day were ALWAYS stacked/​put aside in the yard with care, and not just lying around and looking abandoned.
Now that the work had been completed a couple of days ago, though delayed due to several days of rain outs/​wet weather, the work they performed looks wonderful! The carpentry repair work was nicely done, with good workmanship qualities. The roof coating is thickly applied and also looks great! Our reaction is —Wow!
We really felt the trust this company provided us, especially with Zach, and that we weren’t being shoved ‘additional’ work that wasn’t necessary just to increase their revenue profit. His commitment to customer service I would have to rate as an «A+» !
His emails would always start off with «Aloha, Mr. … «which I thought showed a lot of respect for the customer!
The other roofing company, I felt like wanting to go though the phone and ‘slap their heads’, as it was like one person wasn’t relaying info to the other person, and the other person was too busy, and not return my emails or calls promptly. It was crazy and I was glad that firm (though well established) didn’t get our work.
Have Surface Shield Roofing on your mandatory short list of roofing contractors to choose from in Hawaii. They had provided in their written estimate of their current Certificate of Liability insurance coverage, and even mentioned the do’s and don’ts of what to expect from a roofing contractor and to how about checking for proper licensing, etc. They provide the maximum allowable labor guarantee in the State of Hawaii against no leaks — 7 years, and the roof coating manufacturer’s (Gacosil) warranty is 50 years!
Surface Shield Roofing Company, this 5 star review is for Shon and Zach Gregory and your honest and hard working employees. Customer Service is an important part of doing business, and like what I told Zach when he first came for the estimate… I thanked him for his promptness as no homeowner wants to wait longer than they have to… as we the clients/​customers also have other things to do!
Yes, I will recommend them to friends/​relatives, whoever I hear is talking about getting roofing estimates… [In closing (doing fist pump motion!)] !!
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update: 12.9.14
check out their new video on
for surface shield roofing’s «Meet the CEO of…».
In the video, I give a little testimonial about my experience when I used them.